Life As A Guitarist.

Hurmm.. Where will I start this post.. cos it happened long time ago.. blamed myself for procrastinate..

Oh.. During exam week, I sorta borrowed a guitar from a friend since dia x main that guitar.. When I got this guitar, I was really really happy cos ye la.. lebey kurg my first guitar that I SORT OF ‘owned’.. ;p but I realized the first moment i held this guitar… the first string gone! T_T

How the hell am I going to practice if the 1st string hilang.. but because of the passion *cewah* towards music and guitar.. I took the guitar nonetheless.. right after I got home.. baru nak belai2 the guitar.. suddenly one of the gears tercabut.. waaa… the screw already gone to God-knows-where n I dont have any thing to stick it back in.. So for a few days until the end of the exam.. I didn’t use the guitar at all coz I used syabil’s guitar. Mmg terabai dat guitar but I’m sure the guitar dah biasa dah.. mcm kat rumah dulu-dulu.. *kuikuikui ;p*

So, I’ve put repairing the guitar as my top priorities after the exam coz after exam, there’s nothing that can be done in miri except for makan, tido, and main game.. lol..

However, I didn’t start repairing the guitar right after exam coz I’ve been really lazy to go to Imperial to buy the stuff. This laziness continued until the beach touch rugby tournament where I was planning to stay at the hotel. Even though penat giler, the mission still go on.. lol.. buying all the stuff at the music store which I forgot the name.. Apparently.. the store xde skru that match the gear and I ended up buying the strings and the whole tuning keys.

After I bought the whole stuff, we went to eat at McDonald with Tompoq, Chong, Sedut and a couple of new frens which are frens of Sedut and Tompoq.. if I can still recall, they’re Ijoi and err…. errr…. tak ingat.. huhuhu.. (after 2 months of delaying this post…) Oh yes!! Boyan! :D

So.. I explained to yu how to repair a guitar.. err.. sort of.. ^_^

INFO: To know more about the guitar parts and components, click here.

1. Pull out old strings

In case you didn’t notice, this is the most crucial part. You want to know why?

Coz if you don’t pull out the old strings, how can you put a new one? LOL..

The beginning of guitar-repairing madness (I already started pulling out one string before I realized that I want to blog bout it.. :P)

When you pull out the strings, do it very slowly as it may cut your fingers. Like seriously, pedih weh!

DON’T THROW THE STRINGS AWAY! Keep it somewhere, in case of emergency. Mana la tau after this one string putus and you really need it quick, you can use the old string.. Clever kan? :P

2. Clean the exterior (optional)

Yes ladies and gentlemen, please remove all the dust from your guitar.

Sometimes you eat fried chicken while you playing guitar, don’t ask me how but the oily hands will make your guitar less pretty. And if your guitar has been devoured alive by the very dusty environment (like this guitar for instance), find a clean or old cloth and wipe the dust off.

Uggh.. Filthy.. (Before)

If you are really particular about cleanliness and want to polish it with some kind of polishing product on the market so that it will be shinier and looks glossy, go ahead. It’s your guitar, your choice.. :)

Ooh.. Its cleaner and shinier look (After)

*ignore the surrounding.. please focus on the guitar*

But if your guitar is already clean and got no stain or nasty fingerprints, you can skip this part and move on to the third step.

3. Check for repairing kit

Since I will replace the old tuning keys on the headstock and the six strings this is what you need:

• New tuning keys
• Screwdriver
• Six strings
• and willingness to replace and repair :P

Alice professional guitar strings :P

I don’t know much about which guitar strings you should buy coz different types of guitar uses different strings. Ask the taukeh at the shop because that was what I did.. Hehe..

4. Replace the tuning keys

Use your screwdriver, and remove all the screws that hold the old tuning keys.

Remove the tuning keys and just replace it. Easy. Kacang.

Make sure you bought the tuning keys that fit with your guitar though. :P

5. Fit in the six strings

Put in your first string. If you did not know which one is the first string, it is the thinnest one that is placed at the bottom of the line, if you are a right-handed guitarist.

To guide you in order to put the correct strings into the correct tuning keys at the headstock, look at the picture below.

See? The first string goes to the bottom right tuning key.

2nd string – middle right

3rd string – top right

4th string – top left

5th string – middle left

6th string – bottom left

As a rule of thumb, when you put all your strings into the tuning keys, make sure that you turned the tuner in the same direction when you want to tune it. (i.e. loosen strings – all clockwise direction, tighten strings – all counterclockwise direction).

They are two ways of inserting the guitar strings into the tuning keys.

1. Pull all the strings into the keys and turn the gears

2. Put just the end of the string and turn the gears.

Both ways have their pros and cons.

a. Not wasting time, easier to tune because you only have to turn the gear a bit but waste of strings.

b. Wasting time, because you start to turn the gear from the tip of the string, harder to tune but more accurate.

Click the picture if you cannot see the label :P

6. Tune the guitar and rock on!

You can use tuner to tune your guitar or if you are a more-experienced guitarists, use your own method or method that have been descended by your guitar gurus.

Repaired and new-looking guitar.. weehuu~

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I so wanna buy a guitar right now.

I don’t know whether this is useful for you guys or you have a better way of repairing your own guitar. This is my method that has been shared and taught by my friend and it’s really useful for me.

Tuan gitar, ampun kerana mengutuk gitar anda but I just can’t help it.. Muahaha :P

If you have any questions, or better solution, feel free to drop a comment or two :P

Before we end, who want to learn Tears in Heaven? Angkat tangan! :P

And lastly to all guitarists out there no matter where you are, tgh jamming ke, atas pentas ke, tepi longkang melayan syahdu ke, atas katil ke…

KEEP ON ROCKING, BEBEH!! Woohoo!!

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