When putting new strings on your guitar, do you find that you have to continually re-tune them for a few weeks before they stay in tune? This is a common problem for guitarists, especially beginners, so let’s find out how to fix it…
It’s all in the stretch!
The solution is to stretch the strings after placing them on the guitar, sounds simple, but to avoid damage to your guitar or breaking the strings, there are a few things to bear in mind.
Start by putting your new strings on your guitar as you normally do. It’s best to use one of the wraparound/crossover techniques where you are winding the string over or under another wind so that the string is locked in place and will remain in that position. If you’re not sure how to do this, check out this YouTube video showing the technique that Joe Bonnamassa’s guitar tech uses:
Or you can just use a locking tuner to easily keep the string in place. Now that your new strings are on your guitar, tune it to pitch using a guitar tuner, a smartphone app, or your ear. It’s now time to give them a stretch.
Starting with the low E string, gently pull it straight upwards away from the fretboard at the 12th fret. Don’t jerk the string, lift it slowly and smoothly as you feel the string tension increase.
You only need to pull it between 5 and 15 millimeters depending on the gauge of the string, the heavier strings can be pulled farther than the lighter ones. Make sure that you don’t pull the string so hard that it comes out of its groove in the nut or snaps. Over time, you will develop a feel for the distance needed to stretch each string.
And back into position!
It’s now time to release the tension, but don’t just let go, this can cause unnecessary stress on the string, as well as possibly wearing down your frets. This again needs to be done in a slow and steady movement, releasing the tension in a controlled manner until the string is back in its starting position, then you can let go of it. Repeat the stretch two or three times per string.
Now repeat the stretch on all the other strings remembering that the thinner the string gauge, the less stretch is needed.
It’s now time to go back to your tuner to check the pitch of each string. They will all be flatter than before, with the thickest strings as much as a semitone or more flat. Tune them all back to concert pitch or whatever tuning you normally use.
Stretch again
Now repeat the stretching process three or four times on every string, then check the pitch once again with your tuner. Once again, they will all be flat but by much less than the first time you stretched them.
Now repeat the whole process another one or two times. You should now find that your strings stay in tune after you have stretched them, or if there is a difference in pitch it is very small.
Wrapping it up
You now know the secret of how to stretch your new guitar strings to keep them perfectly in tune. As you play your guitar over the first few weeks of the life of the new strings, you might still notice small changes in pitch, but they will be a fraction of what they would be without stretching them first.
Also, remember that other factors affect strings going out of tune, such as temperature changes, excessive string bending, overuse of whammy bars, etc. Therefore, if you move your guitar from a colder room to a warmer one, you will notice changes in the pitch of your strings as they expand or contract to the new room temperature. Or if you love to bend strings and/or are a demon at divebombing, then you will just have to accept that the occasional re-tune is all part of the course! Enjoy!!!
