Does Anyone Else Half-Wrap Strings?

[Rogerblair]

I’ve used that method and feel that it is a great way to install strings.

However I have this habit of switching strings around between my guitars, just to see what the tonal differences are, and it’s a little more tedious to unwrap and then reinstall on another guitar using this method.

This string swap thing is just part of the fun of the hobby to me. I’ve got many packs of “used” strings just for this activity. They’re all marked with what guitar(s) they’ve been on.

Rb

[Rudy4]

This looks like an "almost there" variant of the Taylor method that locks the string to the post and then allows at least a full wrap to lessen the majority of the stress on the string attachment point. The Taylor method works well. The Taylor method uses two bends in opposite directions as the string feeds through the string post and allows you to trim the string end below the top of the post, thereby removing the occasional errant poke from a string end.

I have experienced string slippage when using less than a full wrap when I was first starting out. I'm going to stick with what I've been doing for the last 55 years.

This is one of those "if it works for you..." topics.

[fazool]

mechanically, there is not extra strength from extra wraps - once you have enough, extras are not needed.

Extra wraps are a big negative and the slack and tuning instability comes directly from the number of wraps.


More wraps=tuning instability

[Jamolay]

I wonder about the forces on the tuner pin. Just the slightly higher takeoff from the pin would increase the lateral forces. Probably not an issue. My electrics have locking tuners and they don’t wrap to the bottom of the pin.

The other thought would be break angle over the nut. Again, on most guitars probably not a big issue.

[High_Colorado]

The story about the stern line on the ship is going to give me nightmares, I have always been worried about the string lacerating my eye as well, however now I am cheating with LOCKING 18 to 1 tuners!





upload images

[SecondCity]

Originally Posted by RJVB

Nice anecdote but I don't see how those 2 words do not make it irrelevant to the discussion at hand (not to mention the fact that guitar scale length rarely changes in ways to put comparable stress on the strings, even with a tremolo )

I *could* imagine that the part of the string going through the peghole undergoes a larger stress when there are fewer windings, though. The few times I had a high E break when putting it back on were always in the beginning of the process, when it had just begun to being put under tension.

I hear that, but any situation that leads to the phrase "broken hip and a lacerated scrotum" is one I'd avoid the rest of my life too, even if it is a bit irrational. I can't imagine the impression that leaves . . .

[GoPappy]

Not relevant to the original post, but that moment when the brand new High E string breaks when tuning up to pitch is such a bummer moment.

[rollypolly]

Sometimes I've ended up with with only one wrap around the post but it's usually two or three. I like to leave a little extra in case I want to remove the strings to try on another guitar. Leaves extra bit for re-installing.

[Mycroft]

Not planning on ever tuning down, are ye?

[Mark Stone]

Originally Posted by Italuke

Of course, DON'T try that with nylon strings. 😁

Actually, it works better on nylon strings - I use the same method on my Yairi Classical.

[Mark Stone]

Originally Posted by GoPappy

Not relevant to the original post, but that moment when the brand new High E string breaks when tuning up to pitch is such a bummer moment.

A fellow guitarist in a band I was in in the early 1980s experienced similar stress when tuning up the E - so I snuck up behind him a couple of times and did one hand clap. It was hilarious! I got to do it only a couple of times though - he kept his eye on me from then on.

[TBman]

No, I do at least 3 wraps on all of the strings.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by Mark Stone

so I snuck up behind him a couple of times and did one hand clap. It was hilarious!

Reminds me of that time a foreman and his associate doing some work on our garage and the associate asked me to hold an electric wire so he could connect the wall outlet or something of the sort. When he had his hands in there and his back turned I made an electric sizzling noise. The look on both their faces was priceless, though I felt a bit sorry for how the boss started to react

[SingingSparrow]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

Not planning on ever tuning down, are ye?

this can be an issue

i am always in a hurry when putting strings on. will stick the end through the post, bend, wind close to pitch, get on with the other ones. and then final tuning before cutting.

i've certainly made the bend too early sometimes and have had just a half wrap on the bass strings. this can be an issue when tuning down (say to cgcgce or cgdgcd etc etc)

[Mark Stone]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

Not planning on ever tuning down, are ye?

The only "alternate" tunings I use, and rarely, is a drop D and an open G tuning where I tune down both E strings and the A to make an open G. Still, no problems - - -