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Yes those aren't proper string cutters. Please forgive me Kate! p.s. Kate was on the Guinness. I was on the Brewdog IPA that I'm currently obsessed with. Happy for either company to get in touch and sponsor this channel. HAHA.
Mary genuinely loving the honest 'hey I'm learning this stuff as well guys' approach to your vids. You're an amazingly accomplished player and to not come off as patronising when doing basic stuff is a real talent. It's refreshing to see and thank you for it. Another RU-vid regular stop on my list ;oD
Kitchen bench is interesting, I have used a custom portable guitar maintenance workstation for the last 5 years (in the shops they call them an ironing board)
I like that Mary is showing that guitar playing doesn't have to be a boys club. We need girls playing as well, to sustain the market and also just so we have more output from more artists.
I like that Mary (in another video) shows that driving safely doesn't have to be a strictly male thing. We need women driving safely as well, to sustain the market and also to keep that casualties down. Call that kettle black my man ✊ Your comment is keeping the stereotype you're trying to combat alive and well. I like the positive mindset though.
Hello! Greetings from the U.S.A. I have been playing for over 35 years and have never met a female guitarist in all that time. Wish there were more (or ANY) women playing out there.
I have found it's really good to take a fine dental pick and drag it towards you, with the tip facing slightly away from you (point should be less that 90° to the fretboard so you aren't digging into the fret board) with a light to mild pressure tight along both sides of every fret where it meets the board. You will get some (or a lot depending on your body and playing conditions and environment) grime that will curl up behind the pick tip as you drag it across. Approach it lightly at first until you get a feel for how much pressure you need. Don't use oil until after you've done this. You want to get the grime out, not seal it in. You may also want to take a piece of fine Scotch Brite very lightly along both sides of the fret after you pick it to remove anything the pick can't get because the tip is so fine. You can actually use a fine Scotch Brite pad on the whole fretboard. VERY light pressure. You're just using the roughness of the pad to remove dirt from the surface and tiny grooves of the grain, NOT sand the finish. Once you are done, brush the fretboard to get the dry dust and grime that you lifted off of the fretboard and out of the grain before oiling. This is a delicate process, but if you're gentle and take your time, these steps will make a fretboard look like new. This cleaning and oiling process is also dependent on wood type and how it is finished and/or treated. I use these steps on rosewood, ebony, and jatoba type boards. Maple, ash, and like woods may be finished over or may not require oil.
Hi Mary. I discovered your channel at 5AM this morning. I went to the dentist for a lengthy appointment, felt pretty crappy so I took the rest of the day off, went home to rest and instead started binge watching Mary Spender videos.Your adventures have really perked me up. I envisioned some mushy food and a nap until my nausea went away and I find myself strumming along on my Telecaster to you , Pete and Captain Lee. Love the Katy Perry sticker. You are truly wonderful- the way you play, sing, and express yourself with such honesty. Vigier should give you your own signature model! Come and tour America! Maybe an album of duets with John Mayer? Happy Birthday.
Have to say that's the first time I've ever laughed watching a guitar re-string and care video. What a refreshing way of doing things.... thanks to both of you.
Consider having a small good quality diagonal cutter like Knipex 77 02 115, which is more suitable to take on the road. Less effort needed to clip strings, too!
I can do most of these steps, and I certainly did when I was much younger and clueless, but now, if I can find a luthier or a guitar tech, I'll ask them. An informative and fun video, thank you!
If you use steel wool on unfinished wood make sure it's 0000. Quad zero is fine enough that it polishes rather than leaving visible scratches. Don't trust any that says "Super fine" or the like unless it also says 0000. Another tip is to cover your pickups with masking tape prior to cleaning the fret board with steel wool. This will make it easy to get off any stray wool fibres that have stuck themselves to the magnets. That bending the strings from the side trick is really interesting. I used to grab them at the 12th fret and yank up but I found that sometimes I'd put a permanent bend in the string that caused buzzing and/or weird intonation problems. These days I just keep tuning the guitar every time I think about it until it's stable. It takes only a day or so and being an amateur I've got plenty of time. Still, I love smart ways to do things, so next time I re-string I'm going to try that on every other string and see how big a difference it makes.
