Hello fellow Ernie Ball fans! I've just purchased a Music Man Silhouette 20th anniversary guitar today, ok aware the previous owner hasn't changed the strings in a while, I've been changing my own strings for a number if years but not on a bridge with a tremolo, is it ok to take all 6 strings off to be able to give the neck a clean? Also does the gauge of the string I'm going to put on matter?
- Thread starter Adman85
- Start date
Spudmurphy
Well-known member
Hi Adman and welcome to the forum.
You will be ok to take all the strings off your guitar to clean the neck.
- It's what I do with my (Trem) Albert Lee guitars.
You should be able to fit 9's and 10's with no problem. I haven't fitted 11's personally - I have on another brand guitar and used pieces of string that I cut off to run through (back and forth) the nut, to make sure that there were no binding issues.
I'm sure someone will pitch in and say "your guitar don't exist without pics" - so I'd better say it first !!! lol
You will be ok to take all the strings off your guitar to clean the neck.
- It's what I do with my (Trem) Albert Lee guitars.
You should be able to fit 9's and 10's with no problem. I haven't fitted 11's personally - I have on another brand guitar and used pieces of string that I cut off to run through (back and forth) the nut, to make sure that there were no binding issues.
I'm sure someone will pitch in and say "your guitar don't exist without pics" - so I'd better say it first !!! lol
PY38
Well-known member
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- Sep 19, 2012
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Take one string off at a time. When you take off a string and replace, hold it in playing position and stretch, tune, stretch, tune until its somewhat stretched and tune. Repeat for each string.....This should keep you somewhat level. You may still need to adjust the springs somewhat.
When you are at tune and lets say you are off a cent or two flat or sharp on the tuning as a whole, dont keep tuning...adjust the spring claw to compensate to get you there. Only a tiny turn will do it, just enough so you dont throw the balance of the trem and so you dont have to keep tuning up etc....
different string gauges will most certainly matter.....if you go from 9's to 10's then a full refloat and intonation will need to be done. Be patient and get comfortable in the fact that you can do this but it will take time....if all else fails take to a tech so you dont pull your hair out...or save that money and just let it take time to perfect so you can do this yourself.....
The neck may need adjustment after a string change of different gauges so give it a read once the strings are on and then all adjustments after as this neck relief is the foundation of the setup....
Im not a tech but I have saved myself boat loads of money learning how to do my own setup.....
When you are at tune and lets say you are off a cent or two flat or sharp on the tuning as a whole, dont keep tuning...adjust the spring claw to compensate to get you there. Only a tiny turn will do it, just enough so you dont throw the balance of the trem and so you dont have to keep tuning up etc....
different string gauges will most certainly matter.....if you go from 9's to 10's then a full refloat and intonation will need to be done. Be patient and get comfortable in the fact that you can do this but it will take time....if all else fails take to a tech so you dont pull your hair out...or save that money and just let it take time to perfect so you can do this yourself.....
The neck may need adjustment after a string change of different gauges so give it a read once the strings are on and then all adjustments after as this neck relief is the foundation of the setup....
Im not a tech but I have saved myself boat loads of money learning how to do my own setup.....
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Spudmurphy
Well-known member
ha - No probs. From what I'm reading about your method, it seems more suited to a floating trem.
No need with a trem that is set hard to the deck, and with the EB classic style trems, they're not gonna "fly off" when you remove all the strings.
You've covered all the bases though with regard to intonation and trem spring tension, which I just left as a "given".
It's great when you learn how to do set ups though isn't it?
I see a lot of the work my guitar building buddy does - set ups etc and I scratch my head sometimes that some players just don't understand the most basic of concepts. But I gotta realise (my brother is a prime example), some people just aren't like that and would just rather play their guitars.
No need with a trem that is set hard to the deck, and with the EB classic style trems, they're not gonna "fly off" when you remove all the strings.
You've covered all the bases though with regard to intonation and trem spring tension, which I just left as a "given".
It's great when you learn how to do set ups though isn't it?
I see a lot of the work my guitar building buddy does - set ups etc and I scratch my head sometimes that some players just don't understand the most basic of concepts. But I gotta realise (my brother is a prime example), some people just aren't like that and would just rather play their guitars.
PY38
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2012
- Messages
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I WISH my ears were not so sensitive or picky to intonation as they are. This is how I learned to do such a comprehensive setup. At the end of the day though I wish I could ignore some of the inherent flaws of the guitar in general so I could just play. It is a great example of why I play EBMM, they are just better suited for a great and easy setup and take the guess work out of the equation.......And you are very correct in the fact you dont have to go to Defcom 5 with the normal trems as opposed to the floaters....lol...Actually once you get the floating setup under your thumb you can go to Defcom 1.....
