How to Put a String on a Mandolin

Although it may not be obvious, it is actually very easy to change a mandolin string once you know how.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A mandolin
• A new string

1. The first thing you have to do is the one thing that most people would miss - you have to remove the tailpiece cover. The best and safest way to do this is to use a heavy guitar pick - you probably already have one in your case, and you can't scratch your mandolin with it. Just slide it in the seam at the very bottom and gently but firmly lift it up and off. Be careful though; if this is your first time changing a string the cover might be kind of sticky.

2. Loosen the string completely and unwind it from the peg. You should be able to easily remove the string at the base by unhooking it from the tailpiece.

3. Hook the new string at the tailpiece and thread it through the hole in the peg.

4. loop the string underneath itself on the peg and tighten it up, then tune it to the correct pitch.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are replacing all of the strings, do them one at a time to avoid moving the bridge
• Be careful not to wind the string too tight - that can snap the string and cause damage to you or your mandolin

[musicdeb]

on 5/26/2009 Thanks for the info on how to string a mandolin. I inherited my dad's, and I know very little about what to do with it!