How do you restring a bass guitar?

Question

bought a pack of ernie ball hybrids for 20 bucks at guitar center and my e string broke while i was trying to restring it. i had no idea what i was doing cause i never strung a bass before but i was looking at online tutorials. do they sell bass strings separately? if so where? guitar center?

Answer 1

1. Examine the head of your guitar. Note how the strings come off the grooves in the nut at the top of the neck, pass or bypass holders and the direction that they wrap around the tuners. This is very important for tone. You should have no less than 2 wraps around each tuner but no more than can fit around the tuner without overlapping.

2. Loosen the first string via the tuner until the wraps on the winder begin to visibly relax. You can either take all the strings off at once and put new ones in all together, or do them one at a time. Most people prefer to change them one by one because it will keep the neck safer. I, however like to take it all off and put new ones in because you can clean your fretboard more easily. But that is your choice.

3. Once the string is loose enough, pull it from the tuner. It will be bent on the end where it was stuck into the tuner.

4. Pull the string out either through the bridge or the body, depending on your particular bass. Sometimes it will be difficult to grasp the end of the string to pull it out, so alternatively begin by pushing the string out then pulling.

5. Clean the revealed portion of your bass guitar neck with a soft cloth or towel. There are MANY treatments available to clean your guitar with, pick whichever is your favorite.

6. Note if the old string had the correct amount of winds around the tuner, use it as a template for cutting the new string of the same guage to length. If not, it still can be used to guide you in cutting the length of the new string.

7. Pull the new string of the same guage through your bridge assembly in the exact manner you removed it. Be careful not to damage the guitar finish. Pull the string completely through the bridge before laying it on the nut.

8. Thread the string through and around guides, if any, being careful not to damage the string. Finely wound or strings with coatings can be nicked or bent easier than one might think.

9. Pull the string taught, tighter if you want but tension is not necessary here. Wrap it around the tuner until there is about an inch left.

10. Examine the wraps on the tuner; they should not be overlapping, but laying side-by-side nicely. Correct it if necessary.

11. Bend the end and poke it into the center of the tuner. Make sure not to put the tip in before wrapping if possible, since doing this will twist the string and can lower its integrity and sound quality.

12. Hold the end in the tuner and turn the key until it begins to pull tight, and bring it in close to tuned; a final tuning will be performed after all strings have been unstrung and restrung. There should be at least two complete wraps presenton the tuner, but still no more than can fit on without overlapping. The new string should sit on the bass just as the old one did.

13. Replace the rest of the strings following the previous steps.

14. Tune your bass guitar and play!

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Check back at guitar center for separate strings.  You also may want to have them string it for you, or at least show you how.

Here's a few sites you can check out.  You may also want to invest in an electronic tuner.  It doesn't take much to over tighten a string.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=how+to+...

Answer 3

please use an online tuner when you restring/retune your instrument go to www.tunemybass.com

NAMM fav was the Bogdon Box Bass video from Summer NAMM 2008  

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews....

Answer 4

A common misconception is that when your tuning the string breaks, while it tightens it will snap (but not break) it is just adjusting..

So it might not have broken... it could have, but I haven't heard of to many e-strings breaking...let alone from just tuning it..