Get By Without damage.

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guitarist6614

New member
Alright so just about every guitar expert ive talked to says to never take off all the strings at once because it will damage your guitar or whatever. They just never told me how to take them off without damageing anything. I want to replace pickups and will need all the strings off to do so. So how do i go about doing this? :) thanks
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

How are you going to damage your guitar by removing all the strings at once?
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

idsnowdog said:
How are you going to damage your guitar by removing all the strings at once?
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My dad tried to tell me this and I couldn't keep a straight face.

It's complete bull****, I've had all the strings off MANY guitars and left them off long enough to clean, oil, and polish the neck. No damage here, not even on my $100 BC rich.
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

One time I removed all the strings at once on my Les Paul, and, without the strings counteracting the tension of the trussrod, the neck bent backwards and snapped in two.


















Nah, just kidding.
:smack:

It's Ok to change all the strings at once. You gotta find experts with more expertise.
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

I can see a problem with cutting a whole set off a guitar that is tuned to pitch... it would be a sudden change in tension, but if they are slacked first, you won't have a problem.
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

worst thing it'll do is wreck your setup if you have a LP or anything with a TOM style bridge. if there are no strings to hold the bridge down, it falls off and the thumb screws get all out of whack.

it's nothing 10 minutes of tweaking can't fix after you've got 'er all strung up again.
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

My Patriot goes through phases of sitting with no strings, (and with the neck removed), for weeks or months at a time. When I restring it, it plays fine and settles into tune in a normal amount of time. I suppose its possible that the construction type of the body might affect this. Perhaps, a hollow-body or semi-hollow is more sensitive to this. Perhaps.
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

I've heard that the idea is that once the strings are off, the neck bows backwards under the tension of the truss rod and so opens up the fret slots allowing them to pop up out of position. A repair man might know better as to whether this is a real issue, but in over 25 years of playing, I've never once encountered it actually happening to anyone. I get the urban myths about this one if you ask me...

>;o))
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

ArtieToo said:
My Patriot goes through phases of sitting with no strings, (and with the neck removed), for weeks or months at a time. When I restring it, it plays fine and settles into tune in a normal amount of time. I suppose its possible that the construction type of the body might affect this. Perhaps, a hollow-body or semi-hollow is more sensitive to this. Perhaps.
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+1 The neck of my brother's Predator was detatched for about four months while I was stripping and re-painting it. I don't even think I had to adjust the truss rod any.

I'd be cautious about snipping all the strings at once while they're at full tension, but if you slacken them first there should be no problems whatsoever.
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

for short periods not a big deal. its not a great idea to leave strings off for extended periods of time since its possible that a neck could do weird things but not very likely
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

My Les Paul buzzes like mad whenever I put new strings on, but that's just the tune-o-matic bridge being a pain in the arse, and it's rather easy to adjust.

Actually, recently, three of my strings snapped (at once.. Like.. I did a triple stop on the upper three strings, and just.. sliced through them..) so I took all of my strings off, and my 'Paul sat there for about a week without strings (as I couldnt go out for any).

Since then, I've bought strings in maaad bulk.
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

guitarist6614 said:
Alright so just about every guitar expert ive talked to says to never take off all the strings at once because it will damage your guitar or whatever. They just never told me how to take them off without damageing anything. I want to replace pickups and will need all the strings off to do so. So how do i go about doing this? :) thanks
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Where do you get your experts; by the dozen at k-mart?:chairfall

Sorry i'm not usually sarcastic but really...
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

JacksonMIA said:
The neck of my brother's Predator was detatched for about four months while I was stripping and re-painting it.
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Got pics? :)
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

octavedoctor said:
Where do you get your experts; by the dozen at k-mart?:chairfall

Sorry i'm not usually sarcastic but really...
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Yeah, really!
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

Some have said the setup can change. There is one situation that can happen. The truss rod is usually floating in the neck. Most modern rods are floaters, whether they're singles or doubles. So with all the strings off, the neck can "re-set" in a slightly straighter (or more backbowed) position. But even that usually comes out in a day or so, and doing a slack dive bomb with a Floyd can have the same effect short term, too. It's all a waste of time IMO because nothing "bad" can happen really, just minor setup issues, that even the amateur can usually work through.
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

ArtieToo said:
Got pics? :)
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Of the guitar, or of the neck sitting by itself? :D

I don't guess I got any before pics of the guitar when it was still assembled, but here's the body. It just had a white, strat-style pickguard with three singles.
DSC01366.jpg


After:
DSC01745.jpg


If you'll copy the link that picture's coming from and paste it in the address bar you can browse through the others.
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

I left the strings off of my Walmart guitar(Now sold and long gone) for weeks at a time. That thing was a huge pos and nothing happened to it.
 
Re: Get By Without damage.

I had heard this "myth" too, and didn't think much of it. Then, when I got my new 335, and the instructions said (does reading reading instructions mean I lose my man badge?) - don't remove all the strings all at once.

I laugh at danger! :laugh2: :laugh2: so what the heck? I removed all the strings...

The nut, the bridge, and the tail piece - all fell off! :smack:

I'm doomed!

Then I regained my composure, I figured out how to put all that stuff back on. But I guess that's because I'm a guitar genius! :banana: :banana: Anyone else may have problems.
 
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