Neat Accoustic Guitar Tip

[Chistopher]

I don't know if this is anything new, but I found it pretty useful. I decided to restring my 26" scale accoustic for a camping trip I'm going on, but my strings weren't long enough to get a good number of wraps around the tuning posts.

So, having never fallen asleep at my Floyd Rose owners club meetings, I decide to put the strings on backwards. Then pull the ball end right up against the tuning post and put the other end through the bridge. There should be just about as much tension as you would with locking tuners. Since the string is locked by the bridge pegs and the ball end of the strings, you essentially have a double locking setup.

There are two main benefits to doing it this way:

1- Tuning stability. This method of stringing combined with a well cut nut and a stable neck should require very little tuning. I played my accoustic for about an hour after stringing it this way and it was about 1/4 cent out of tune at the most, and that was on the pesky d and g strings, which have break angle issues at the nut anyway.

2- String saving. If you have your guitar strung with the extra string through the guitar body and your string breaks at the nut or tuner, you still have a little extra string to possibly salvage the string to be strung the traditional way. There is a slight issue of the strings jangling around in the body, but if you don't shake the guitar around too much it can best be described as reverb. If you don't like it you can cut the strings shorter before stringing.

Again, I rarely dust off my accoustics, so I don't know if this trick is too common or not, but I felt it would be useful to share it.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Neat Accoustic Guitar Tip

I.put locking tuners on everything

I thought the ball gave some grip beneath the bridge.pins

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Neat Accoustic Guitar Tip

What kind of strings are you using that weren't long enough? Admittedly, I use very, very few wraps on the posts, but I've never cut less than several inches of excess string from any instrument.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Neat Accoustic Guitar Tip

What kind of strings are you using that weren't long enough? Admittedly, I use very, very few wraps on the posts, but I've never cut less than several inches of excess string from any instrument.

I got a friend who works at a guitar store and every now and then he gives me a whole bunch of factory second strings from some boutique string maker he orders from. Most of the time the issue is they are a bit too short. Some times it doesn't make a difference, but in this case I had maybe an a quarter inch of string left after I got it to the post on the d and g.

And Ehdwuld, I think the ball end is mostly there for guitars without pegs. In my admittedly limit experience, doing it backwards has little to no effect on tuning stability.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Neat Accoustic Guitar Tip

Also, check the metal on the tuners. The ball ends can put little dents in them (I've seen this in FR-equipped electrics). I' will just say the 'tie the string around the post' thing is archaic and has had its time. Spend more time playing, I say! It is time for a better way.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Neat Accoustic Guitar Tip

Can a bridge pin really anchor a string solidly enough without the ball end?

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Neat Accoustic Guitar Tip

Also, check the metal on the tuners. The ball ends can put little dents in them (I've seen this in FR-equipped electrics). I' will just say the 'tie the string around the post' thing is archaic and has had its time. Spend more time playing, I say! It is time for a better way.

I will have to check on that later. This is my beater accoustic so if it does any damages it won't be a major issue. It does have some solid steel tuners, so I'm not extremely worried.

This system would be perfected if the posts had a little slot for the ball end to slide into. As for the bridge pins being able to successfully lock the string without the ball end, I shall see. But I am having no issues at the moment, but different string gauges might react differently.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Neat Accoustic Guitar Tip

Now that I think about it string slippage over time might be an issue, but if it is, a simple well placed knot could do the trick to stop it. I'd be more worried about the plain strings than the unwound though.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Neat Accoustic Guitar Tip

Either way, with something like baritone scale length being more popular, it isn't fun to have to hunt down specific strings for it. Strings (and how they are affixed to the guitar) are something that have been the same for decades. Yes, it works, but I get the feeling that it hasn't been refined because 'it has always been that way', which to me is not a good enough reason to keep doing something.

 

[MrTondo]

Re: Neat Accoustic Guitar Tip

You can see that the ball ends usually cut into the bridgeplate over time. That is also one of the reasons there is a bridge plate. The strings and ball ends would cut into the spruce and your top would be ruined over time. The bridge plate is harder wood usually (maple, rosewood etc.) so it can withstand it a little longer, before it needs to be replaced.

So indeed, the strings will slip over time. I'd watch out while tuning (or heavily strumming) that guitar . But it's a nice hack anyway. and if you change strings rather often, it just may hold long enough. Tuning stability I don't really know though...