How To Change And Replace A Broken Guitar String On An Electric Stratocaster Guitar

My young nephew has owned a guitar for a couple of years and recently he told me that one of the strings had broken whilst he was practicing.

I told him that I would fix it for him and have it ready by the time his next lesson rolled around.

I hadn't replaced a guitar string before but it wasn't one of those jobs that struck me as being overly complicated so I did abit of googling but didn't really see any step by step instructions. As with all the other posts on this blog I thought I would figure it out and then post clear instructions for those that might have the same issue after me.

Step by Step guide - How to replace a broken guitar string

1. Identify the broken string - The first job is to identify which guitar string has broken. This will be fairly easy to spot if it has snapped in the middle of string as there will be two pieces hanging off the guitar.

On my nephew's guitar the the thinnest E string (1st String) had come loose at the eyelet end leaving the string hanging off the machine heads (For a reference of guitar terminology take a look at the 'Anatomy of an electric stratocaster guitar' diagram at the end of this post).

By the time I got to see the guitar, my nephew and his friends had removed the string completely.

2.Purchase the correct guitar string - My nephew's guitar was part of a starter bundle from www.gear4music.com and it fortunately came with spare strings, however, if you don't have spare strings just visit a local music shop and they will be provide you with the correct string.

3. Check the rear of the guitar - On the back of a stratocaster is a white plastic plate with six screws in it. I knew that the string had come away from the eyelet at the end of the string so I expected to hear it rattling around within the cavity behind the plastic plate.

When I held it up to my ear and shook it I couldn't hear anything so so I assumed it had fallen out of one of the small gaps in the plate.

4. Remove the plastic plate - The plate is held down by six small Phillips head screws. Carefully remove these to expose the inner workings of the guitar and keep them in a safe place.

5. The inner components of the guitar - The holes shown in the image to the right are where you feed the strings through. If you look into these holes (probably will need a torch or the light on your phone) you will see they have six gold eyelets in each one. If you flip the guitar over with the back pointed toward the floor the broken strings eyelet should fall out.

On my nephews guitar it didn't so I had to take a closer look.

6. Remove any trapped eyelets - Unfortunately, the eyelet was wedged in so gravity wasn't enough to free it. In the end I used a very small Allen key to poke down in to the hole and flip it out.

7. Remove your new string from the packaging and prepare it - When you get the string it will be wrapped and most likely coiled up so you will need to unwrap it and stretch it out.

If you pull it straight a few times it make it much easier to work with as you try and fit it.

8. Feed the guitar string - With the old eyelet now removed, take the end of the new string which doesn't have the eyelet and feed it through the corresponding hole.

9. Pull the guitar string out of the front - Once the string has gone into the back far enough you should start to see it poke through the front of the guitar.

Pull the string from the front until the eyelet moves into the hole at the rear. Shortly after, you wont be able to pull anymore as the eyelet will be secured.

10. Feed the string at the top of the neck - On my nephew's guitar the string needed to go through the white plastic strip (see right) and under the small metal clip.

11. Hold the string down (Important) - Steps 11 & 12 need to be done at the same time. Hold the string down in the position shown and then feed the string through the machine head.

Holding down is important as it provides slack to wrap around the machine head it step 13.

12. Feed the string through the machine head - Feed the string through the machine head hole and then pull it back towards yourself to put a curve in the string to stop it coming straight back out.

13. Tighten the tuning key - Keep turning the tuning key away from the guitar and you will see the machine head slowly turn. Keep doing this until the string becomes taught.











14. Tune the guitar - This is a good point to do an initial tune to make sure you don't over tighten the string.

Once tuned, play the string and throw in a few bends. As it is a new string it will probably go out of tune again so repeat this process a few time until it holds its tune.

15. Trim the new string excess - The strings can be quite long so it is good to give it trim to complete the job. I used the cutting part of a pair of pliers.

16. Refit the plastic backing plate - In step 4 we removed the plastic plate at the rear of the guitar. Now that we are nearing completion it can be reattached using the six Phillips head screws we removed earlier.





You should now have a fully playable guitar string and be able to give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.

I hope you found this post helpful, please let me and others know in the comments section below how you got on.

As promised, here is a diagram of an electric guitar just in case any of the terminology used in this post was a little confusing.

Anatomy of an electric Stratocaster guitar

How To Connect A New Washing Machine Yourself For Free

Getting a new washing machine can be expensive especially if you have to pay someone to fit it. Some major washing machine retailers offer an installation service which can range between £25-£45.

As you would have already paid several hundreds for the appliance wouldn't it be nice if you could connect the washing up yourself, gain a skill and save some money in the process ?.

Well this is what I decided to do and to help anyone else in my situation I created this step-by-step guide so they wouldn't have to go through the hardship of figuring it all out.

