Changing your own strings is one of the most useful skills you can pick up as a guitarist. It's not difficult once you've done it a couple of times, and it saves you a trip to the shop every time a string breaks. Here's how to restring a steel-string acoustic properly, step by step.

What you'll need

A fresh set of acoustic strings in your preferred gauge, a string winder (not essential, but it speeds things up considerably), wire cutters, and a bridge pin puller if your bridge uses pins rather than a pinless system.

Removing the old strings

Loosen each string with your tuning peg until it's slack, then remove it. If your guitar has a pinned bridge, gently lever out the bridge pin, being careful not to force it or you risk chipping the bridge. It's generally best to remove and replace strings one at a time rather than taking all six off at once, since the guitar's top is used to sitting under a certain amount of tension and doing them one by one avoids any sudden, unnecessary change.

Fitting the new string

1. Feed the ball end of the string into the bridge hole, then seat the bridge pin firmly on top so the groove in the pin faces the string.
2. Pull the string gently to seat the ball end against the underside of the bridge plate, then thread the other end through the tuning peg post.
3. Leave a little slack (roughly two to three finger-widths past the post) before winding, so you get enough wraps around the post for the string to hold firmly.
4. Wind the string onto the post, keeping the winds neat and stacking downward toward the headstock, then bring it up to rough pitch.

Stretching and settling in

New strings will go out of tune quickly at first. Gently stretch each string by pulling it away from the fretboard with your fingers (not aggressively), then retune. Repeat this a few times and the tuning will stabilise much faster than if you just leave it to settle on its own over days of playing.

A couple of things to watch for

Trim the excess string at the tuning post once you're happy with the winds, leaving a few millimetres so it doesn't unwind. And take a moment to wipe down the fretboard while the strings are off, since it's the easiest time to clean up any built-up grime you can't usually reach.

If you're not confident doing it yourself

There's no shame in bringing your guitar in and letting us handle it, especially if it's your first time or you're working with an unfamiliar bridge design. It's also a good opportunity to have your guitar's action and setup checked while it's in for a restring.