How to String Classical Guitars

Video Transcript

"Hello my name is James Manuele. I'm a guitarist and instructor here at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington and today I will demonstrate how to string a classical guitar. The first thing you want to do is string the string behind the bridge base of the classical guitar and then tie it one loop and then tie it back of the base itself. Keep in mind I will demonstrate to string on the sixth string of the guitar and you will follow suit with the rest of the strings. I will feed the base string in back of the bridge base as follows, putting it all the way through giving yourself about an inch to a inch and a half of string left to tie the string then I will take the excess string I have in my right hand and I will loop it around the string that is already through the base and pulling it slightly. Then leave yourself a little opening on the loop on the back of the bridge base and put the excess string behind it. Now when you pull on this try to keep the knot that you will make briefly behind the bridge base so it's going to tighten up behind this bridge giving you leeway to pull on the string and feed it through the roller on the upper keys. Keep in mind it is there but it is not completely tight then I would take the rest of the string I would feed it through the roller going down into the roller, still giving the string some play, taking the base string, feeding it back through as such, pulling on it giving it a little play. Now because this is the sixth string of the guitar you can't refeed it back in the hole. There isn't any room but the base string is a rather thick string so it should take, just by winding the string slowly. You want to keep the string in the nut slot keeping it in position as you wind. So I'm going to take the keys of the guitar. I'm going to slowly wind clockwise so it is starting to loop the string, notice tightening right away and the string will cover the hole that the loop is in. As it tightens it is going to tighten the string by itself, covering the hole then you want to go down back to the bridge making sure that knot is still there behind the bridge base, very often pushing this string towards the bridge giving it the angle it needs to be tightened, go back again, slowly tighten the string, and as the string starts to tighten it locks in the nut, excuse me it locks in the roller, it doesn't come out as you continue, tighten the strings, the loop you have behind the bridge base will start to close. Go back, check, as you can see the loop you have and knot behind the bridge base is still there and it is not giving away. Most of the base strings all you need is one loop behind it, some of the treble strings usually it's the E and the B you need to loop twice and then lock it behind the bridge. As I'm continuing to tighten the string, wrong way, the base string takes hold, covering the hole and it is not slipping. As you get the string in place you can start tuning the guitar string. As you are changing strings if you are changing strings on a guitar that needs a full set of guitar strings it is always good to change one string at a time, not releasing the full tension on the top so I just changed the sixth strings, the sixth string of the classical guitar. As you continue changing the rest of the strings change one string at a time thus keeping the top in tune and the tension still on the top without releasing the full tension. A new set of strings will always stretch. So whether we change one string or six strings it is always good to change strings on a classical guitar from time to time. Often the nylon string guitars will lose its sustain its brightness and it is always a good idea to have an extra set of strings to change how many strings you need to change and always keep the guitar bright and lively."