Secret Tips to Restring Your Guitar with Francis Steuber

Editor note: It seems the YouTube videos have been removed, however luckily I summarized the process at the end of this post.

If you’re a gigging guitar player, restringing your instrument is a regular requirement. Francis Steuber (guitar tech for KISS) has some great tips to help you restring your guitar in the best way possible. Gibson Guitars managed to catch up with this amazing guitar tech a few years ago, and got him to spill his guts on the best kept secrets in the industry. Now you can learn to restring your instrument in exactly the same way as legends such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Satriani and others.

After applying the methods in the video clinic delivered by Francis Steuber, I was amazed at how much more comfortable my guitar felt after a string change. Yes, you can buy the same guitar as the greats in any guitar store, but unless you use the methods found in this clinic you’re not going to get the most out of your instrument. By applying these tips to my guitar, I ended up increasing its playability by at least 60 percent!

Here is the video series (Part 1 to 7). Gibson seems to have uploaded the same video for parts 2 and 3, so I’ve excluded part 3. Below the videos you will find a summary of the methods (in order) injected with my own opinions and experiences.

Instructions

• According to Francis, taking your instrument to a music store in order to have the strings replaced is completely unnecessary. He believes it’s something that you can easily do on your own.
• Francis removes all the old strings at once. Personally I don’t do this in order to maintain the tension of my neck. Normally it’s perfectly safe to remove all the strings provided your neck is not prone to losing its tension.
• He proceeds to clean the fretboard using a product called Gorgomyte. Cleaning your fretboard is absolutely necessary in order to keep dirt from getting on your new strings. If you don’t do this, a new pair of strings will die instantly. Gorgomyte is the best fingerboard cleaning solution out there and I can’t imagine my life without it. Not only does it clean your fretboard, but it also conditions it resulting in much better playability. If you’re using Gorgomyte make sure you follow the instructions carefully on the back of the packaging. After you’re done rubbing down your neck, use your fingernail to apply the cloth to the sides of your frets.
• After cleaning, Francis restrings the guitar with a fresh pair of strings. He adds slack by going one tuning post further for each new string. He does this by making a small bend in the string after measuring the correct amount of slack. After placing the string through the tuning post, he wraps the string over the protruding end when tuning up for 1 turn. He then wraps the string underneath in order to lock the string into place and keep it in tune. Personally I don’t do this because the guitar I’m currently using (Music Man) has tuning locks that allow me to clip in the string so it ends up being the same principle. I also add less slack because my tuning posts only allow the strings to be wrapped around them once. Francis only cuts off the excess once he has strung up and stretched all the strings. Personally I cut off the excess immediately as it gets in my way.
• Before the string is wound completely tight, he squeezes a very small amount of Big Bends Nut Sauce into the groove of the nut where the string is placed. This product has a great reputation amongst many professional guitar players, including Joe Satriani who uses it to achieve his extreme whammy bar pyrotechnics without his guitar going out of tune. It can also be applied to other areas of the guitar, such as where each string connects with the bridge as well as other moving parts such as the springs at the back.
• After he has completed all of the above, he tunes each string up to pitch and then proceeds to effectively stretch each individual string. His method of stretching involves pulling the string up by the pickup area. With his left hand he applies pressure to the string on the neck, and slides his hand up and down. According to Francis, this is also a great way of discovering whether the string is going to break somewhere along the line. (Note: it’s very easy to break the high E string, so don’t apply much pressure to this one when pulling.)
• Francis then uses his thumb to push down on each string right next to where it connects with the saddle as well as the nut. This helps to further stretch the string into place. He then tunes each string to pitch again.
• After the string change is complete, Francis makes sure that the guitar neck is perfectly straight. I prefer replacing and stretching my strings one by one in order to avoid having to adjust the tension of my neck. He checks his neck by looking down the top and side of the neck from the headstock area. For a perfectly straight neck, make sure the top and sides of all the frets line up.
• He then proceeds to check the action settings on the guitar. This refers to the string height from the fretboard. This comes down to personal preference. I like a low action while others prefer it high. I don’t recommend adjusting the action on your guitar yourself. Take it to your local guitar technician to have it done.
• When everything is completed, Francis proceeds to intonate the guitar. Guitars rarely lose intonation, however it’s a good idea to check it from time to time. Intonation refers to the pitch of each octave on the guitar neck. The notes on the high E (double dotted fret) need to be in tune with each open string. This is usually adjusted with an Allen key on the bridge end. Use a tuner to ensure that the notes are perfectly in tune.