First Re-stringing Experience: Coulda Been Better

Well I took the plunge restringing my baritone uke today.

Coulda gone better.

I used a re-stringing video from Cordoba on YouTube as my guide.

I failed multiple times. Looked at a second video. N.G. Finally found this video by Hilo, and I was in business.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDJywsNAF1g

The knot for the bridge was easy enough. But no technique was working for me to get things locked on the tuner side. That video mentioned a second loop at the tuner, and that worked perfectly for me.

I'm worried about my E. [dGBE] I had it off and on so many times that I'm afraid it's going to crack on me. Is it more likely?

Also, my B looks like it has quite a few windings, and the stretching has only begun. I imagine it will overlap. Again, is it ok to take nylon strings off and then put back on without weakening them? Actually, they are not nylon, they are Aquila Reds. Thanks.

[By the way, the Aquila Reds sound great, and they Feel a thousand times better than the stock strings that came on this uke.]

Loving the dGBE for the first time, too.

Aquilas stretch so much that I almost always have to pull them off and restring them at the tuner to remove the excess windings. Unlike the video, knowing they stretch so much, I don't leave any slack. I cringe every time for fear that they'll break, but so far so good.

DaveVisi said:

Aquilas stretch so much that I almost always have to pull them off and restring them at the tuner to remove the excess windings. Unlike the video, knowing they stretch so much, I don't leave any slack. I cringe every time for fear that they'll break, but so far so good.

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Thanks, Dave. What kind of Aquilas do you use?

yea, most nylons stretch so much you don;t need anys lack, and you might have to pull some more off later. now metal strings are a different matter.

Just make sure the first wind is over the rest and hold the end of the string. I think I saw this on the Kala video. It is easy and it works. And try to avoid cutting them off nice and neat right away. Leave an inch or slightly less, just in case you have to redo something OR pliars can hold the string until it binds. Just keep restringing, it gets easier every time!