this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2025
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Never have I even considered taking strings off, cleaning em and putting them back on. Don't think a guitar would appreciate the lack of tension while they're soaking.
yes, you're supposed to change them one at a time to minimize the stress. This is especially true for classicals afaik. Although when I leave mine with my luthier for a bit of repair, he does leave her unstringed for a while, so I don't know really
They will be absolutely fine with strings off. If you couldn't remove strings, it would be impossible to level, polish, or change frets. Or clean and oil the fretboard. Regular maintenance on any stringed instrument shy of a piano or concert harp or something. Actually you couldn't even adjust the truss rod or intonation on some guitars without taking off all string tension.
One string at a time is gentler, of course, and you're less likely to drop nuts or bridges or other hardware when there's always a string on.
Would you say what matters most is the length of time over which you take off all strings ?