Alas, more problems arose and the new strings are still not on "Matthias." On the back of most electric guitars, there is a little plastic panel that mut be removed in order to change the strings. On this particular model, said panel is held in place by six little phillips screws, remove them and you're home free. The first three came off effortlessly, but the others must've been put on with an air wrench! I tried to remove them, Ray tried to remove them, my dad tried to remove them....they wouldn't budge! Whoever designed that particular model of guitar had to be some sort of deranged madman! And so the saga continues...