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Old 12-31-2009, 05:28 PM
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devellis devellis is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: North Carolina
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I'v used every method and the one I prefer by far is as follows:

For wound strings -

1. Insert ball end and replace peg

2. Pull string up to the headstock, placing it in the appropriate nut slot

3. Wrap it around the tuner peg one and a half times (counter-clockwise for E, A, and D; clockwise for G), starting flush against the headstock and working your way upward along the shaft.

4. Place the string through the hole in the tuner shaft after it has been wound around the shaft.

5. Bend the portion of the string exiting the hole in the shaft by pulling the string sideways.

6. Tune it up.

7. Trim the string

This method works great and gives a very neat appearance, with about two winds on each tuner shaft.

Depending on the strings you use, this method may not hold securely on plain strings. You can take the more approach more conservatively by winding more times before passing the string through the hole, but I actually don't use this method on the plains.

For the plains -

1. Make sure that the hole in the shaft is aimed just a bit clockwise of the axis of the neck.

2. Put in the string ball and replace the peg.

3. Slide the string through through the hole with a couple or three fingers between the strings and fingerboard to give some slack.

4. Bring the loose end of the string (which exits the hole aiming up toward the end of the headstock) around counter-clockwise, pass it under the portion of the string extending down to the bridge, and bend it back over the string it just passed under. I actually also pull it around the peg about quarter way in a clockwise direction. While doing this, I keep tension on the fixed end of the string (by bending the fingers between the strings and fretboard) so that the string is rigid enough to bend the free end over it.

5. Holding some tension on the string end, I tune up the string, slipping my fingers out from between the string and fingerboard as the tension takes up the slack.

6. Tune it up.

7. Cut off the excess string length.

What this method does, is it creates a "V-fold" in the string, open to the left. The "V" itself is formed from the portion of the string that has already gone through the hole and its apex closes around the portion not yet through the hole. As you turn the tuner to tighten the string, it rotates clockwise and the wrap locks the apex of the "V" against the post. With only one or two winds, the string end thus holds very firmly because it's cinched in between the post and the windings.

I love this method. It's very secure and there is minimal excess string on any post. It thus looks very tidy and allows the tuners to work well without a wad of coils to interfere with other strings.

If you have a method you already are sold on, no reason to switch. But if you'd like to try a new approach, I suggest you give this method a try.
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Bob DeVellis
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