Questions about string-changing: Some input please?

OK - I've only been playing guitar for a few years, so bear with me if I use this forum to ask some stupid questions.

1) Is it OK to take off all the strings at once, or is it better to change one at a time? A buddy told me that taking them all off at the same time could throw off the intonation. I've never tried to do any truss rod adjustments, and the intonation on my newest guitar seems to be pretty decent up to around the 12th fret or so. I'd rather not mess with it, but I'd also like to be able to clean the frets/fretboard on occasion.

2) Is there a particular number of times that a string should wind around the peg? One? Two? Five? Doesn't really matter?

3) Has anyone tried those Planet Waves® locking tuners? Any better/worse than other brands? Are they even worth bothering with?

It makes sense. But I always take all the strings off for cleaning, and as far as I know, never had a problem. And don't mess with the truss rod. That's a great way to ruin the neck. Leave it to the professionals.

2) My first teacher taught me to wrap it 2 or 3 times. I think if you look at the guitars in the store, it's pretty much the rule. Seems like more string you wrap around the peg, the more likely it is to slip and go out of tune.

3) Dunno.

I usually do E, e, A, B, D, G in that order.

2) That is just personal preference I usually wrap 2-4 times around the peg depending on the string

3) never tried them sorry. I use Gotohs and love em

I don't know if this is the right way or not but I've been doing this for 30 years. I loosen all the strings first. Once they're all loose, then I take off the strings one at a time. Once all the old strings are off, I can clean the fretboard. When I put on the new strings, I put them all on loosely. Once all the new strings are on the guitar, then I start tuning each string ie tightening them.

As for the number of times that a string should be wounded, I've never counted before so I don't know.

As for Planet Waves, never tried them.

Good luck!

Unless the neck is already warped, the overall tension changing over time won't alter the intonation.

Actually, the best way to do it is to slack all the strings, then cut them. Now, there is NO tension on the neck at all. Unless you leave it that way for DAYS, the neck won't change.

Putting them on, you should put all of them on while each if fairly slack. Then bring each to tension slowly. This can help to prevent the bridge saddles from slipping a little, although i highly question whether that really happens.

As to #2: The best approach is to have the first wind go OVER the string, and the second wind (and all the rest) go under the string. This binds the first winding and prevents slip. After that, one doesn't need any more than 2 or 3 more winds. (Four of five total.) Since i'm a shredder, and do LOTS of whammy bar work, and i cut the ball end of the string off, i use more winds, so if the strings slips out or breaks at the bridge, i have extra on the peg to refeed the bridge. But, that's a convenience, not a tuning advantage.

Lastly, i don't care for the locking tuners. They work but i find them inconvenient if one needs to tweak a string while playing. Instead of just grabbing the machine and tweaking it, you have to unlock, tweak, and lock. And, i haven't noticed that they keep the guitar in tune any better. The amount of string slip on the peg is VERY small compared to the stretching of the main part of the string.

Hope that helps.
The Professor

Slacken, then cut, then restring slackly. I also "stretch" the strings a tiny bit before I do the final tuning, by tugging at them over the soundhole ever so slightly. Otherwise they won't hold a tune more than a couple of minutes, especially for nylon strings.

I'm also using Gotoh tuners on my main guitars.

The Bass has Fenders tuners, but they're made for Fender by Schaller.

I have Grover's on my Dan Armstrong (it came that way) and my Takamine and i've got Gotoh's on my tricked out strat. Everything else is Schaller.
The Professor

if you want lockers, get sperzels. I'm not sure what the professor is talking about. if you need to tweak the tuning, they work just like any other tuner (barring floyd rose type systems)