Should I change strings myself or send it in to a shop?

I noticed recently that my guitar stings are i need of replacing. Should i send it in to a shop to get them replaced or do it myself?? If i should change the stings myself, how do i do it??

P.S Im like 13

Just do it yourself.
It doesn't take a genius. Check the beginner lessons here... I'm not sure if they're still available without a membership, but it'll walk you right through it.
If not, just use Google and look up 'how to change guitar strings'. You'll probably find hundreds of lessons.
Considering that you'll probably changed your guitar strings a few hundred times in the next 10 years, it's well worth learning it yourself.
While you're at it, study up on setting the intonation as well.

Changing strings is easy, though a little daunting at first. Do you have a friend or a music teacher at school who can help and knows what they are doing ?

There was a bit of video here of a guy changing strings, try searching (using "search" in the red menu bar) this forum using a phrase like "Changing Strings"

The only time it gets complicated is if you have a super fancy (like the floyd rose) trem system and even then it is not that hard.

Have a good look before touching or undoing any thing and see if you can see how the strings are kept in place on your guitar and then take out one string and replace it. If it is easy, do another and another etc.

If you have any specific problems you can always ask here. Im sure if the worst comes to the worst you can find some one to IM who will talk you through it.

One thing to watch out for is string gauge (string thickness). Life will be much easier if you put on a replacement set of strings that are the same gauge as the ones you are taking off.

And if i mess up really badly?? That tends to happen all the time!! :mad:

You're only 13 so take some good advice.
Feel free to screw up because that's how you learn.
Everybody messes up the first time they try something so welcome to the club. Heck.. the first time I changed strings I wound them on backwards and didn't know anything about stretching them out so they constantly went out of tune. But the next time I changed them, I read a couple of books on the subject and did a pretty good job.
Now it's just second nature.

Think of it like part of the process of learning to play guitar.
The only way you're going to get better is to practice and the only way you'll learn to change your own strings is by giving it a shot a few times.

Originally Posted by: schmange
Feel free to screw up because that's how you learn.

Applies to alot more than changing strings too... I've screwed many things up (and every once in a while, I'll learn something that'll change my life/whatever entirely - for the better).

your not going to like, break your guitar by messing up the strings. the worst that could happen is to break a string, and in that case you just will need a new one.

just remember. put the string on, start to tighten, then stretch the string out all over the length of it by sort of holding it in your fingers and pulling it up while pushing down with the outside part of your palm.... sort of hard to explain. if you cant find the lesson on here, try googling it and look for a video teaching about it. its very important to stretch the strings.

Originally Posted by: guitarist101Applies to alot more than changing strings too... I've screwed many things up (and every once in a while, I'll learn something that'll change my life/whatever entirely - for the better).

Same here. I remember when I was in my early teens, I was always led to believe that you had to know how to do something by being taught by somebody like a teacher. Like changing oil on a car, or fixing something around the house. It was just the way I was brought up and the way my parents did things. If something was broken, you called somebody who knew what they were doing.

One day my dad locked his keys in the car, and he's about to call a locksmith. My best friend at the time took total charge of the situation, went in through the trunk, took out the back seat, crawled through and got the door open for him. Then put the seat back in.
As we were leaving I asked him in amazement 'how did you learn how to do that?'
He says 'I just figured it out as I was doing it'
As if it was nothing.

But major life changing moment on my part. Like a lightbulb going off in my brain... holy crap..you could actually figure out how to do something while you were doing it and not have to be taught how?? I think that one event shaped just about everything else that's ever happened in my life cause now when everybody's standing around saying things like 'I don't know how to use a VCR' or 'I don't understand computers' or 'I don't know how to do that' or whatever, I think back to that moment and the first thing I do is jump in start trying to figure it out for myself. 9 times out of 10, I can solve the problem myself.

Saved me a bundle on home repairs, learned guitar, recording and computers, web programming, photography and film editing...the list is endless.

I think if my friend hadn't done that that day, I'd never have taken up guitar or learned half the things I know now.

Can i mess up so badly that my guitar would need reparing?( Yes i know in pretty paranoid!!)

providing you don't cut all your strings at once you will be fine

I doubt it, unless you're a complete vegetable.
About the worse that could happen is breaking a new string by stretching it too much. A guitar is basically a piece of wood with a few gears on it.
There's not that much that you can break unless you're really trying.

Dude... go to the library, surf the web, buy a book or whatever and just learn how to do it. Check the guitar manufacturer and see if they have their own site with tips on it. Sign up for High Bandwidth for a month and watch a video showing the whole process in detail. It's really not that hard.
Asking this question is kinda like asking 'should I tie my own shoes or get somebody else to do it?'

I attempted to change my strings today for the first time.... and I learned a lesson. Always have more than one package of strings around...

I busted a string. I guess I kinked the string at the tuner and pow it busted when I tried to tune it.

I'm going to take it to the shop tomorrow and ask if I can watch them string it.

My guitar is still in tact though - just made me jump a mile when the string snapped....

