Gather together the proper tools and the proper gauge wire (see your tuning/string gauge chart,). I recommend a good quality 6" needle-nosed pliers and a 6" diagonal wire cutter (see above). Don't buy cheap imports as they will dull easily. Wire used for dulcimers is extremely hard. I've used the same two tools for my whole career. You may, to be on the safe side, want to put on a pair of safety goggles. Amazon sells the Irwin 2078955 Vise-Grip 5-1/2-Inch Needle Nose with Spring which is the closest thing I can find to compare with my old Channellock. You also may want to fashion a small piece of cardboard that could be taped near the pin your working on to protect the face of your instrument from a slip of the pliers or tuning wrench until you gain some confidence. Carefully remove the broken wire making note of how it was attached. Using your tuning wrench back out or unscrew the tuning pin until you just see a small amount of thread showing; about an 1/8". The tuning pins are just like screws. If you don't back them out after a string breaks they just keep going down into the hole. You don't want to back them out to much though

On the steel courses I sometimes use a continuous length of wire unless you specified all loop end strings. On new instruments, I now supply all loop end strings.

The following procedure is for a continuous piece of wire

Take a free end of the wire and thread it through the opposite bridge hole towards one of the two tuning pins. Push the wire through the hole in the tuning pin until it sticks past the hole about 1/8 of an inch. Using the needle-nosed pliers bend this end up at right angles. Look at other pins to see what it should look like. Support the pliers against the pin. If you try to make this bend floating in space many of you will slip and redecorate the face of your instrument. Make sure the wire is bent up. If it points down it will scratch your soundboard as the tuning pin is twisted in. Do this carefully. After bending take your tuning wrench and wind the wire onto the bottom of the tuning pin two revolutions. This is important as the wire must make good contact with the side saddle. When this is complete pick up the wire on the other side and wind it around the hitch pins as observed on other courses. After completing this winding (wind it as tight as you can or it will pop off). If it continues to pop off put a piece of masking tape over the top of it to hold it in place as you complete the rest of what you need to do. Your next step is to take the free end and run it past the other tuning pin about an inch. Using your cutters cut it off. Don't let go of the wire as it is springy and if released will launch its free end into the soundboard creating a nice little hole. I know I've had it happen. After cutting the wire and before attaching it to the second tuning pin make sure you thread it through the hole in the opposing bridge.Attach the wire to the second pin as you did the first making sure you have backed out the pin and have wound the wire on the bottom. This assures that you've got good contact between the wire and the bridge saddles.

For loop end strings

You'll need two strings per course. Restringing with looped strings is nearly the same only your not winding the wire around the hitch pins merely placing them over the hitch pin. I recommend using masking tape to hold the looped end on the hitch pin while you attach the free end to the tuning pin. Make sure you thread the string through any holes they need to go through before tightening.

Replacing a string on the top end small offset bridge (the 3 courses on the 3/13/12, 3/17/17, 3/16/15/8 , 3/16/18/9, and the Linear Chromatics) takes some special attention. Note carefully how its neighbor is strung. Make sure you thread the wire through the appropriate hole on the main treble bridge before attaching one end of the wire to the top tuning pin of the pair. Than wind the string around the single hitch pin on the small hitch bridge. Secure this wind with a piece of masking tape forced down hard so it doesn't just pop off. Than thread the free end through the main treble bridge before attaching it to the lower tuning pin. Increase tension on the course slightly but before tightening take a small screw driver or your fingernail and push the string downward to the bottom of the hitch pin where it winds around that hitch pin. This will insure that the course makes good hard contact with the small metal saddle. If it doesn't make good contact the course will sound thin. On the upper courses of the Linear Chromatic's left hand treble bridge you must make sure that the wire is pushed down to the bottom of the tuning pin so it makes good contact on the left hand low bridge. This treble 2 bridge gives you notes on either side so you will have to have good contact on the saddles on both sides if you want two good notes.

Replacing all your strings

Remove all strings by backing out the tuning pins and pulling the ends through the holes with a cutter or needlenosed pliers. Remove all acetal rod keeping it in order. Remove bridges. Clean bridges and instrument using a small paint brush to get dust between pins. Adjust depth of tuning pins so that only about 1/8" of thread is showing above the face of the instrument. The tuning pins are fine threaded screws and act like them. Clockwise will screw them in and vice versa. Began stringing using proper guages of wire following instructions on replacing a string. The loop end can be held in place by piece of tape pressed on top the hitch pin. Leave strings a bit loose until you reinstall your acetal rod rotating it one quarter turn on the treble bridge. Tighten a top course, a middle course and a bottom course on both the treble and bass bridges. Use those courses to make sure you have that bridge located in the proper position to obtain the fifth interval. An electronic tuner can help with this. Adjust placement of bridge so there is clearance for all courses. Once the intonation and clearance is OK tighten and tune all strings. Your done.

99% of all buzzes on my instruments are caused by insufficient string contact on the 1/8" diameter plastic (acetal) or metal saddle running in the groove on the long narrow bridge on the right side of the instrument. The usual problem strings are the tails of strings coming off the bass bridge. This tails aren't played but they can either buzz or vibrate sympathetically when notes you usually play are struck.

Locate the offender by striking the suspected course vigorously with your left hand while your right hand attempts to mute the buzz by pressing downward with a finger along that saddle. This can be difficult if you have dampers. You can also use masking tape to selective dampen tails. The buzz is usually caused by a string tail which is neither down hard on the saddle or clearly off the saddle. The string is hovering close enough to the saddle so that when the course is struck it buzzes against the saddle. The solution is to loosen the tuning pin and string enough so that you can rewind the string closer to the bottom of the tuning pin (to make greater contact with the saddle) or rewind the string slightly higher on the pin which would lift the string clear of the saddle. Either way you should have eliminated this type of buzz. You may have to check all the courses before you find the offending string as sometimes you will strike one course and the buzz will actually be the tail of another course.

Sometimes buzzes may occur because a bridge (or the string) shifted and the string rattles against a bridge when struck hard. To eliminate these first just try and move the string to the side. If that doesn't work your going to have to tap or move the bridge slightly using a sawed off pencil with the erasure end againest the bridge. Move the bridge just enough to give the vibrating course clearance. Make sure you don't move the bridge so much you cause additional problems or buzzes

Occasionally on my larger instruments the wound strings may have become too close together so that when struck hard they literally bang into each other. If that seems to be the case separate the individual strings in the course. If the strings won't maintain that separation you can put just a slight groove in the top of the saddle with a knife or sharp file. Don't go too deep or you'll kill the tone of the string. Do not groove the treble bridge saddle as this will affect the fifth interval. Sometimes its a simple matter of just pushing the strings apart with your finger.

Buzzes or unexplained rattles can sometimes be caused by something that is vibrating in sympathy with a course that is being struck. This could be almost anything from a damper part to a loose knob on a stand. You have to think outside the box to locate these guys.

Some people don't want to hear anything sympathetic so they'll weave small pieces of leather or felt between the two strings in the course effectively damping all tails and anything that could potentially vibrate in sympathy. I don't recommend doing this as I really think the tone of the individual courses benefits from having a freely vibrating tail but that decision is yours.

Instructions for shipping your instrument (for major string replacement)

You might be interested in my section on general instrument care which provides additional information on keeping your instrument in top playing shape.