Last night I had the worst time of changing strings ever. I’ll skip the details. The main cause is that I can’t see to thread the string through the tuner peg hole. I’m not the first person in these shoes. What do other folks do? I’m thinking of getting a jeweler’s loop for my eyeglasses.
I can understand. I have fits sometimes with the mandolin. But I manage. I do have a light with a magnifying lens for when things get particularly tough which I generally use only for detail work on flutes, whistles and strings. They come in many sizes and price points.
Reading glasses might help. They are just fixed focus magnifiers. Don’t look too cool over normal glasses though. But hey… They are inexpensive and fairly ubiquitous. Dollar stores stock them these days. Otherwise most drug stores have a nice selection and you an always bling it up too.
They come as clip-ons too.
Then there is the eyecard. Or similar emergency reading glasses. My father used something like these in his late eighties for times when he felt challenged.
Or the magnifying visor, lighted or not. Again they come in many forms and price points.
Harbor Freight has some of these things at comparatively very low prices. including loupes
Hope that helps.
Feadoggie
The last picture is what I was thinking of. I have a particular fondness for clip on/flip ups and didn’t know that non-sunglasses were an option.
I wish I could implement “Plan B” aka “Get a kid to do this for me” but I don’t know any kids who play guitar.
Why do they have to play guitar instead of just wanting to play? Offer free lessons in trade.
It’s the time of year for my kids (youngest is 20) to bring their stringed instruments home for maintenance, including new strings. We’ll be doing mandolin, uke, bass, and fiddle strings so far. The banjo hasn’t been mentioned yet for some reason.
Feadoggie
I would even give a guitar to a kid that wanted free lessons. Damn that Rock Band Hero.
We’ve considered just that as an outreach program at our church. But some people are a bit sensitive about programs just for kids around here at this point in time (mostly the Penn State grads). I can’t blame them. It’s a pretty nice idea though.
Right! 
At least the technology is progressing to where you can use a real guitar to play the game now - and actually learn something. Drums and keyboards were easy but the bass and guitar were a bit harder (just a bit more expensive actually) to sense. So, things should get to where you have to actually play like Jimi or some other guitar demi-god to get a high score in a few years.
It’ll get there. I have no doubt. One day Homespun Tapes (what an anachronism that is!) will produce a set of tutorials where a kid can learn to play guitar like Pierre Bensusan or Clarence White using their guitar and an Xbox. Wii or PS21.
Feadoggie
Here’s my trick: When the old string is off, always turn the tuner so that the peg hole is aligned with the strings - i.e., in the head-to-bridge direction. You can even do this by feel instead of by sight. Then there’s no guesswork which direction to insert the top of the new string; it always goes in straight up.
Once you have the string inserted and the lock-loop* secured, you can basically just start winding, no need to look. If you maintain finger tension on the string by holding it down gently in the nut slot, the winding should take care of itself. You can do it in the dark.
Not using a lock-loop? When the string is inserted in the peg hole and pulled to the right length, bring the top of the string 1/2 turn around the peg in the opposite direction of the winding, and thread it under the string where it enters the peg. Then crimp the string 180 degrees back on itself so it forms a half-loop. You can do this by hand, or with needle nose pliers for a good crimp.
Now after 1/4 turn of the peg, the loop will “lock” the string against the peg so you don’t have to worry about watching for slippage. It also makes a more secure attachment, so you get better tuning behavior and can use fewer windings around the peg.
Also, everyone knows the old trick of using a hand width under the string at the 12th fret to determine roughly how much slack to leave in the string before winding it. Right? 
Nice description, MTGuru.
There are a lot of “how to” videos on YouTube as well. D’Addario has this one which is fairly practical and straight-forward. Yes, they are selling some tools too. A nice pair of needle nose pliers or wire cutters are all that you need. String winders are nice if you change a lot of strings.
Feadoggie
When I worked at Sam Ash, I sometimes had to string a dozen guitars a day with anxious customers staring at me. You get used to doing it fairly efficiently.
Yes, string winders are your friend!
I like the Leatherman Squirt P4 (now PS4) multitool as my gig companion.
http://www.leatherman.com/product/Squirt_PS4
It’s tiny and fits easily in your pocket or accessory compartment. Needle nose pliers, wire cutters, knife/scissors (for opening string packages), screwdrivers (for friction tuners, pickup pole adjustments), file (for your nails), bottle opener (for beer!). Very handy.
Remarkably, it’s still a Made in the USA product, if that matters to you.
