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Post subject: Taking All Strings Off At Once?
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 2:19 pm
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Sorry if this is in the wrong place, please forgive me as I am new here. :lol:


Anyway, I keep hearing stories about if you take all the strings off at once, it warps the neck or something like that. Is this true? I'm thinking if it was, there would be no way to get the neck off...

Thanks

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Post subject: Re: Taking All Strings Off At Once?
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 4:24 pm
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necks have a truss rod which keeps the neck straight. So taking the strings off your guitar wont hurt it but i wouldnt store a guitar without strings


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Post subject: Re: Taking All Strings Off At Once?
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 5:33 pm
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Myself and many others here on the Fender Forum take all of the strings off when changing strings with no issues.


FYI: I had a Fender MIM Tele that I took the strings off of to do some things to it and the project was scraped, the guitar had no strings on it for about 7 or 8 months. When I finally got back to it and finished the project the neck was fine. No Issues!!!

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Post subject: Re: Taking All Strings Off At Once?
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 5:44 pm
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Cool, thanks guys! :)

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Post subject: Re: Taking All Strings Off At Once?
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 10:10 pm
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One caveat - I don't take them all of on guitars that have floating tremolos. On those I do change them one at a time so the trem doesn't get out of adjustment. I also fold up some paper, get a cloth, or something to keep the floating trem at it's proper height (more important on a guitar with a Floyd than one with a regular trem but I do this for all trem guitars where the trem isn't set flush on the face of the body).

On guitars with fixed bridges I range from changing them 2 at a time, 3 at a time (i.e. all plain then all wound), or all 6 of them depending on if I want to condition a rosewood fingerboard, how much of a hurry I am in at the time, etc.


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Post subject: Re: Taking All Strings Off At Once?
Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:13 am
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The key to doing it is that you need to get your face as close to the body as possible so you can really see the optimal point to cut them, and get some really sharp shears so you can slice all 6 at once. That way you will get just the right spot without warping, :)

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Post subject: Re: Taking All Strings Off At Once?
Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 1:09 pm
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I have always removed all the strings at once for more than 20 years on all guitars I have owned. There is no issue with this practice. I would not cut the strings with side cutters while tuned to pitch, but even that wouldn't "shock" the neck into warping....just sounds awful and is being unnecessarily rough on you guitar. Necks warp for these reasons only : Changes in temperature (usually very high temps softening the glue joints), humidity too high or too low, and necks made from poorly "seasoned" woods at the time of manufacture, knots or other blemishes in the wood. That's it. ;)


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Post subject: Re: Taking All Strings Off At Once?
Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:43 pm
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Shouldn't be a problem on almost all electric guitars, it could be an issue with some acoustics, especially classicals, since these don't generally (ever) have truss rods.

Personally, I never completely remove the strings, I change them one by one by losening them then cutting them, but thats just my habit, idk why. Even when I change pickups I don't remove the strings, im just too lazy 8)

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Post subject: Re: Taking All Strings Off At Once?
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:10 am
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Thanks everyone. :)

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Post subject: Re: Taking All Strings Off At Once?
Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 12:35 am
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IMHO, Chet, John, and Steve have the real deal advise. If it's a solid bolt-on neck,then no sweat. The trem advise is applicable, because otherwise you're asking the first string that's brought up to tension to pull up against the springs. That can cause some tough drag on the string-saddle point. Did anyone mention the use of graphite on all the string contact points? A sharp #2 pencil or a Lubritech product is fine. But first, clean all contact points with a stiff tooth brush( nut, string trees, saddle and the saddle plate holes). Hey, Rush, it's just that a little attention to the details can really help the life of the strings, aid tuning, and keep your pickin' well ! Art

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