Do I Need to Stretch the Guitar Strings After Restringing?

There has been a lot of debate on this topic. Every person has a different opinion and method on what to do after stringing a new set of strings to their guitars.

However, the matter of the fact is that you need to apply some tension to the strings of the guitar after restringing. Or-else, they would sound flat after a few hours of play time.

 Whether you believe it or not, but this has been the case for a lot of time. You might find some Einsteins, how might say that this is totally illogical. But they are the ones who haven’t really played the guitar before, or changed the strings themselves.

So, on with how to stretch the stings.

First of all, you need to get the guitar in your normal playing position. It is always best to strap the guitar to yourself. Furthermore, if you have some sort of safety googles available, then wear them. You don’t want to damage your eye while playing the guitar.

On with the procedure.

Firstly, you need a new set of strings. If you are still on your old strings, then you need to change them now to proceed with this tutorial.

Note: If you are using an electric guitar, then you might want to unlock the clamping bolts. Because you only want to do that once you are done with setting up of your string.

The next step is the stretching part. You would want to hold the string from the lower portion of the guitar and then slightly pull it upwards. Then keep on pulling and moving up your hand until you have reached the top.

Bear in mind. Once you reach the nut, you would want to press the nut so that the sting doesn’t get out of the nut. This isn’t such a bad thing, as you can always put the string back inside of the guitar. However, depending upon the force, you might potentially damage the guitar or the string.

If you are working with an acoustic guitar. Then, it is a good idea to hold the bridge pin of the guitar. As when you are applying force, they might pop out and damage the guitar, or the string as well.

If you try playing the guitar right now. You will feel that the strings sound very dull. That is because you still need to tune the guitar. Now, you may tune the guitar however, you like as this process is up to your taste and the stretching is done.

Now, this might seem a little mad at first, but you need to stretch the strings again. Yes, after this you would need to tune the guitar again. However, if you don’t, then the strings might go bad again. Don’t worry, I will not make you stretch after again. This was the final stretch of strings.

However, you still need to repeat this process for the rest of the strings.