It’s no secret that guitars need a good string change once in a while. How often you choose to change them depends on how much you play and how much you like the sound of new strings. I personally dislike the bright sound of new strings at least on my electric. So I don’t change mine that often.
But at some point your old rusty strings will have to be changed. Especially if they are no longer holding a tune.
Some guitar players do not like changing strings because of the time it takes new ones to stabilize and hold a tuning. But breaking in a fresh set of strings doesn’t have to take two days! The secret to breaking in a new set of guitar strings quickly is to stretch them a few times. This takes less than a minute and your guitar strings will instantly hold a better tuning.
How to stretch new guitar strings
After putting your strings on your guitar, tune it up to standard pitch or whatever tuning you normally use. It doesn’t have to be perfectly in tune just close because when we stretch the strings, they will go out of tune.
To stretch the strings simple pull them upwards away from your guitar’s body. Don’t be afraid to put a little bit of force behind it! It doesn’t have to be a lot but you want to see those strings move!
As you pull them upward, run your hand along the length of the string from the bridge to the headstock and slightly wave the string back and forth. This will stretch the entire length.
Do this with all 6 strings for your first pass. You will have to tune it back up again as this will knock the strings out of tune. After making 3 passes or so your new strings will be stretched and will hold a tuning much better than if you did not stretched them. I do this with every set of new strings I put on and it really helps them hold a tuning much faster.
Now that you have your new guitar strings stretched and ready to rock, would you like to know the fastest and easiest way to tune your guitar by ear? If so, see the following article!
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