I use Asda's own Walnut oil on the fretboard, as a typical yorkshire man (short arms and deep pockets) it's a lot cheaper and lasts longer. Also it's very good at removing the blood stains from my lacerated fingers, twenty six years as a luthier and I still can't restring a guitar without at least one injury. So my tip for you is keep some plasters in your tool box. Keep up the good work
I can't stop watching Mary. Not sure why, but it's all interesting stuff, useful information and she's just so easy to listen to and watch. Haven't looked, haven't got that much time, so apologies if this has already been mentioned, but why would you take all the strings off any guitar for basic maintenance? Of course this is necessary on many occasions, but polishing and re-stringing. I'm saying this because the neck is best kept at the same tension, so change one at a time. Another reason is that sometimes you can still have oil residue left, so clean with the old strings, then change?
Those were some impressive nib cutters you were using on those string ends. From what appears to be a patina of rust on them, they have been around for a while. I reckon they were more at home out on the South Forty cutting the ends on the leftover lengths of barbed wire between the fence posts...gotta keep the dairy herd on the farm. lol
I always used to stretch my strings out really harshly, but recently a friend of mine told me not to do it, because when you stretch the string, you're stretching core longer than the outer wind, meaning the outer wind opens up, leaving space for oils, dirt, and anything else you have on your fingers before you start playing, to sink between. They seem to have kept a fresher feel for longer after doing that. I get why people do it, because they tend to set to your tuning after stretching them, but you stretch them enough by playing and retuning straight after. Just my thoughts though. Good video too. (I also always wash my hands before playing too, that's a comfort thing as much as a string life thing though.)
Harrison Henley, I never stretch new strings either. I just let them stretch on their own and re-tune. Obviously that doesn't work so well if you're at a gig but it's not a prob. for me. Actually I saw an Anderton's vid where Danish Pete says not to stretch new strings. I think it's the one he does with the Captian about the GS Mini Bass.
I just take a pic and strum the living shit out of them about 20 times. The vibration will stretch them out and you're not doing anything that wasn't meant to be done to them
Good job, Kate & Mary! This lesson was VERY informative, especially for beginning guitarists, as well as girls and women who may be a bit intimidated by doing basic (but important!) touch-up stuff on their guitars.
Thank you for this! I have been a bit scared about cleaning and conditioning my fretboard but this video made me confident enough to buy the same products and use them on my guitar. Now my favorite guitar feels better than ever! :D
I want to own a James Taylor acoustic guitar, his Jt model series 1 looks official. Now getting back to the electric guitar side of things i I would love to own the Joe Satriani JS52410, the Orange color looks awesome, I always loved Satriani's guitars.
Twoos-day Tawks! 😚🎶🎶 Sweet and smooth as always Miss Spender. Just love the guitar part that starts the background music. You should do a short blooper reel, if you make enough mistakes that is.🤓
Thanks for making this video on taking care of your guitars. I have wondered how to clean my maple necked schecter and I am definitely going to try the z method of string my guitar. I am glad for all your tips. You are both awesome.
Great to see you proving that the music industry is not just a boys and toys world! women in the music world! I'd love to see you checking out acoustic guitar making with Rosie Heydenrich of Turnstone Guitars in Surrey some time!.
Parts containers - old yoghurt/hummus pots and those tupperware type containers you get takeaways in. Cleaning fluid - Isopropyl alcohol neat or add a bit of water, depends on what you're trying to remove. The isoprope won't attack your finish or plastics. I favour "boiled" linseed oil for rosewood fingerboards but hey! I'm old fashioned that way. Petroleum products!!! Shock Gasp Wince... Plastic, Lacquers, Paints, Lubes (ooh err) - just about all got a bit of crude in 'em somewhere. +∞ for the "Zee" Bend string lock. I've always put 2 bends in, even before they called it the "Zee" Bend 8^). Martin's over'n'under wrap looks so messy.
Hey I like those "Alien String Cutters" ! Good demo I learn something new everytime I watch the simple things but not. I also play classical guitar and string changing can be a little irritating at times! THANKS!