Right! Leatherman tools are great. E4 or Micra with me all the time, one of the full-size Leatherman in the brief case. Can’t beat 'em.
Yes, and hopefully they will continue to be made stateside. If you’ve tried any of the pretender’s products there is little to compare, particularly in the durability department.
Feadoggie
I once made the mistake of buying a Husky multitool on sale, basically a Chinese made Leatherman copy. It’s quite nice at first glance, and the quality actually seems good. The problem is that the spring-lever tension is so high that I literally cannot rotate any of the tools out of the handle. For that I need to use … another tool. Which turns the thing into a sort of recursive joke. 
I will have to read those instructions right before I change strings next time. In the meantime, I have survived. Very little blood was spilled. I ran into the problem of small bits of strings wrapped around the tuners that refused to give up, that refused to loosen, and that refused to reveal to me in which direction they were wound. That’s where the magnifier might come in handy.
Amazingly, untangling fishing line is no problem for me. I think it’s a Zen thing.
I use the string lock technique too, but I start with all my tuning post holes perpendicular to the length of the neck. That way, once I start turning the peg, the string starts winding on the post immediately instead of having to go through that first 90 degrees for nothing.
I do this also. Unlike MTGuru, I like to get some winding done on the string before placing through the nut, so as not to saw the groove in the nut. Probably meaningless if you have a Zero fret.
Hey, maybe I’ll try that trick the next time I restring. I think I prefer the up-down orientation because it makes it easier to gauge the amount of slack in the string until the exact moment you tie the lock loop. That’s harder for me to judge if the string is bowing out to the side. And with a string winder the extra quarter-turn effort is no big deal, if I’ve eaten my Wheaties for breakfast.
Well, that’s exactly why I added the word “gently” to my description. In practice, like you I don’t drop the string into the nut slot until it’s mostly wound, and I guide the string onto the peg manually/visually. But if you’re doing things without looking because of poor vision like Mutie, then the nut slot is a convenient tactile guide. But yes, you don’t want to scour out the slot with the wound strings.
having the glasses on will also give an added benefit, especially with the lighter strings. If one does decide to “pop” as you are winding, you won’t have it going into your eyes.
I don’t have a need for it (4 instruments, 3 strings each), but there is a string winder attachment you can get for a drill.
Another trick I learned, after you get up to pitch, pull the excess on the end of a quarter (like you are curling ribbon) to stretch the string out quicker. And clip the darn things close to the tuning peg - I hate having all the string in loops at the end of an instrument!
I like making the loops with the excess strings. I saw a guitar player have strings like this when I was an impressionable youth, even before I played guitar.
Funny, for some reason I loop the strings on my banjo. But guitar strings I always cut close to the peg.
That’s a great point, Missy. The string ends go whipping and springing around the posts until you cut them. And ends can go a-flying when you clip them. I wear glasses normally, and even then I’ve had a few close calls. So sometimes I wear additional protective eyegear, too.
Of course, if you don’t puncture at least one finger when changing strings, yer doing it wrong. The red badge of courage … 
I have one of those. Works on a drill or electric screwdriver. It scares me. A screwdriver is not bad. But you want a drill with a very good clutch to control the speed, or you can do some real damage tightening if you’re not careful and slip. I’d rather take the extra time and keep drills away from my instruments unless there’s a real hurry or you’re stringing lots of instruments at a time. Hand-winding with a winder is pretty fast as it is.
I’m not sure I can visualize that. I think I’d keep the serrated edge of a US quarter away from my strings. But you can certainly pinch a soft cloth around the string between thumb and index, and tug up gently while running up and down each string. That’s what I do.
Speaking of which, I also use the pinched cloth like this (without tugging) religiously after every playing session, to wipe down the strings. It takes only a minute, and makes a huge difference in prolonging the life of your strings. I can often get a few months easily out of a new set of J16 phosphor bronze strings even when playing quite a lot.
Also speaking of which, I highly recommend the D’Addario EXP coated strings. I tried Elixirs once and I hated them, both the look and feel. But the EXPs are excellent. They look and feel just like uncoated strings, and I’ve gotten 4 - 6 months of good tone out a set even with moderate playing. Worth the expense, IMO.
You beat me to that one!
Yep! An electric screwdriver is the right tool, lower torque, lower speed but still plenty for turning your pegs safely. I’ve worn out a couple B&D units over the years that were mostly used for re-stringing instruments.
For those that are really technologically challenged or handtool phobic, there is always the Robot Guitar. Anyone experience one of these yet. I know a few steel guitar players that wish they had the Powerhead tuners on their consoles.
Feadoggie