Sorry if this is the wrong forum to ask this.

I've been wondering for a while, is it really true that it will mess up the relief in your neck all that much if you take off all your strings at once? I kind of always thought the truss rod would hold the bend/relief when this was done. I mean people say to change one string at a time for this reason but what about changing pickups or some other maintenance?

Or would those things require a readjustment of your truss rod?

Thanks

Removing all 6 strings will not harm your guitar in any way. I've done it on all of my guitars with no problems.

Thanks for the quick reply. Thats good to know. It struck me as odd because people tune down their guitars all the time, so much so as to not put much tension on the neck at all. It didnt make sense.

Hello Danklin24,

I'm in Joe's corner,
Standard operating procedure
take them all off and reinstall.

Nary a problem.

Cheers.

Danklin the only time you would have a problem would be if you had a Floyd Rose bridge then you could run into some problems. Otherwise take them all off though I dont recommend the clipping of all six string method which believe it or not I have seen a lot of guys do while leaving tension on the strings.

I've been wondering the same thing - there seems to be so much conflicting advice about it so I appreciate the question and answers.

But is it logical to assume that initial tuning is easier/faster if you change strings one at a time? I've done it both ways and when I remove all strings at once, the initial tuning seems to take forever because of the floating trem (tuning one string naturally changes the tuning of another). However, when I change one at a time, tuning each new string as I go, it seems to be a faster way to get up and running.

Maybe there's a trick I don't know about when tuning the "all-at-once" method?

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Then again, what do I know ... I've only been playin' for 6 months ... !

Strings on a Bixby tail piece need to be changed out a few at a time just to keep the unit in one piece.
John.E

I take them all off at once, even my Gretsch... I alway clean and condition the fretboad, and give the guitar an overall good cleaning. Then re string and tune. Never a problem

Bill

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

How about a Standard Strat tremelo? Any effect there?

On my Strat, one at a time. I have my bridge floating and it's a hassle to re-tune. If your bridge doesn't float it shouldn't be a problem. Sometimes releasing all the tension will allow the neck to bow slightly, nothing a little truss rod tweak can't fix though.

I have always removed them all and have never had any issues.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

No problem whatsoever with any Strat hardtail or standard vibrato to take all the strings off.I've been doing it for years when doing a full cleaning on my guitars with no ill effects.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Geez I hope not, the neck of my '78 has been sitting all by itself while the body is being refinished.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

sorry to be the black sheep (or shouldn't it be lamb?...), but removing all strings together will in fact cause your neck to bow back due to relief. we're talking about wood here, its natural for this to happen. the truss rod does help to prevent drastic effects, but not 100%. it's not harmful or damaging, you dont have to worry much about it, but it can affect intonation.

really, the worst scenario is that the neck will simply go straight. when you have your strings tuned to pitch, the neck is actually bent forward. those steel strings exert more force than you think. even the truss rod cant keep the neck perfectly straight. but its not a bad thing, in fact you do want this to happen...anyway, this forward bend straightens out without the string tension pulling on it.

here's how i know this is true...tune your guitar to pitch. then remove just one or two of your strings, and wait a minute. now plug in the tuner, and check the remaining strings. chances are they will be sharp. i mean its happened to me at least whenever i replace strings. the reason is because there is less force being exerted from the strings, so the neck is permitted that much relief. therefore the other strings have to pull harder in order to keep the neck still, but i guess the truss rod is able to overpower them a bit at this point. so they end up losing the battle and go sharp. strings are only strong in larger numbers, haha.
now try this...tune the other strings down to pitch, and install the missing string(s), and tune them to pitch also. now the other strings will be slightly FLAT! you should be able to see why.

the best way to change strings is one at a time. yes, it makes cleaning the frets harder, but it retains your intonation better, since the change in neck bow is greatly reduced.

the best way to change strings is one at a time. yes, it makes cleaning the frets harder, but it retains your intonation better, since the change in neck bow is greatly reduced.[/quote]
I`ve been told the same thing in my local music store.