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Guitar DIY: How to correctly restring your acoustic guitar

Here’s how to correctly string your acoustic to avoid any kinks or string slips.

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In the final episode of our Guitar DIY series in association with Elixir Strings, Matt Gleeson of Monty’s Guitars talks us through the correct way to restring your acoustic guitar.

Whether you prefer a dreadnought or a parlour, Taylor or Martin or are even partial to a cutaway, Gleeson talks you through the correct way to restring your beloved acoustic guitar. Restringing acoustic guitars can be tricky, particularly with those string pegs that can get stiff and are difficult to remove. Gleeson shows you the optimal way to remove said pegs with two different tools, one of which you may already have on the end of your string winder.

When it comes to stringing the guitar back up, he prefers to utilise a “production line” method, placing all of the strings and pegs back into the bridge, before winding them around the machine heads. Note that some string pegs can feature a flat end, which can sometimes prevent the string’s ball end from sitting correctly. Gleeson advises using some heavy grit sand paper to angle the peg end, allowing the string to sit correctly under the bridge. When reinserting the peg into the body, ensure that the groove is facing down towards the guitar’s headstock.

Don’t forget to look back at previous instalments in this series for advice on how to setup a Stratocaster, how to correctly restring an acoustic or even when to change your guitars strings.

Looking for more advice on how to get the best out of your acoustic? Here’s how to clean your guitar’s fretboard correctly.

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