It happens.. hell, I'm always doing it.
Wait until you poke yourself with the end of a string and draw blood. That's when the real fun starts.

Originally Posted by: Tonja_ReneeI attempted to change my strings today for the first time.... and I learned a lesson. Always have more than one package of strings around...

I busted a string. I guess I kinked the string at the tuner and pow it busted when I tried to tune it.

I'm going to take it to the shop tomorrow and ask if I can watch them string it.

My guitar is still in tact though - just made me jump a mile when the string snapped....

let me know if they let you watch

Hopefully. But maybe not tho. Just some advice from a guy who used to run a music store.
Call first and ask them everything you want to know. Can they do it on the spot, can you watch, is there a flat rate... might as well find out everything before you waste your time going there. Are they helpful. Is the guy trying to end the conversation early or acting uninterested...
Give your business to the store that makes time for you no matter what age you are, treats you with respect and is completely truthful. If you ask a question and the guy guesses the answer instead of finding out for sure, go somewhere else.

Unfortunately, if the store is like any typical music store, they're not going to have time to do it right on the spot because there'll be other customers and other things that take priority. (lessons, other customers, repairs, calls, messages etc...)
It's also in their best interest to not let you watch them do it. That way they can keep you coming back as a repeat customer.
Watch the price. Some stores will charge you $60/hr to work on your guitar so make sure they have a flat rate and pick out the strings yourself. (some stores will push strings on 'special' that are actually bought off the grey market and are already half dead.
Never believe anything a salesperson tells you. It's their job to move merchandise and they'll say anything to get the highest commision or move a crappy item that's been sitting in the store for 6 months.

Best time to visit the store is not first thing in the morning when they open or last thing at night just before they close.
Most music stores are really busy right when they open because everybody thinks that if you go early you'll beat the crowd. Unfortunately, 20 other people have thought the exact same thing that day and they all show up at once. Don't show up at lunch time because the staff will be stretched thin because half of them are on their lunch hour.
Best time to go in is mid morning in the middle of the week.
ie, 10:30 a.m. on a Tuesday or Wednesday. The Monday morning earlybirders have wound down and the staff is usually walking around with nothing to do, pretending to look busy.

I took my guitar into the shop today and they went over everything that I did and said - they appeared to be installed ok, but tuned wrong...

He asked to see my tuner - which I showed him - I have a chromatic electronic tuner and somehow the key got changed from C to F... He said I did pretty good for the first time, and it was not a big deal. He said at least you tried to change them which is good.

Everything else was ok. - At least now I know what I did wrong - and I definately learned something from that mistake.

>This book< by Dan Erlewine covers just about any 'how to' you could ever want to know.

Originally Posted by: Tonja_Renee
Everything else was ok. - At least now I know what I did wrong - and I definately learned something from that mistake.

Groovy. :)

First time I took my guitar in to ask a question, the salesguy looked at me like I was wasting his time. I said the guitar sounded like it was out of tune (and it was, cause it was a piece of crap and couldn't be tuned). He picks it up, plays a D and C chord, hands it back to me and says 'sounds ok to me'. Then he moves on to the next customer.
I was so young I thought it was the way you were supposed to get treated so I left. Wish I could go back in time and live that moment over again. :cool:

When I was thirteen when Moses was alive. I changed my strings. I am like Schmange's guy in the trunk.. I do most things myself first and since you learn by your mistakes I must be one of the smartest people around cause I make a lot mistakes. Just ask my wife, she will gladly tell you... The mistake I made with changing my strings is that I didn't know how to tune a guitar.. So I tighted the garbage out of them. (It was a cheep accoustic). Well it was so tight it ripped the bridge out to a 35% angle. And also made two nice holes in the guitar. I didn't get upset, Why? cause "I"could fix it. So I got two bolts and used jar covers for washers on the inside of the guitar. The next Day I went to my first guitar lesson. Till this day any time you hear someone laugh and you don't know what for or who it is. It is my Guitar teacher. So just one important thing DON"T OVER TIGHTEN THE STRINGS. Use a Tuner!!!!!

From the very first time that I walked into the store and basically didn't know a thing about guitars (although I don't know much more now).. Dave (the Assistant Manager) was great he explained about laminate tops and solid tops and really alot of information about brands etc... and told me to go home and not to buy anything yet.. process the information, do a little research then come back. Which if he really wanted to he could of just about pawned anything off on my at the time and I would have bought it. I wanted a guitar, and I'm not good at waiting for anything... :p

I have always been intimidated by that whole scene - because I'm a woman and you kind of get the feeling when it comes to guitars that its a man's world. But being a chick that knows the difference between a cam and crank shaft I wasn't going to let that scare me off...

So when I showed up today with my guitar, embarrassed by the fact that I messed up - he was really great. He opened up my case and looked everything over and explained different things to me and was really great about it. I spent a fair amount of money on my first guitar, and he probably feels that if he makes a little investment of time on his part - that I would be back to buy more expensive guitars in the future...