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advice for restringing my strat

kigcatkigcat Posts: 298
edited December 2005 in Musicians and Gearheads
hey just wondering if someone here can give me some advice. im about to restring my strat and i was talking to someone the other day who said that with strats with trems you shouldnt stretch the strings in and that you should just play them in normally. He said that it supposedly stops pitch drift. anyone else ever heard of or tried this?
I'm not saying stupidity should be a capital offence, but what say we take the safety labels off everything and let nature run it's course?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    i've never heard that.

    i'd stretch them in. otherwise the trem is just going to knock things farther out of tune for quite a while.
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    I never really stretch them. Just tune it a few times and after a few days it stays in tune. Granted I never really use the trem either. The bar is always in the case.
  • Oh, JimmyOh, Jimmy Posts: 957
    Stretch your strings. There is nothin worse than playin a fresh set of strings that come out of tune like crazy. Stretch them one by one til it holds tune on a 2 1/2 step bend. When your finished stretching, then check the tuning again, as it should be slightly low, with the added tension. Tune back up, and give em one last good bend.
  • who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    I don't think it makes much difference with or without a vibrato.
    There are two things that cause the strings to stretch.
    One isn't even stretching. It's the fact that if you don't wind them tight, the tension is slowly taking the slack out of the loose sections on the post. So if you wind them at the tuner posts and keep good tension on them while you're winding, they start out pretty tight.

    The other is that they stretch physically when you tune it up to pitch. They reach an equilibrium where they stretch to their constant something or other. That will happen with or without a vibrato because it's at the same tension either way.
    Damn, I took physics about a hundred years ago and I forget. Modulus of Elasticity?
    I'm GLAD I forgot that stuff up till right now! :)
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    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
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  • enharmonicenharmonic Posts: 1,917
    String up your strat and do a couple of dive-bombs with the whammy...that will get you going. The other method is more controversial...just stare at the strings with a serious/stern look on your face. That will show them who is boss, and they will do your bidding.

    Seriously though, just string up the strat and use your whammy bar to stretech them out...or do 2 1/2 step bends a few times until they shake out. That's what I do...and my tone is awesome :D
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