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The most basic maintenance that you must be able to perform on your guitar is to change the strings. Strings will break, or just get old and dead sounding. You could take your guitar to a local music store and for a nice hefty fee they will be glad to change a string for you. But it is really not that hard once you get the hang of it. The first time for some people is a little nerve racking, but by the 2nd or 3rd time you will be an old pro.
How often should I change my strings?
You always like to hear an answer like this.......it depends. It depends on how much you play, whether you use cleaner to help the strings last longer, and on the chemistry of your sweat...
You should change your strings at least every 2 or 3 months, but this can vary so much from player to player. Professionals will change strings for every gig. Do not change your strings only if they break. You need to change all of the strings on your guitar at the same time on a regular basis.
Gauge and brands of strings
Electric Guitar
Brands and gauges of strings are all a matter of personal taste. As a starting point, I would try these: For electric guitars try the brands GHS, Ernie Ball or D'Addario. For the gauges (thickness) of the strings I would start with .009 for the 1st string, and .042 for the 6th string. If you pick a set where the gauges are .009(1st) and .042(6th), usually the gauges for the other strings will be very close from brand to brand. If you find that the strings are breaking a lot or are just to thin for your tastes, move up to a .010 for the 1st string and a .046 for the 6th string. Remember that every time you change gauges of strings, you might have to adjust the neck of your guitar and possibly reset the intonation. If you are a beginner, then this means taking your guitar to a qualified repair person and asking them to "set up" your guitar for the new strings. There are heavier and lighter strings, but those are the most standard gauges.
Steel String Acoustic Guitar
For a steel string acoustic guitar, I would use GHS, or Martin brand strings as a starting point. If you are a beginner, I would use an extra light gauge (.010 1st string, to .047 6th string). While these strings will not have as good of a tone as a heavier string, they will be easier to play. At first, easier is better. Once you have been playing for a period of time, you might try moving to a light gauge (.012 1st string, to .054 6th string). The heavier the string, the better the sound. The lighter the string, the easier it is to play. So it will be a trade off between the two. For the most part, I do not suggest using medium guage. They are too heavy for most people, and put a great deal more stress on the neck of your guitar.
Nylon String Acoustic Guitar - Classical
Changing the strings on a nylon string (classical) acoustic can be a little more difficult. First of all, you have to learn to tie the string at the bridge, although there are ball end strings made for classical guitars. For the most part, the ball ends tend to break off and you will have to tie them anyway. Classical strings are not sold in gauges like steel strings, instead they are sold in various tensions. I would start by using a normal tension, and try GHS or D'Addario brands. Changing the strings of a Classical guitar will not be covered in this lesson, but I will put some links at the end to some resources that will help you in that area.
One important thing to note is that you should never put steel strings on a classical guitar, and never put nylon strings on a steel string acoustic. Each guitar was designed specifically for a certain type of string. Using the wrong type of string could cause damage to your guitar.
Once you have been playing a while, you can start to experiment with different brands and gauges. Sometimes pros will put together a custom set of strings to meet their personal taste.
Changing guitar strings jump zone
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