Shocking difference in tone from minor string install mistake

[Aspiring]

I have an absolutely stunning guitar that I recently acquired and I was a bit lazy on replacing the initial strings.

My first replacement I had something happen that I have never seen before (the posts are much longer on this guitar) as per my usual technique I press down just behind the nut while winding initially to apply a little tension and keep the windings moving down the post. Well a couple of the strings were a bit longer than they should have been and then the last windings ended up on the flared section of the post closer to the headstock. I tuned it up strummed an Em and ... Cringed.

I looked at things wondering if it was a bad set of strings. It was also a different type of strings and that had me wondering. I finally tried shortening the strings and rewinding so it stayed in the cutaway section by the hole. What a difference!

It still wasn't quite what I remembered though. So today I looked at it closely and put it on my workbench and then stuck my head super close to the bridge while picking. Sure enough the sounds for a couple of the strings were odd. Buzzy and unclear. I released the tension and checked those strings at the holes. Two weren't seated all the way and the other was sitting in the groove but the peg was slightly loose. Resolving those three made another huge difference. It's now sounding like it should.

A couple things are different on this guitar as to why I didn't originally catch this. On my other guitars I usually stick my hand in the sound hole to check the seating of the string at the bridge before tightening. On this one I can't as the fretboard extension makes it so my fat paws can't go inside. I guess time to use an inspection mirror next change.

The other difference is this has an absolutely meticulously crafted set of bridge pins and a slotted bridge that goes all the way through the bridge plate pins have a very precise taper and sit nicely without a lot of pressure needed. In this case I missed that I didn't get it all the way seated as the slot could hold the string all on its own.

Anyway psa for more things to check if your guitar isn't sounding right.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Aspiring

…I looked at things wondering if it was a bad set of strings. It was also a different type of strings and that had me wondering. I finally tried shortening the strings and rewinding so it stayed in the cutaway section by the hole. What a difference!

The only way to know if repeat the process exactly like it happened.

[random works]

Yep, seating is the first thing I check after changing strings if something does not sound right with the idea that the nut and saddle have not changed. A string can seat a little wonky. I pull the strings straight up over the pin and seat them as much as I am comfortable with before cranking with the tuners...takes no time at all

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

The only way to know if repeat the process exactly like it happened.

Or to change my process to account for the above learnings and see that it doesn't happen again

[abn556]

Don’t feel bad. I had some fret sprouts filed on my 335 last week. The luthier told me I had mixed the B and high E string around the last time I had restrung the guitar. That had been some time back as I had not been playing that guitar lately due to the sprout. Best I can come up with is that I was probably talking on the phone while restringing and was distracted enough to mix the strings up. Odd thing is that the B string didn’t snap when I tuned it up to E.

[Zaam]

Of all the aspects of changing strings that gives me grief, properly seating the string is atop the list. I always inspect inside the sound hole to make sure the ball end is seated where it should be, and still on occasion I will get a B or E string that suddenly tunes down shortly after I tune everything to pitch. In this case it reseats itself, usually within a few minutes, and I can firmly tune to pitch once and for all; but it's still annoying.

[BlueBowman]

I've often wondered if improperly seated ball-ends during the re-string are the main reason for bridge plates getting chewed up. All that force slamming into the bridge plate as you slowly tune the string up, especially when they get hooked on the end of bridge pins. I check at least twice (with finger) to make sure the ball-ends are solid. Then after all the strings are tuned-up, I verify everything is right with a mirror.

Slotting the bridge really makes this whole process easier, IMO. You can lock the ball-end in place and most of the time it doesn't move as you finish the re-string.

It's interesting how many small changes can improve the set-up on a guitar. I want to try fellow AGFer ljguitar's "deep wrap" method at my next string change. He wraps the strings around the tuning posts 5-6 times in order to create a steeper break angle at the nut. Sounds like an interesting idea to me.

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by abn556

Don’t feel bad. I had some fret sprouts filed on my 335 last week. The luthier told me I had mixed the B and high E string around the last time I had restrung the guitar. That had been some time back as I had not been playing that guitar lately due to the sprout. Best I can come up with is that I was probably talking on the phone while restringing and was distracted enough to mix the strings up. Odd thing is that the B string didn’t snap when I tuned it up to E.

I feel for you there! I've done that one before as well.

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by BlueBowman

It's interesting how many small changes can improve the set-up on a guitar. I want to try fellow AGFer ljguitar's "deep wrap" method at my next string change. He wraps the strings around the tuning posts 5-6 times in order to create a steeper break angle at the nut. Sounds like an interesting idea to me.

I was shocked at just how drastically the tone of this guitar changed with those small changes I had above. It went from being can't put it down this is my favorite guitar to not wanting to play it for a few days.

[CharlieBman]

Originally Posted by Aspiring

I was shocked at just how drastically the tone of this guitar changed with those small changes I had above. It went from being can't put it down this is my favorite guitar to not wanting to play it for a few days.

I wouldn't really call those "small changes". If the string angle from the nut to the headstock is too steep, depending on how the nut is shaped and slotted, you can change the pressure point where the string crosses the nut slot. This can create some string buzzing as the string is no longer seated properly in the nut slot. As for seating of the ball ends at the saddle, that's a pretty common mistake. I little mirror with an LED light comes in handy.

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by CharlieBman

I wouldn't really call those "small changes". If the string angle from the nut to the headstock is too steep, depending on how the nut is shaped and slotted, you can change the pressure point where the string crosses the nut slot. This can create some string buzzing as the string is no longer seated properly in the nut slot. As for seating of the ball ends at the saddle, that's a pretty common mistake. I little mirror with an LED light comes in handy.

Small was meant in terms of how easy it was to make the mistakes.

For perspective I typically do 40-50 string changes a year on multiple guitars and still was caught out. Part of it over confidence I am sure. Part of it also being a new instrument and they all have their individual quirks for string changing.

As mentioned I normally use my hands to do the check on the ball end seating but couldn't here. Time to add inspection mirror to my routine. (I just checked and the soundport on this guitar makes it incredibly easy to use the inspection mirror)

Good point on the break angle at the nut that is a more likely explanation than the windings being on the wider part of the tuner.

[vintage40s]

Slightly related...
I broke a purple 5th string on restringing. As a shortcut, I had tried for the first time blowing a pitch pipe while cranking away on a winder. I discovered I had overtightened all the strings.
So I tuned the strings properly and found the old string to reuse. Removal had put slight but permanent bend in it near the peg end. I put it on and tuned it up. Under tension, there was no evidence of the bend, which would be between the nut and the peg.
Over the next few days, the guitar sounded sour and required constant retuning. It had always held tune perfectly.
So I restrung it with a new set, and all was well. The bend in the 5th string, which disappeared when tuned up, had ruined that string.