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Author Topic:  Minimum number of wraps around tuning pegs.
Don Griffiths


From:
Steelville, MO
Post  Posted 3 Mar 2015 5:16 pm    
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OK , so I was re-stringing a few days ago and underestimated how much slack I need in the string before wrapping them around the tuner. Then had undo and guess again how much slack to get a minimum number of wraps around the peg. I'm thinking about 5 wraps minimum for the lighter gauge strings and 3-4 wraps for the heaviest strings. Any opinions about this? Not sure how I would poll this question.I'd lost my wooden dowel that I had carved to fit in the changer so nicely, holding the string in place on my 'Bud . So had to carve a new one.
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John Booth


From:
Columbus Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 3 Mar 2015 5:25 pm    
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I always go for as many as I can without them comming back over, usually about 6 or 7 on thinner ones, 3 or so on fatter ones.
People say it's not necessary but jimi Hendrix swore by it, said the string had more elasticity
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Lane Gray


From:
Topeka, KS
Post  Posted 3 Mar 2015 5:32 pm    
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Enough to not have the takeoff point on the hole. I clip them about 1.75-2" past the peg.
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Dick Sexton


From:
Greenville, Ohio
Post  Posted 3 Mar 2015 6:02 pm    
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Laughing

Last edited by Dick Sexton on 4 Mar 2015 2:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Jeremy Threlfall


From:
now in Western Australia
Post  Posted 3 Mar 2015 7:05 pm    
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I just do the same as on my 6 string guitars - take the string two posts past its target post for plain strings, and one post past for wound strings

works for me
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Mike Wilkerson


From:
Luther Oklahoma
Post  Posted 3 Mar 2015 7:58 pm    
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Wound strings 4-5 wraps unwound strings 3-4..I'll wrap one time at the end of the post and move over the other side of the little bit sticking out of the post to "lock" the string on the post and finish winding the string being cautious not to overlap the windings....Another tip to you if you have pegs where the ball end attaches to the changer you can cut a piece of foam to hold the strings on the little pegs while you are making the necessary trim and if you have the crows foot grooves like older sho-buds a small precision screw driver just big enough to hold the ball end in those grooves
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Scott Duckworth


From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 3:49 am    
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2 string posts past the one I'm stringing, except string 3, which I go three posts past.
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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 4:03 am    
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Two posts, three fingers, 1 chun in acupuncture--all around what piano tuners use for stringing,
three turns around the pin.
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Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 4:55 am    
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I go two posts past for most strings. The E9th 1st string and 3rd string I go three posts.
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Alan Bidmade


From:
Newcastle upon Tyne UK
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 10:07 am    
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2 posts past the post you are re-stringing. Put a little bend in the end - half a centimetre, no more - and as you wrap the string, you can 'lock' it by winding over the 'stub' and then winding the other way. The best way to wind one way and the other is to ensure the string winds as straight as possible from the roller nut. This way you have ensured the string is winding over itself, providing a no-slip 'lock'.
I will follow the advice of adding more to the first and third strings, although I think once you've got four or five winds over 'locking' the string stub, that should be enough.
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chris ivey


From:
california (deceased)
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 10:56 am    
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how many steel players does it take to tell how to wrap a string? remember that old joke?
..and who's credibility or lack thereof do we go with?
i never put a bend in a string and i never cut them to any length before putting them through the post.
40 years of not being anally ridiculous about putting a string on.
edit to add that 6 or 7 wraps is wasting time!
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Henry Matthews


From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 11:49 am    
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chris ivey wrote:
how many steel players does it take to tell how to wrap a string? remember that old joke?
..and who's credibility or lack thereof do we go with?
i never put a bend in a string and i never cut them to any length before putting them through the post.
40 years of not being anally ridiculous about putting a string on.
edit to add that 6 or 7 wraps is wasting time!


Chris, you hit the nail on the head as you usually do. I just cut mine, wrap them and tune them. Never heard of counting wraps. And I don't stretch mine either, just tune with pedal down couple times and I'm done. I also play with a bar, don't really care what kind, long as it's slick.
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Mike Wilkerson


From:
Luther Oklahoma
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 2:50 pm    
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Chris not busting your chops I myself when it comes to stringing my guitar I'm very picky and anal about how my wraps look and I do pre-cut my strings and make the bend and NEVER have string breakage.I guess Bud Carter is wrong cause he was the one that showed me this technique when I was young..Also By pretrimming I dont scratch the mica or lacquer finish underneath the keyhead....But this topic as whole what ever works for the individual is what is right
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Don Griffiths


From:
Steelville, MO
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 3:25 pm    
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Just ask an opinion on the steel forum....................
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Mike Wilkerson


