So, a few days ago, I walked into our local Paul Bothner's, our "Walmart" of music shops, here in South Africa, and spoke to the lovely big bearded guy and the rock-n-roll-looking lady behind the counter. I explained my transition from nylon to steel string and they advised me to buy these light gauge strings to help me get into the groove and actually enjoy playing. There is a sacrifice in sound, for sure, but what does it matter if you have perfect sound but you don't bloody well play?
Anyway. They sent me off after giving me lovely visual directions of how to change the strings on The Red Guitar. I explained how many times I'd restrung a nylon and they seemed very confident in my ability to handle this! Lol.... They did try to sell me a string winder, but I was like "no... that's for sissies." sigh
People are always horrified to hear I've been restringing my own guitar since I was about 12, using scissors and my teeth - as I lacked the correct tools for the job. Hey... it worked... so whatever :p
Since then, I've realized that long note plyers are a girl's best friend, and it's made life way easier.
Even so, while my dad was still alive, his gift to me was always a set of strings and the joy of watching me restring my guitar for me. We now currently only have one guitar left, re-strung by his own hands. @matthew-williams 's beautiful Spanish guitar that is so rarely played that the strings are almost brand new. I kind of want to leave them like that... you know?
So, during rehearsals on Saturday last week with @jasperdick, the top E string on The Red Guitar popped. It's about the third or fourth time it's happened to us and it seems there is a sharp bit in the machine head that rubs against the string and causes it to snap. @zakludick has helped us with this before, filing down the sharp bit with a metal file, but there was still a bit sticking out. Minute and barely visible to the eye.
So, I decided, I am a big strong independent lady and I set out to fix this on my own.
First, I got my feet wet by finally getting around to fixing the godawful restringing job I did on @merenludick 's nylon string - although, I think I may need to give up and buy new machine heads for this guitar. We took the ones off my dearly departed father's guitar (which broke the day he had the stroke 7 years ago) as Meren's machine heads were broken... (from being banged around and dropped... as kids will do) and in a way, since this was the only unbroken part of my dad's guitar, I thought it would be a lovely sentiment to combine the two and have dad's music live on through the kids. Unfortunately, the screw holes in the wood of the guitar do not line up with the machine heads, so @zakludick had to put them on facing the wrong way (which makes tuning a pain in the butt. The first order of business was, however, to ensure that the knots were re-tied as I did an awful job last year and the knots kept slipping loose. I rushed it. It was an emotional job and was very hard to get through. This time around, I was able to out in a lot more concentration, so let's see if the knots hold and the guitar stays in tune.
Here's that story here: Wizardry of Songwriting - Part 11: Jamming with Jasper - Dusting off and Getting Up Again
Then I removed the strings from The Red Guitar and gently filed down the sharp bit responsible for causing the top E string to snap so often.: So far, so good.
So now I needed to find a YouTube video, which I watched several times, and figured "how hard can it be?" and then moved on to my new favourite binge-worthy series on Netflix "New Amsterdam."
So it turns out it is actually super easy, and there are no knots to be tied, but leaving enough slack and actually focusing on what you are doing is pretty damn important. I got all the way to the G-string (no inappropriate laughing now) and I lost concentration. I didn't leave enough slack and I over-tightened the string and it snapped!!
The four letter words that sprung forth from my mouth were... impressive...
Grumpy as heck that I would have to go out in the pouring rain to by and ENTIRE new set of strings, I set out to go do the walk of shame back into Paul Bothner's. Apparently, I am not the only person this has happened to. So, usually when you replace strings, you need to replace all of them, but since this lot were all brand new, I was lucky enough that they had opened a few packs and had a spare G-string of the same weight and brand, so I did not have to buy a whole pack, after all.
So, last night, I carefully fitted the last string, and we seem to be ready to go!!
Now I will play in the new strings on both guitars and make sure they're holding well. Meren needs his own guitar to express himself, and Jasper and I need The Red Guitar as a spare for shows. And I need The Red Guitar so I can go for lessons and get better at playing. Of course, I will get better automatically if I play more, but I also think some in person lessons from an impartial person (someone I don;t know) will be mmensely helpful to get me back on track. I need to build up finger and hand strength and I would like to learn more blues and rock. My original lessons as a teen were classical Spanish guitar, which I never really enjoyed. So once I have a little spare money, that is the plan.
Overall, I am pleased with my workmanship! I will get Jasper to check my handiwork tomorrow. Wish me luck!