How to Clean and Restring an Epiphone EJ-200 Acoustic Guitar

Written By: Michael Dieguez

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How to Clean and Restring an Epiphone EJ-200 Acoustic Guitar

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

Time Required

20 - 40 minutes

Introduction

This serves as a guide to properly restring, clean, and maintain an Epiphone EJ-200 acoustic guitar, or any acoustic guitar with the same kind of setup. Follow the instructions to maintain your instrument throughout years of playing music. This guide will help avoid any unwanted luthier work on your guitar because of the negligence of care to your instrument.

Tools

Parts

D'Addario EJ16 Phosphor Bronze Wound - Light Gauge

Step 1

Clear the workspace of any items or clutter that could damage the finish of the guitar.
Support the neck of the guitar with a stand or bag.
In this case, a neck stand was not available, so a toiletries bag with towels stuffed inside was used to support the neck of the guitar.
You are good to go as long as it is stable and supports the guitar's neck well.

Step 2

Using the string winder, unwind the strings.
It is okay to relieve all of the tension on the neck by unwinding all of the strings at once.

Step 3

Using the string winder, pull up the bridge pins.
Remove the old strings.
This allows complete access to clean and oil the frets and fretboard.

Step 4

Use a scouring pad to clean and oil the fretboard, frets, and bridge with the Dunlop Lemon Oil.
Let the oil sit and seep into the wood for five minutes.
This is done so that the oil is absorbed into the wood of the fretboard and bridge, benefitting the longevity and life of the wood.
Once done, wipe off all of the excess oil with a microfiber cloth.

Step 5

It is important to use clean microfiber cloths for this step.
Use the Dunlop cleaner to clean the front, back, sides, and neck of the guitar.
Finish up with the Dunlop Carnauba wax to polish the front, back, sides, and neck of the guitar.

Step 6

Insert the new strings into the bridge holes.
Pop the bridge pins down into place.
Make sure to keep tension on the strings as the bridge pins are popped down into place.

Step 7

Cut the strings to size.
For the bass strings, measure one tuner head's length and trim it there.
For the treble strings, measure one and a half tuner head's length and trim it there.
When inserting the string into the tuning post, the string end should protrude approximately 1/8th of an inch from the tuner hole.
The bass side tuning pegs should be turned in a counter-clockwise direction to tune to pitch and the treble side tuning pegs should be turned in a clockwise direction to tune to pitch.
Make sure to remember that the wraps around the tuning post must go under the string to properly stay in tune and to avoid creating a kink, which could break the string.
Two to three wraps are perfect for the bass strings. The treble strings require approximately six wraps.

Step 8

Use a tuner to tune all of the strings to their proper notes.
The standard tuning for a six-string guitar is E A D G B E, which reads from the Low E (6th string) to the High E (1st string).

Step 9

Stretch out each of the strings to help them intonate and stay in tune faster.
You will have to tune the guitar multiple times until the strings stay in tune when stretched.
Repeat this step until the guitar stays in tune.

Step 10

Enjoy your newly strung, cleaned, and maintained instrument.

Author

Michael Dieguez

Member since: 07/04/21

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How to Clean and Restring an Epiphone EJ-200 Acoustic Guitar

Introduction

Tools

Parts

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