From:
Luther Oklahoma
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 3:54 pm    
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Don there is a website that shows in detail about changing strings maintaining the instrument Its called steel guitar information resource its chalked full of valuable info on our beloved instrument...Slim
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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 4:37 pm    
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I use 6 or 7 wraps on the fine wires, and 2 or 3 on the wounds. I feed them through from the back side, wind a quarter-turn, and then cut them. Then, I just crank them up with a manual crank winder, and 5 or 7 wraps normally takes me about 10-15 seconds. All in all, putting a new string on usually takes 30-60 seconds per string, and I don't feel that that's enough time to worry about! Winking
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David Mason


From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 6:42 pm    
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Is something wrong?
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Tommy Mc


From:
Middlesex VT
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 7:24 pm    
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I've always suspected that excess winds is a contributing factor to new strings "stretching." Years ago I learned about the locking method of installing guitar strings, and I find it works equally well on steel. When I install a new string, I loosely thread it through the hole, then bend it back so the string winds over the excess. Using this locking method, I find that 1.5 to 2 winds is sufficient on all gauge strings. Not saying it's the only way, just that it works for me.
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Dan Robinson


From:
Colorado, USA
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 8:41 pm    
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Tommy Mc wrote:
I've always suspected that excess winds is a contributing factor to new strings "stretching." Years ago I learned about the locking method of installing guitar strings, and I find it works equally well on steel. When I install a new string, I loosely thread it through the hole, then bend it back so the string winds over the excess. Using this locking method, I find that 1.5 to 2 winds is sufficient on all gauge strings. Not saying it's the only way, just that it works for me.


Tommy,

I have seen descriptions of this method many times, but your photograph makes it abundantly clear. Thanks for that!
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Tony Glassman


From:
The Great Northwest
Post  Posted 4 Mar 2015 11:33 pm    
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I pre-cut the string roughly 2 posts past the tuner, stick the end through the post hole and give it a couple of winds while I pinch the string taut. Then I place the ball end on the changer head pin and tent the string with my right hand while cranking with the left.

I usually use a variable cordless drill and bring the string up to within a half tone of the target pitch. I stretch and retighten repeatedly until it holds pitch before tuning up to the target note.

I also align the strings so they are fairly straight from post hole to changer to avoid torsion on the roller nut. At a gig, I'll use a hand crank instead of the power drill and can usually change and tune the string (using a strobe) within 1 song
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Billy Murdoch

 

From:
Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.
Post  Posted 5 Mar 2015 1:31 am    
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Cut the string at two posts past the tuner and double that length for the third string.
I have been doing that since Bobbe advised.
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 5 Mar 2015 8:38 am    
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Billy Murdoch wrote:
Cut the string at two posts past the tuner and double that length for the third string.


That is what I do also.
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John Billings


From:
Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 5 Mar 2015 3:14 pm    
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In a moment I'll talk about tuning machine design, but first; I used to play with a Strat guy who believed that the more winds the better. He had huge globs of strings wound around the posts. He was always going out of tune. Why? Because when he'd bend a wound string, the windings around the post would slip by oneanother. The windings would catch, and not return in tune. This problem was solved by Bob Sperzel's locking tuners, which didn't even require a full turn around the post.
Tuner machine design; Long ago, the tuner shafts were just cylindrical, and kinda required a knot to secure the string. Not necessarily a lot of winds, but a secure wrap over the string. More modern tuners were designed to take advantage of the considerable force of string tension. The string hole is in the center of a concave, machined area. The concavity takes advantage of the strings tension, to slide the wrap down hard against the string end going through the hole. It doesn't take a lot of wraps to hold the string tightly. It's physics.Here's a pic of old, on the left, and new, on the right. A significant improvement in machine design. Still,,,, locking tuners are a wonderful improvement!


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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 5 Mar 2015 3:20 pm    
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Sounds right.

There's no way Strat Guy could tell me that overtime those coils won't keep stretching.
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Clete Ritta


From:
San Antonio, Texas
Post  Posted 6 Mar 2015 4:30 am    
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What are wraps? Laughing Rolling Eyes
Topic: Minimum number of wraps around tuning pegs.
The correct answer is: none
The only peg I've had to put winds on is the third to keep the string off the edge of the hole. This is as close to locking tuners as you'll ever get. They never break or go out of tune this way. Its very fast and efficient way to restring. I break strings of course, but its always at the changer, never at the peg.


John Billings wrote:
...Bob Sperzel's locking tuners, which didn't even require a full turn around the post...

As you can tell by the dust I:
A. don't clean my steel often, and
B. don't change strings often either. Razz


Last edited by Clete Ritta on 6 Mar 2015 4:44 am; edited 4 times in total
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