How to install a new washing machine

1. Disconnect and remove your existing washing machine - If you have not completed this step already I have provided a guide called 'How to disconnect, remove and dispose of a washing machine for free'.

2. Maneuver the washing machine into position - Not an easy job as they are quite heavy but move the washing machine roughly where you want it to be, which is probably where your old one was. Make sure to leave enough room to access the rear pipework and power cables.

3. Attach the cold water feed hose pipe to the back washing machine - Your washing machine should have been supplied with a cold water feed pipe. The pipe has two different ends, one that looks like a hook and another that is straight. The end that looks like a hook is the one that needs to be connected to the back of the washing machine and can be easily screwed on (See right).






4. Check hose pipe and cable length - You will now need to check that the power cable, waste drainage hose pipe and cold water feed cables are long enough. Take the power cable and hold it to the plug socket, take the waste pipe and hold it to the relevant connector (in my case sink U-bend) and take the cold water feed pipe and hold it up to the cold water isolation valve.

If you find that the waste hosepipe from the washing machine doesn't reach then please follow my instruction within the post 'How to connect a washing machine with drain waste hosepipe extension'.

However, if you are happy that everything will connect then proceed to the next step.

5.  Connect the cold water feed hosepipe - The cold water feed hosepipe is the easiest to fit as it has a threaded end so just screw it onto the cold water isolation valve.

6. Connect the drain waste hosepipe - Fitting this hose pipe can be quite tricky depending on the position of the pipework it connects to.

The first step is to place the loose hose pipe clamp ring over the unattached drain pipe. You do this first because trying to add it after the pipe is in position can be a nightmare.

Slide / push the waste hose pipe over the drain pipe (in my case included as part of my sink's U-bend). This will be a very tight fitting so it may take some effort to get it properly located.

Once in position slide the hosepipe clam ring into the position shown on the right and use a screw driver to tighten.

7. Just add water - Release the water from the isolation valve into the washing machine by moving the tap into the 'Open' position. You should hear a rush of water at this point.

Check for leaks







8.  Plug in the power lead - All you need to do now is plug in the power lead and you are ready to use your new washing machine.

**Side notes**

• Read the instructions that come with your washing machine. The appliance will likely have bolts inserted into the back that keep the drum and other components still in transit which need to be removed before installation and use.
• You will find that your washing machine is wet in certain places when you receive it. This is nothing to worry about, it is just residue from when they test it at the factory.
• Apologies for the slightly grotty pictures from under my old sink. We have a whole new kitchen now and hopefully less dead spiders !!

I hope you found this post helpful, please let me (and others) know how you got on with your installation in the comments below.

How To Disconnect, Remove And Dispose Of A Washing Machine For Free

When a washing machine breaks down you know that replacing it is going to be expensive. Not only do you have to spend several hundreds on a new machine and installation but if you lack confidence with plumbing you may also have to pay for someone to disconnect your existing broken machine and dispose of it.

As some of my previous posts have shown, jobs can seem quite intimidating until you break them down and realize they are actually quite simple. No-one likes spending money unnecessarily so here is a step-by-step guide to disconnecting your washing machine and disposing of it for free.

How to disconnect a washing machine

1. Disconnect the power supply - The first step is an easy one just unplug the washing machine from the mains power.

2. Stop the water supply to the washing machine - Your washing machine will be fed cold water from your house's main water supply. If your plumbing is installed correctly there will be an isolation valve located inbetween the water inlet pipe from your machine and the mains (See image to the right). The purpose of this isolation valve is that you can stop the flow of water to an appliance without having to shut off your house's main water supply at the stop cock.

Turn the handle on the isolation value to the 'Off' position as shown in the image.


3. Drain/empty the washing machine of water manually - Hopefully your washing broke down after it was empty of water, however, if this was not the case empty the machine at this point. If you are unsure how to do this, you can find all the instructions in my post entitled (How to drain a washing machine manually that is full of water)

4.  Disconnect the washing machine waste hosepipe - Your washing machine will have a waste pipe that originates at the back of the machine and fixes to a section of pipework that connects to your main waste drain. In my case this was under my sink and is shown in the picture to the right.

The pipe will be fastened with a hosepipe clamp ring. To remove the hose you will need to loosen the clamp with a screw driver. When the clamp is no longer holding the pipe, pull the pipe (in my case off to the right) to disconnect it from the sink's U-bend pipework.

Removing this pipe is actually the most difficult part of the whole process as it naturally attaches to the U-Bend pipework very snuggly which means that quite abit of force is required to get it to move. Not only that, there was very little room to maneuver under the sink and I had to sit in quite an uncomfortable position to get any leverage.

Hopefully this will be easier for you but I just wanted to give you a warning.

