For whatever reason, you have a yo-yo in front of you that has no string. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to put a new string on that yo-yo.
Do you…
I realize now I should have asked the reverse order, when you need to replace an existing string. I always take the yo-yo apart in that case, and since I already have it taken apart…
Ive ruined several strings by untwisting them really big, going the “easy way.”
I now always take my throws apart to put new strings on. Ive never ruined a yoyo by taking it apart, but ive def caused some damage, sometimes irreparable, to the strings by gaping them out and wacking up the twist. Angel hair and Markmont Dragons taught me to avoid this. Then Cloud Strings, and some of my own HeartStrings are prone to going wonky and not re-twisting back up right.
I can take care, take an extra few seconds, and re-assemble without issue. I know how to set up the threads to never strip them, and I dont hulk hands my equipment. Ive not had a string go wacky since. Im not in a hurry.
Good advice.
For me, in many of the situations where I legitimately want or need a new string (the old string has a giant knot, or is super twisted around the bearing) I already kinda have the yo-yo taken apart, so…
Plus taking the string OFF almost always involves disassembly, doesn’t it? Does anyone just cut the string and rip it off? I always disassemble when taking the string off, and then I need a new string, and it’s already disassembled sooooo…
I dont see why removing old string would require disassembly, although I think ive disassembled them 100% of the time haha! Especially to those who untwist the strings to put them on, i would imagine would also untwist to take them off, but it seems, at least for me, thats not the case.
Ive heard some express worry and concern about taking a yoyo apart in general, afraid to induce vibe. Even seen people bragging about this on the BSTs. “Never been unscrewed!”
thats just crazy to me. Play with your toys people! haha Get to know them inside and out. 
I answered “Take apart”, assuming you were referring to unresponsive yo-yos. I mostly use nylon or nylon/poly blends on my unresponsive yo-yos, and I find those types don’t re-seat well when you open them up that big.
I have a few unresponsive yo-yos that seem to play better with poly strings, and I prefer poly on my responsive bearing yo-yos. On those I usually open the string wide.
I use cotton on fixed axle yo-yos, and even on those that come apart, I open the loop wide to re-string.
Untwist really big to take off old strings and put on new strings.
Ain’t nobody got time for that disassembly shiz
Is untwisting a string to remove it really that fast? I would think disassembly is faster? Or just cutting the string and ripping it off?
I’ve rarely taken a yoyo apart to remove or replace a string. More than a few times when I’ve done that the string ends up stuck in the bearing when I put it back together. Much easier to open up the loop and slip it over the shell.
And yes, I believe it’s faster than taking the yoyo apart.
I never take a yoyo apart to put a string on. In fact, if the yoyo is already taken apart I reassemble before I put the string on. It only takes a single thin fiber to get caught between the bearing and it’s seat to cause a problem. This has happened to me. I know @codinghorror almost exclusively uses string centering bearings which lessens the chance but there’s still a chance.
I’ve only seen problems with this in practice when I convert an unresponsive to a responsive – sometimes the bearing seat has a large protrusion that “assumes” the bearing will be full width and thus the yoyo can’t close all the way up. When that happens if there is any kind of gap between the bearing and the bearing seat the string WILL find its way in there quickly. Every time.
(On many yoyos you have to dremel away part of the height of the bearing seat to make the unresponsive wide C to narrow C bearing switch, but it does work once you do it.)
However on every other yoyo I’ve ever owned, e.g. not hacked up by me, then I’ve literally never had a string go into a bearing gap accidentally.
I find it easier to put a string on when the yoyo is assembled than when it’s disassembled anyway.
So why would I take the extra step of unscrewing it to put a string on when it’s easier to do so when the yoyo is screwed together anyway
It’s taking 2 steps backwards for me personally
Hmmm, I’ve never had to do this type of major surgery on a yoyo in over 20 years. And why would you want to do that??? What kinda stuff are you buying??
I only put string on an assembled yoyo. When i first started i locked up a bearing in my shutter and i assumed it was because i put the string on while the yoyo was apart. Ive never had an issue with retwisting my string.
mega untwists seem to work fine on most cheap bulk strings, and thats what most people use. I mean when there is hundreds of them lying around at pennies per, yea, no worries.
Wack up your lone 4$ cloud string and youll take the extra 20 seconds to not do that again. At least thats the lesson I learned. haha
Messing up a string is possible and I might have done it once a long time ago, but I do think it’s faster and easier to do it with an assembled yoyo. Just takes a little technique to keep the string under tension when you’re working with it
When I was a beginner I mostly took the yoyo apart. Now I mostly slip the string over while maintaining tension.
I mostly twist the string really wide but the only reason I do it is because people on yoyo videos say that I should do it. Honestly, I feel like it kinda messes up the string. ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ
I’ve never messed up a string unwinding it to put on a yoyo. Unwinding has always worked great for me so that’s the method I use. On those occasions when I need to unscrew the yoyo I have placed the string on the bearing, but……………that requires a bit of unwinding as well.
My only unfortunate experience putting a string on a yoyo was when the yoyo was unscrewed. Somehow the string slipped between the bearing seat and the bearing, cutting the string on the first throw. It was an exciting moment. 
I’ve converted a few small / narrow unresponsives to responsive. One that I thought was really successful was the 2017 popstar (I bought a few b-grades when they were available). It makes an awesome mini metal responsive… but you have to dremel away some of the middle protrusion around the bearing seat, otherwise it won’t screw all the way shut on a narrow C bearing.
