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Thread: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

  1. #1

    Default Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    Hi all,

    When replacing my strings today, I accidentally wound a few of them around the tuners the incorrect direction.

    Can this cause any physical harm to the instrument? I ask because notice that the incorrectly wound strings now touch the lower tuner pegs and I worry this may be applying unduly outward force on those pegs.

    Thanks!
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  2. #2
    Registered User Woody Ukepicker's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    No but you should fix this. This is easy and probably will need less than 2 minutes for the 3 strings...

  3. #3
    Registered User grassrootphilosopher's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    Fix this with the next string change. Redoing an allready strung string has caused string breaks more than once when I had to do it. If i told you how many times I wound the strings on my guitar in the "wrong" direction (when I was a young buck player) youŽd be flabbergasted. I still have to think about it when I do a string change.
    Olaf

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  5. #4
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    I doubt you’d break the two G and one D string by changing them round. Leaving them as they are is unlikely to do any damage but would annoy the hell out of me in terms of tuning. 1) the tuners for those three strings will turn the wrong way and 2) one string touching the string and post of another is likely to change in pitch as you tune the other.

    Swap’m round and I bet you won’t do it again!

  6. #5
    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    Full disclosure, I'm dyslexic. I give myself plenty of time to be meticulous while performing string changes. Otherwise this would happen all the time. I'd suggest you slow down next time to ensure your strings are wound the correct way. I like to sing this song I learned at Youth Group, while playing in the Praise band... 'From the Inside Out'. It's a trick I use for remembering which way to push the string through the post. Start from the inside of the peghead, through the post, turn the key so the end of the string moves to the outside of the peghead. I hope that helps!

    As for me, I would change those strings with new ones right away. 'Cause It's done wrong, and I can do better.

    Happy pickin'

  7. #6
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    I use the “wind ’em round the post first” method so it doesn’t matter which way you push the end through the hole.

  8. #7
    bon vivant jaycat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    Quote Originally Posted by Woody Ukepicker View Post
    No but you should fix this. This is easy and probably will need less than 2 minutes for the 3 strings...
    Except he's clipped the ends really tight, which will make it a PITA to restring.
    "The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
    --Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."

    Some tunes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1...SV2qtug/videos

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  10. #8

    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    Wrong direction can be a sort of solution for those Grovers (?) that were mentioned to be built with wrong direction pitch, but looking at a few headstocks, there is going to be string-string undesirable contact, which either is or isn’t an annoyance in tuning.
    I definitely would not be concerned with any effect of side pressure on the other pegs, especially if the head has ferrules.

  11. #9
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    Just play it and put them on the right way next time.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

  12. #10

    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    Thanks all for assurance! As jaycat pointed out, rewinding the existing strings would be near impossible due to fact they're already clipped. So I will leave them until my next natural string change. (and fwiw, I haven't noticed the touching strings to go out of tune when tuning).

  13. #11
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    For those of us that have seen the ends of nuts break off because of undue outward force I would have issues if it was either outside slot. I realize that's not the case here but I'd just change them even if I had to use new strings. The bass strings that are on wrong aren't clipped all that short, I think it's doable.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    It is definitely doabel, tho a PITA. It will shorten the life of the strings that were changed tho, but then a sooner string change when one breaks would be the worst case scenario.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

  15. #13
    Registered User Polecat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    Had to look up PITA, and was relieved to find that it means Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, I had suspected something rude. As long as you have a pair of pliers, koh, changing the strings round shouldn't present a problem. I would, however do it in the presence of an upstanding witness and with a sacred text of your choice on the table to ensure there can be no question of the morality of your actions. I don't believe it will shorten the life of your strings, but leaving them as they are will decidedly shorten your temper each time you have to tune your instrument, so my advice would be to correct the mistake.
    "Give me a mandolin and I'll play you rock 'n' roll" (Keith Moon)

  16. #14
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    Quote Originally Posted by Polecat View Post
    Had to look up PITA, and was relieved to find that it means Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, I had suspected something rude...
    Change the first word to "Pain". Change the second word to "In". Change the third word to "The". The final word can best be defined as "An animal of the horse family, which is typically smaller than a horse and has longer ears and a braying call". It's also a type of bread but that isn't what he was talking about. It generally describes something that is difficult and annoying to do.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

  17. #15
    Registered User Polecat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    Change the first word to "Pain". Change the second word to "In". Change the third word to "The". The final word can best be defined as "An animal of the horse family, which is typically smaller than a horse and has longer ears and a braying call". It's also a type of bread but that isn't what he was talking about. It generally describes something that is difficult and annoying to do.

    Ah... I see, it's like MAMA - you only have to switch out four letters, and you have BEER
    "Give me a mandolin and I'll play you rock 'n' roll" (Keith Moon)

  18. #16
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    ...... and I always thought that PITA was a type of middle eastern flat-bread!

  19. #17
    Registered User Elliot Luber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strings wound wrong direction around tuners..

    If you have a lot of extra strings handy, you can try to fix it. If it were me, I'd just grin and bear it until it's time to replace them again. Every time you tune it, it will remind you to do it right next time. I wish I could say that I never repeat this mistake, but it happens.
    Last edited by Elliot Luber; Jan-06-2022 at 12:20pm. Reason: type

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