How to Loosen the Strings on Your Old Electric Guitar

Video Transcript

"MATT GRAHAM: When you're changing your strings, you'll generally want to find a table or a bed or I've got an ottoman here that you can set the guitar on in front of you. I'm right-handed. I like to have the headstock pointing to my left. And I usually get a pillow or some soft object that's not going to scratch the back of the neck so that I can prop it up to--so that the headstock is not laying flat on the surface I'm working on. You can also if you have a hard case with a compartment inside, you can sometimes open the compartment of the case and prop up the neck of the guitar on the lid. So the first step that we're going to want to do to change these strings is to remove the old strings. And I'm just going to take my string-winder tool and put it on the low E string and start loosening the string. And generally, it's going to be that you will turn the tuning key or tuner clockwise to loosen the strings, assuming they've been put on the right way. Again, you can also just as easily use your fingers for this process. And if you're new at this, you can look and just visually see the string is loosening, or you can also just pluck the string as you loosen it. And you'll see if you're going the wrong way, if you're tightening the string, the note will go higher. But if you're loosening it, it will get lower and lower until the strings are basically just rattling against the frets. So again, I'm going to get these really loose. And now we're ready to move on."