2005-09-14

How To Change Your Electric Guitar Strings

How To Change Your Electric Guitar Strings
by: Mantius Cazaubon

Many guitarists, especially beginners, struggle with changing
electric guitar strings. But it really is a simple exercise.
Here's a straightforward guide you can follow:

Tools.

You will need a small needle nose pliers to cut and bend the
strings, and a string winder to help you wind the strings
quickly.

Remove the string.

You should change each guitar string one at a time. That way, you
will avoid warping the guitar neck, and you will be able to
quickly tune the new string to the other strings.

I usually remove the 6th string first. Use your string winder and
turn the tuning peg until the string becomes very slack. Now cut
off the twisted end of the old string so that it slips easily out
of the guitar. Then wind the top section of your string out of
the tuning peg.

What you do next will vary depending on the type of electric
guitar you have. The one I'm using, the strings go through the
body. Remove the old string. Pay close attention to the way your
old string comes off, and do the opposite when putting a new one
back on.

Relace the string.

Now let's put back a new string. Feed the string through a hole
in the body of your electric guitar, or the tail piece. As said
earlier, it depends on your particular electric guitar. Get the
ball end of your string in place.

Now pull the string over the bridge, over the nut of the neck,
and up past the tuning peg. Make sure it isn't slack. The new
string is very long so you will have to cut some of it off. Leave
enough string for a few winds around the tuning peg. Two inches
above the peg should work.

Pull the string through the hole of the tuning peg and begin
winding it. The string shouldn't be slack. To keep the tension,
place your fingers under the string. With the guitar facing you,
wind the tuning pegs on the left side clockwise. Wind those on
the right side anticlockwise.

To speed up the winding process, place your string winder over
the tuning peg and wind until the string becomes tight. Then take
off the peg winder and use the tuning peg to tune the string.

Now that you've changed and tuned your 6th string, you can just
repeat the process for all the other strings.

Breaking in.

Since the strings are new, they can stretch and go out of tune
easily. They need to break in. You can speed up the breaking in
process by stretching the string yourself. Give the strings a few
gentle pulls or do some spirited strumming.

You will find yourself having to tune your guitar quite a bit
after replacing your strings. But after one or two days
everything should be okay.

About The Author

Mantius Cazaubon offers a buying guide to helping you choose an
electric guitar that meets your needs on his site,
http://www.electric-guitars-guide.com/. Visit
http://www.electric-guitars-guide.com  for electric guitar
lessons, tips, and reviews.

2005-09-01

Hurricane Katrina

I received this, read it, agree with it and now offer it to you to pass along. Boy! Some people. Joe Sansoucie.

I normally don't write about things like this, but sometimes
you have to speak up about things that are just plain wrong!

I have been watching the news about Hurricane Katrina as I am sure
you have been too. My heart goes out to these people and I pray
they get the assitance they need as fast as humanly possible.

What makes me sick are the emails I have been receiving over
the past few days from people "claiming" to help. Maybe they
are sincere maybe not. I don't know.

Case #1 - A Scumbag Marketer

One marketer sent out information about how you can help. I
clicked on the link because I want to help out as much as I
possibly can.

Here's what made me sick to my stomach...

He had the nerve to actually require you to enter your name
and email address into an optin box in order to get the info!!!

What a marketing SCUMBAG! I normally don't talk like this, but
this one really got on my nerves. Why not just give the info?

Is this guy really that bad off that he has to profit
from these poor people? That's about as low as it gets!!!

Case #2 - Buy My Crap and I'll Donate (I don't think so)

I am certainly not going to buy anyone's stuff and HOPE that my
money goes to these people. Think about it, it first has to go
to this person and then they have to take out their supposed
costs and then, MAYBE, they'll forward they money on to a worthy
charity.

I DON'T THINK SO!!!

What is this person thinking? Hmmmm... if I use this DISASTER
which has left thousand of people HOMELESS... I can get my
product into the hands of more people... YOU IDIOT!

Again... another person who seems to be high on crack!

If you want to by a product, then buy a product. If you want
to donate, then donate directly to the source. PERIOD!

You don't have to buy a product in order to donate your
money to worthy charity or organization. Just do it.

Let me make my stance PERFECTLY CLEAR!

YOU DON'T PROFIT FROM OTHER PEOPLE'S MISFORTUNES!

These people are devastated, they lost their jobs, their homes,
some lost their loved one's lives, or maybe even their own life
due this major catastrophe...

How dare these people try to profit from this distaster!

I urge you to NOT support these SCUMBAGS!

If You Want To Help The Hurricane Efforts

Here's two links to legitimate organizations to  donate your
money to if you want to help.

    FEMA - http://www.fema.gov
    Red Cross - http://www.redcross.org


Feel free to pass this message on to someone else.

Locals Raise 500,000 For Flood Victims.

Driving home tonight after visiting a friend listening to the radio, I heard that local southern California residents had raised half a million dollars for flood victims today at the Anaheim Pond and I believe he said Dodger stadium in Los Angeles.

The radio station KLOS 95.5 and one other I couldn't catch because of freeway noise were responsible. Half a million dollars in one day! Wow. Amazing how fast and how readily these folks stepped up to the plate to lend a hand financially to help the folks in the south.

The DJ explained that folks just drove up, rolled down the window and handed either a check, cash or in some cases bags of loose change. If you wish to help wherever you live, contact your local Red Cross to make your donation. I am sure any amount will be fine.

The official site for the Red Cross is listed below.

http://www.redcross.org

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