In the future, I really wouldn't use guitar polish on a satin finish guitar because that will cause the satin to become gloss even quicker than it usually with normal wear and use. Other than that, great video!!! :)
most (actually all that I know of) maple fretboards are lacquered and therefore oiling it would just be of no use, or might even damage the lacquer in a way, I think that's the reason you dont oil them.
since I got ya.... I take it you bought that GV through Ben Whatsley (one of my closest friends and This Illusion bandmate). I'm looking to order a Supra later this year 🤗
Yeah, as Henley said below, no string stretching as it opens the coils and you are on your way to faster tarnish ... Overtuning slightly and let them settle has been best for me. Depends on how well set-up the Nut is... Tight Nut (the kind that creaks while tuning) will mess with your ease of tuning and staying in tune. There are some good lubes for nut slots that help. Inlays and solvents - it's all about what kind of inlay and what kind of glue was used to install them. Big Box store "Lemon Oil" will definitely shrink plastic pick guards, some inlays, plastic Nuts and the like. But, there are real lemon oils that are fine and available in the antiques world. Just have to do some research. Citrus soaps are good for de-scrunging dirty areas. And paste wax is usually good for body finishes :)
People say you're meant to restring one string at a time. But that's ridiculous. How can you clean it if there are strings in the way? Glad you do what I do 🙂
I think it's really dependent on the kind of bridge. Some are rather irritating if you take all the strings off at once (like a Tune-O-Matic) so leave on a looser string to keep it in place. You can still wipe down and not worry about chasing a bridge piece around the shop.
Mega Sauce I was told this by a couple people when I first started. Something about the tension, but I didn't do it that way. I take them all off as well, and start with the thicker string.
BC Morgan gas got it. Depends on the bridge. If it's a stop tail, string thru, fixed bridge generally, it doesn't make a lot of difference. You may well loose the tail piece and maybe the bridge on the floor if it isn't fixed but they're easy to put back in place and unless your unlucky they're not going to affect the tone/tuning. With floating trems, if they're set up well, then a little caution taking the strings off is advised as you will loose the tension in the bridge and chances of getting it back to exactly the same place are slim if you take all the strings off at the same time, so you can loose the balance on the trem and it can be a pain to trying and get the bridge level and strings in tune (not impossible by any means, just time consuming and dull), also fighting against the spring tension in the trem makes restringing a pain in the arse. Clean is a little more tricky but, loosen a string, clean down the path of that string and you can get under the next on as well, take the old string off, put a new one on, move on... just takes a little longer is all but no where near as long as re balancing a stubborn floating trem.
Happy 4th of July from the US! Indianapolis, IN checking in. MERICA! Your eyes change over the course of this video.... Is it me, is it you.... or both. BEER!!!!!! Enjoying your vids, thank you.
I watched your videos man, good stuff. One of the things I love about Indiana is how different we are all over the state. I am not a country fan but I enjoyed watching you play. I grew up on rap and punk so that is my music taste. I love that you are doing shows, my dream is to retire at 50 and be a street musician in downtown Indy.
Mary - Have you considered doing some guitar shred music? What I mean by that is Steve Vai/Joe Satriani guitar instrumental music. Steve Vai has a record label now.........
Thanks for sharing this! I'm just getting back on the guitar, and though I used to change my old strings, it's been a long time. Plus, I now have much better guitars (fortunately 😉). Still, I'm not looking forward to changing my strings (at least for the first time in ages).
Can't do a restring without a notched straightedge and a full setup/intonation check. It's why so many older fender necks are rooooooted and the truss rods no longer do jackshit to what is basically a boomerang.
I loved this video. Particular Mary your pouring Guinness into a mug!! On your "no ones born knowing this theme" I feel it has taken me about 7 years of playing guitar to contently become good a restring a guitar. But know I want to try out the Bill Z method Kate showed!! Luckily my lovely tele needs some new strings, my fun weekend task :)
Hi Mary! Love your 'choose date hawks' ☺️. May I ask what strings you chose for your Vigier, it wasn't clear. I used to stretch my strings after seeing Joe Walsh literally pull up with both hands 😱. Alas no longer I just let 'em settle and retune. Voila! ✌🏼🐝
...and then there's me, rubbing a cloth imbued with alchol to remove the gunk and using extravirgin olive oil to "condition" the fretboard lol Ps. That's a sweeeeeet looking guitar!
Well, it's been about a year since I started doing it and I haven't seen anything wrong to this day, so I guess you can use it on a rosewood fretboard (that's my case) if you don't want to spend on dedicated products
Watching someone place those giant ass wire cutters so damn close to the headstock was intense, especially after learning there's alcohol involved. RIP guitars
Those exact strings are £15 vs normally £6 for Ernie power slinky same gauge. I don't mind paying the extra but anyone any experience and comparison of using the 2 different types and any thoughts?? Thanks!!! PS i love Mary more than you!!!!
I could only click like once...clearly you two get along well together...I would love to click like again...alas I cannot. OR, just put the screws back in the holes...dun dun dunnnn... ;) I've also just used toe nail clippers to cut strings...who hasn't?