If all goes well, your perseverance will pay off with a disconnected washing machine drainage hosepipe as shown here on the right.

**Always have a container handy to capture any excess water which may be contained within the hosepipe after removal**

5. Disconnect the cold water hosepipe from the isolation valve - This hosepipe has a threaded seal so all you need to do is unscrew it from the isolation valve (which should still be in the off position).

**Always have a container handy to capture any excess water which may be contained within the hosepipe after removal**

6. Unscrew the other end of the cold water hose pipe - At the back of the washing machine (usually at the top) you will see where the cold water hosepipe connects. Unscrew this as you did in step 5.









You will now have a fully (and safely) disconnected washing machine which you can now remove from your kitchen or laundry room !!.

How to dispose of your washing machine for free

Possible ways to remove your broken washing machine include the following :

• Trying to get it into your car and taking it to the city dump / recycle center yourself (fee may be applicable).
• Asking the local council to collect and dispose of the item for you. My local council charges £29 for this service
• Hire a 'man with van' to collect the item and dispose of it for you which can cost up to £100.
• Get the supplier of the new washing machine to disconnect and dispose of your existing washing machine. The place where we purchased our new one from offered to disconnect and dispose for £20.

My favourite option however is the free one. Scrap metal is valuable and although you don't see (or hear) a rag and bone man too often I knew that there must be a company out there that would like my old appliance. After abit of googling and a couple of phone calls I found a local company that would be happy to come and pick up my washing machine for free. So all I had to do was disconnect it and drag it outside of my house. The following day as promised they turned up in their van and hauled it away.

Google search terms I used : Free washing machine removal, free scrap metal removal, kitchen appliance removal for free *and location

I hope you found this post helpful and it gives you confidence to do this very simple job yourself and save you some money. Please let me know (and others) how you got on in the comments section below.

FitBit Charge 2 Fitness Activity Tracker Set Up And Configuration On iPhone iOS

I had unboxed my FitBit Charge 2 and accessories (see previous post) and now it was time to set it up for its first use. In my last post I showed that within the box there is a piece of paper which says that you should go to www.fitbit.com/setup to configure the device. Once you do this it redirects you to the app store to download FitBit's own mobile app. The first time you open the Fitbit mobile app it presents you with a setup wizard.

1. Hey, there welcome to Fitbit - This screen establishes whether you have an existing Fitbit account or whether you need to create a new one. As this was the first fitness tracker I have purchased, I selected 'join Fitbit'. 

2.Which Fitbit tracker are you setting up ? - I purchased the Charge 2 activity tracker so I selected it from the list.

3. Fitbit charge 2 - There is no information to enter on this screen so select 'Set up your fitbit charge 2'

4. There is no information to enter on this screen so select 'Lets go'

5. How tall are you - Use the scroller to enter your height. In the UK we tend to use feet and inches. For example I am 6ft tall so I looked up a height conversion site to convert it into cm which worked out as 182.88cm precisely. I just rounded this up to 183cm.

Press 'Next' when you are happy with your entry.

6. 'What's your gender ?' - Thankfully Fitbit has not bought into the Gender fluid/Gender neutrality nonsense and still believes that it is significant/important.

Therefore, select your gender using the icons and select 'Next'.

7. What is your weight ? - It seems Fitbit do adapt the app based on country. As I am in the UK it asked for my weight in stones.

Use the horizontal scroller to find your weight and press 'Next'.

8. What is your Birthday ? -  Use the horizontal scrollers to select your birthday and press 'Next'.

* Screenshot doesn't show my real birthday !

9. Now lets put a name to those numbers - Enter name, email and password.

I agree to the Fitbit terms of service and privacy policy - you will need to agree to this or you wont be able to proceed and the 'Next' option will remain greyed out.

I acknowledge that my personal data will be transferred to the United States in accordance with the Privacy Policy. Just as above you will need to agree to this or you wont be able to proceed and the 'Next' option will remain greyed out.

Keep me updated about Fitbit products, news and promotions - This box is optional and as a rule I never tick them as it just leads to emails I never end up reading. However, if they will be of value to you then by all means select it.

Press 'Next'.

10. Read our terms and policies - This is your opportunity to read the terms of  service and privacy policy.

I'm sure like me you will open these up and diligently read every line and satisfy yourself you are legally, morally and spiritually happy with everything !

When you are finished with your studies select 'I agree'.

11. Meet Your Charge 2 - There is no information to enter on this screen so select 'Next'

12. Is your Charge 2 powered on ? (Make sure it's display turns on when you press the button. If nothing happens plug it into the charger) - My Charge 2 device did turn on and app began searching for it. Once it finds it, it takes you to the following screen.

13. Pair your tracker (Enter the number on your trackers display) - You will see for digits appear on your Charge 2 at this point and you just need to enter them into the app using the keypad which appears on-screen. Once you have entered the 4 digit pin it will take about a minute to complete the pairing process.