I will say I use to send mine to a tech for setups but always ended up re-setting it up to my taste, so once I was able to do my own I saved money, got a better understanding of the process and can now do it much faster with no mystery.....Only setup I wont do are the necks that need to be taken off to adjust the truss...Thats frustrating!
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DrKev
Moderator
What ever you prefer. Try it both ways and find out.
Tollywood
Well-known member
What ever you prefer. Try it both ways and find out.
+1
Make sure to try it with 1 1/2 steps of back pull, like Luke prefers.
steevo
Well-known member
I personally always take all the strings off and have never had an issue with any of my guitars. I think people tend to talk a lot of rubbish when it comes to certain aspects of the guitar, advice and concerns based on no real evidence at all and all it does is scare people into doing things a certain way. A guitar neck is an extremely strong item and taking all the strings off wont hurt it one bit.
ksandvik
Well-known member
My only gripe with taking off all strings when replacing them is with Floyd Rose floating bridges. It's easier to replace just one string at a time and get it stabilized than start with all six strings from zero.
steevo
Well-known member
Ive got a strat with a Floyd, I just block it off while changing strings.
Warg Master
Well-known member
On my JPs (Floating, of course) I block the trem in the cavity and take all of the strings off. Clean the board, re-string it, tune it, remove the block, tune to pitch, intonate, tune and go!
steevo
Well-known member
And has your neck ever warped or snapped? Bet not.
Warg Master
Well-known member
Nope, never had one snap or warp.. had quite a few guitars in my time, let alone EBMM. All neck styles, bolt on, set neck, neck-thru.
Oh, I also have a sub 1 guitar that I don't have to block at all....
The method I've found that works best for floating trems, is to block off the trem and change 1 string at a time starting with the string that puts the least amount of tension on the neck. In order of tension (light to heavy) your string changes would go like this: B E G D E A. This puts the least amount of stress on the neck for quick string changes with minimal setup adjustments, I use this method for fixed bridge setups as well to try and keep the tension on the neck as even as possible.
steevo
Well-known member
Necks have a metal truss rod in, do u seriously think that by taking all the strings off that its really going to affect the neck that badly, would it really bend the truss rod? I don't think so.
Metlupass2
Well-known member
Yeah. There's a lot of misinformation in this thread. There is no need to change one string at a time. There's nothing to be afraid of. I stick some picks under the trem cavity to keep the bridge level, remove all strings, clean board, restring, tune, remove picks from trem cavity, adjust as needed.
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Hi steevo,
Just to clarify, Im not suggesting that removing all the strings will damage the neck in any way. Obvioulsy sometimes its neccesary to remove all the strings (in order to clean the neck etc). This will however have an impact on the tension pulling on the neck and the trem springs (as will removing a single string at a time but to a lesser extent) which in turn affects the neck angle, string height, bridge angle and intonation. This may or may not lead to adjustment of the truss rod, saddle height and bridge angle etc when all the strings are replaced
My point was that using the method described above tends to keep all the other adjustments to a minimum by putting the least amount of change in tension and stress on the neck and bridge, therefore potentially reducing your workload further down the line.
I've found over the years that for quick, easy string changes the B E G D E A method works great. I also tune this way on every guitar. Just my opinion so take it for whats its worth
Just to clarify, Im not suggesting that removing all the strings will damage the neck in any way. Obvioulsy sometimes its neccesary to remove all the strings (in order to clean the neck etc). This will however have an impact on the tension pulling on the neck and the trem springs (as will removing a single string at a time but to a lesser extent) which in turn affects the neck angle, string height, bridge angle and intonation. This may or may not lead to adjustment of the truss rod, saddle height and bridge angle etc when all the strings are replaced
My point was that using the method described above tends to keep all the other adjustments to a minimum by putting the least amount of change in tension and stress on the neck and bridge, therefore potentially reducing your workload further down the line.
I've found over the years that for quick, easy string changes the B E G D E A method works great. I also tune this way on every guitar. Just my opinion so take it for whats its worth
ksandvik
Well-known member
The reason I change one string at a time with a floating bridge, term blocked or not, is that it's a pain to adjust six constantly changing strings due to tension release and stretching happening across all of them, causing the floating bridge to move back and forth, causing the other strings to stretch and change and so on and so on... Easier to handle and stretch one string at at time and stabilize that one.
