Take the string and snap off all the eyelets, all the braid and any non-gusli attributes. Then take the 2.5-3 cm tail of a string and turn it with the help of your thumb about the tip of your needlenose pliers.

Make sure that the bend you've obtained is rather curved. You don't need a sharp bend. Grip the bend with the tip your flat-nosed pliers the way that is shown at the picture. The long tail of the string should be the closest to you and the short tail should be the farthest.

Take the short tail of the string with your fingers and turn it with the help of your thumb around the long tail from the upper side. When the short tail is half-turned the way that is shown at the picture, the whole construction will stop trying to unbend spontaneously. So you may relax.

Take the needlenose pliers with your right hand and with the help of the very tip of the needlenose pliers (from time to time getting a better grip near the root of a short tail the way that is shown at the picture) start winding the short tail around the long one. Steady, nice and accurately.

When the whole short tail will be layed in a spiral, you may say that you've got a string ready to installing. All the manufactures producing strings that I know, don't make such string braid by automated process. As it is an only form of string braid to my mind that is OK for gusli, so you have to make these eyelets-and-braids by yourself. Take a look at the picture. Isn't my eyelet rather nice? It is not a Photoshop, it is a six years of following and improving this string installing technique. :)

Pass the string eyelet ahead under the string holding metal rod. Then take the opposite tip of the string and pass it through the eyelet.

The result of previous manipulation is shown at the picture.

Pull this opposite tip of the string to its peg. Check the length of the string by pulling the tip with no stress over the peg. You need just 6-10 cm over the peg. The surplus should be snapped off with no regret. Don't leave the extra surplus. Even if it will be totally winded around the peg it will dirty the sound of the string.

Install the tip of the string in the hole that is made on the peg surface. You should put it into for the whole depth of the hole. But the tip of the string should not appear from the opposite side of the hole. This may dust the sound. Don't forget to weaken the peg before proceeding this operation. You should turn it over with no superfluous strength.

Drawing tight the string with the help of your thumb, start to turn the peg over to put each wind of the string in contact with the adjacent one. The next winds should be putted up-peg in the case of pegs with a hole. If you have split up pegs the next winds should be putted down-peg. While proceeding this operation you should permanently check the string eyelet not to be engaged with the adjacent ones. Sometimes it's rather problematic to disengage it.

When the string becomes straight between the string holding rod and the peg, you should fix the peg just to free your hands, but don't stretch the string strongly. Leave it relaxed for the next operation. Look at your eyelet. In 99 per cent cases it will look like the eyelet from the picture. It will be rather drunken. If you stretch the string to the work tension with such a drunken eyelet, the string could sound damped or dirty.

Take the long pointed tool (needle, knitting needle, thin nail), then carefully put it through the eyelet and align the eyelet perpendicularly to the string. Try not to make any inflection points on the string.

Your result should be similar to the pictured one.

Then move aside the last wind of the string at the peg with the help of our thumbnail (see the picture). If you leave the last wind in contact with others you may get very dirty sound. Don't forget to check all the strings to be equidistant from the instrument body.

That's all. After that you may stretch the string to the work tension.