14. Update available (Keep your tracker close to your mobile device during the update) - Select 'Update tracker'.

15. Plug in your Charge 2 (The battery is abit too low to continue) - It was at this point that I got charger out of the box for first use. One instantly noticeable and annoying thing is that the lead for the charger  is extremely short. If you are intending on charging the device on your desk or side table in the future then prepare yourself for disappointment because it definitely will not reach.

Once you have the phone charging select 'Try Again'.

16. Updating your tracker (This update may take up to 10 minutes, but feel free to leave the Fitbit app while you wait) - It warns you for up to 10 minutes but mine only took 2.30 mins and having the progress bar was helpful.

17. Update complete ! - There is no information to enter on this screen so select 'Continue'.

18. Now for the fun (Walk through the  basics to learn how to make the most of your Fitbit Charge 2) - There is no information to enter on this screen so select 'Next'.

19. Navigation (Use the button to wake your tracker and page through the menu). Having owned the Fitbit for a while now you often need to press the button just to view Fitbit's default screen as the 'Quick View' feature (see below) doesn't always activate 100% of the time.

Select 'Next' to continue.

20. Quick View (You can turn on the display by turning your wrist towards you or by double-tapping the display) -  As mentioned above, although this is a good feature it doesn't always work 100% of the time so in those instances you need to press the button.

Select 'Next' to continue.

21. Fitbit basics (Wear your Charge 2 everyday to track a variety of stats. Your daily goal is set to 10,000 steps and resets at midnight) - You can also view how many steps you have completed within the Fitbit app.

Select 'Next' to continue.

22. Sleep and alarms (Automatically track sleep by wearing your tracker to bed. Use the Fitbit app to set silent alarms) - The sleep feature is fantastic and I will describe it in detail in my 'review of the Fitbit'.

Select 'Next' to continue.

23. Track exercise (Record your exercise to see real-time stats like pace and distance on the display for a variety of sports). 

Select 'Next' to continue.

24. GPS routes using your phone (Connect with the GPS on your smartphone to map routes and get real-time stats like pace and distance) - I noticed alot of people complained online about the Fitbit Charge 2 not being true GPS i.e. it uses the phone's GPS rather than having GPS capability within the tracker itself but personally I have found it to be absolutely fine as I always have my phone on me anyway.

Select 'Next' to continue.

25. Stay connected (Charge 2 will buzz when you receive text messages or calls. Turn your wrist towards you to view a notification. You can configure notifications in your app settings) - This was a feature I wasn't really interested in when I first got the tracker but I find it really useful now.

Select 'Next' to continue.

26. Guided Breathing Sessions (Find moments of calm throughout your day with personalized guided breathing sessions).


Select 'Next' to continue.

27. Charging (Plug the charging cable into a USB port. Connect it to your tracker and make sure the gold pins are aligned) - Good instructions for how to charge your Fitbit but if you are anything like me you had to figure this out earlier when the setup asked you to charge your device for the update.

Select 'Next' to continue.

28. How to wear it (All day : Wear the band loose enough that it can move back and forth. During workouts : Secure the band so it lays flat 2-3 finger-widths above your wrist bone) - This is the optimum position but I had to move it further up my arm to avoid it getting damage by cable weights I was using and it still recorded everything accurately.

Select 'Next' to continue.

29. Wear & care tips

1. Clean your band and wrist regularly with soap-free cleanser.
2. If you tracker gets wet, remove and dry completely.
3. Take your band off from time to time.

After exercise and at the end of each day I clean my Fitbit Charge 2 with an anti-bacterial handwipe/wet wipe. I find this method to be quick and easy and also doesn't risk the Fitbit getting too wet.

Select 'Next' to continue.

30. Which wrist will you wear your tracker on ? - I prefer the left wrist but select what works best for you.

31. Here's a hot tip (You can swap your current band with Charge 2 accessory bands. Just push the button in and slide band up) - I really like the black band as I tend to wear black i.e. black t-shirts and black shorts and trainers at the gym. However, for the more adventurous types the bands now come in a range of different colours and textures.

Select 'Next' to continue.

32. You're all set ! (Get moving and train smarter with Charge 2) - All you need to do now is select 'Done' and you can begin really getting some hands on experience with the Fitbit Charge 2.

You are then taken to the Fitbit app home screen.

Setting up the FitBit Charge 2 was very easy and had it not been for the battery on the Charge 2 being a little low and needing charging midway it would have been even simpler. It is clear that alot of thought has gone into providing a smooth user experience for the initial setup and it provides a good level of information regarding the features to prepare you for first use.

If you have purchased a Fitbit and would like to leave a comment regarding the setup, please do so below.