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____9. For the remaining nylon strings (.045” to .025” thickness) you will need to bulk up the knot with
a small wooden dowel. Begin by threading the strings through the soundboard.
Tie an overhand knot near the end of the string and pull it tight. Then lay the string on top of
the dowel formaing a ‘T’. (fig. 9a)
Next you’ll form two half hitch knots and loop them over the dowel one at a time. (fig. 9b-h)
Once both loops are over the dowel (fig. 9h), pull the log part of the string tight against the dow-
el. The overhand knot will snug up to the dowel and prevent the string from pulling through
the two half hitch knots. The dowel prevents the strings from pulling through the soundboard.
CROSS THE WINDINGS
____10. When attaching the nylon strings to the tuning pins, follow the same procedure as you did
for the bass strings. However, with nylon, it is necessary to also anchor the tops of the strings
securely to the tuning pins, as follows:
Guide 1-1/2 windings of string on the tuning pin away from the neck, then guide the next
winding back over the others (toward the neck) so the string helps “pinch” itself tightly to the
pin as you tune it up to pitch. (fig. 10a) If you don’t do this, you will surely experience string
slippage and breakage, especially in the upper half of the instrument.
FIG. 9A, B, C
FIG. 9D, E, F
FIG. 9G, H
