Why I string my guitar BACKWARDS (and how you can do it too)

This video shows how and why I string my Ibanez RG470AHM backwards. That is with the ball end of the string at the tuners. If you've got a locking bridge, this could be for you!

[Nightbreed]

You saved me 100 bucks on locking tuners that I don't need now. Thanks!

[nicox]

Thanks a million, I greatly appreciate your direction on that!

[sicilianbeddu]

I’ve been doing this my whole life. How do people not know about this?

[graygunter]

Not sure why this showed on my feed but i been doing this since 1992 ball end through tuners negates need for locking tuners and makes it faster to change strings.

[RXD]

While I totally understand the mindset of avoiding sharp string ends at the tuners, if you get a more suitable pair of cutters with a narrower tip you can actually snip the string nearly inside the hole. The luthier shop I worked at considered sharp string ends to be unacceptable so this is what we did and it worked without fail. No reason to not do what you're doing here if you prefer it though.

Also, since I saw a comment about locking tuners below, locking tuners don't actually provide tuning stability. Their biggest impact is in their convenience. If you properly wind your strings evenly (aim for 2.5 to 3 wraps) when you change them you get the same stability. No over under crap. It's completely unnecessary. It's the friction of the string under tension on the post that holds it in place, nothing else.

If you're having tuning stability problems you should consider binding in the nut slot, dull knife edges/worn posts on the bridge, and poor mechanical condition of the tuning machines before anything else. 9/10 times when I work on a guitar with tuning stability issues its got a plastic nut with poorly cut slots. Sometimes nut lubrication is enough to resolve the issue, but its better to get a set of nut files from StewMac and clean up the slots. If you ever hear pinging sounds while tuning you have this problem.

[itaiitai]

i love it, But i didnt understand how mutch to cut ?

[owlperchedsilo]

i do the same, it's easier with a Floyd Rose, but i dont do this with a Les Paul.

[LeftHandedRightHanded]

I've done this myself, the tension pulls the strings better