I am a complete idiot when it comes to anything musical, so please forgive me if this is a stupid question. I bought my son his first guitar, acoustic and didnt realize until after I purchased it that it has steel strings. Can I have the strings changed from steel to nylon???
If it's a Fender, you will need wire cutters to cut the brass barrel shape off the end to feed the string into the clamp. Otherwise on most guitars you just anchor the string barrel at the bridge end, feed the string along the neck and through the hole in the capston and turn the string capston by using the handle The surplus string can just be coiled up. I never had a string winder for years, ---bit of a gimmick --- --but does save time. A point worth noting if considering splashing out on a string winder is that some of them are equipped with a wire cutter as well. 2 Tools in one eh!!
Haha, You're too cute for me. Did you buy Alex the guitar? Just wait until your boys become the next Jonas Brothers :)
You can easily switch from steel to nylon strings or vice versa. You can buy the strings and string the guitar yourself or I'm sure you can get it done in any normal guitar shops. I've gone from nylon to steel and it hasn't affected my guitar at all. :D
Nylon strings are more commonly used for classical style acoustic guitars, and most standard acoustics are set up to use steel strings. Nylon strings have less tension than steel strings so the sound won't be as full as steel strings. You may also notice some loud vibration from the top of the guitar since the strings don't have the proper tension. A guitar made for nylon strings uses thinner wood and is braced differently than one made for steel strings. The nylon strings won't put enough energy into the steel string guitar to make it vibrate correctly and develop the volume and harmonics that steel strings would. EDIT: To answer the second part of your question, it doesn't really matter what type of strings a beginner learns on. Nylon strings will be a little softer on the fingers, but once you build up calluses on your fingers it doesn't hurt anymore. There is no distinct advantage to a beginner learning with nylon strings as opposed to steel strings.
