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Post subject: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:41 pm
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Hi!
I have a fender T-bucket 300CE and what seems to be a problem only I have experienced. It might be in my head, but I’ve been playing guitars for a long time and I love this guitar, it has a great sound and looks really good, so I can’t imagine why I would try to find a problem with it. I can’t find anyone else who has the same troubles though.
I live in Sweden so it’s hard to make direct contact with Fender so I’ve been to the store where I bought it but I get a different answer every time I go in (Ofc. I tested them to see how good they are by asking different ppl the same question.) Anyways, here it is:
I’m playing it with D’Addario strings, .011, and they work great the first two weeks or so. Right now I don’t play as much as I might want to, but I play a few times every week. I’ve been playing a bit less lately because I have a hard time getting the B-string properly tuned and I can really hear it when it’s even slightly off and it bothers me so much that after trying to tune it up for about 15 minutes and getting maybe 10 minutes good playing time before it’s time to tune it again is feels less attractive to play. Sometimes I can’t even get it right. I tried using the tuner imbedded and I’ve tried a few external as well, and I’ve tried by ear but I just can’t get it right.
I brought it to the store and at first they said it was nothing and that it was in my head. The next time I brought it another worker said that it was out of tune when I tuned it with tuner, and that I shouldn’t use a tuner but to go by ear cause the tuners aren’t any good. (He tuned it up by ear and at first it sounded okay. ) The thing about that though is that I’ve been using different tuners for maybe eight years or so and they work fine, even on this guitar for the first two years or so the tuners worked great.
I don’t really know if this is in my head or not, BUT it seems that when you’ve played that long it’s really not a mental thing when you WANT to play but the problem of tuning is in your way. (?)
Has anyone got any experience of this, maybe with the same guitar or another, any tip or help will be great and appreciated. If the problem doesn’t go away I will try buying a new one and selling this or something but I don’t really want to. Anyone who plays guitar I think understands that when you play a guitar for years it will give you some memories. (Sorry for possible misspells, it’s quite late and I’m tired. )
/Henrik


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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 2:07 am
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Did you bring the guitar to a qualified luthier ?

The store is is qualified for ? Did the check the neck bow ? This could be your problem .

IMO the guitar just need a complete set up by a qualified luthier.

How long since the last good set up ?


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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 8:23 am
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Hi,
Well they should be qualified according to fenders home page.
But, on the other hand, they are about the only store in Sweden that I know of except for some private dealers and one other big chain, so the pickings might have been slim?
I do know that they are good most of the times, I’ve checked the neck but I can’t see anything wrong with it. I believe I’ve seen them check it too, it’s the first thing you should look after.
I did check right now however (since it’s been a while) just because and it might be just a little, very little, crocked, it’s hard to tell, but I will try getting it in the store to see if they can make it out.
It’s been maybe a year or a little more since I’ve had a really good set up, easy to tune and staying that way. And I’ve tried different brands of strings, didn’t work much better.
If it’s not the neck bow, any other ideas?

//


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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 11:30 am
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Did you check the neck only with your eyes ?? If yes this is a joke unless you are a well qualified luthier.

Forget your store , and all the music store , find a private luthier . You should have some expert in Sweeden .
Don't you think because you have no store in your country , Fender have a choice ??? IMO Fender choose a store owner not the worker (s) in the store .

Or the store are right , guitar is good , tuning is good and you are a very bad guitar player .

You did not answer to my question on my last post ; how long since the last complete set -up ?


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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 2:06 pm
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Yes, I did, because I’ve learned how to see abnormalities in wood and how it bends. It might not sound like much but I don’t know how to explain it in English. But no I’m not an educated luthier.
Yes, I think fender have a choice, and I think you might have misunderstood me. What I meant is that it’s never, in my opinion, as good to see someone that is not a part of the company manufacturing something you have bought. Well, okay, in this case it’s not entirely true since we have luthier’s, but it’s about getting in contact with them as well and not find the bad ones. Too bad for me most of these guys work for the bigger stores and it’s hard to get the time to talk to them because they are backed up with work. I have been trying.
Yes, that might be a possibility. But the first eight years of my guitar playing worked fine, the first year(s) with this guitar worked properly and so with my other guitars, and since I also play other instruments that works great, it’s not the biggest chance that this is on me... but as I said, the possibility ofc exists.
Sorry ‘bout that. I missed it. I do basic maintenance at home more or less every time I put on new strings. Other than that I had a complete set up maybe two years ago and since then every time I’ve tried to get it into the hands of someone really good that answer has been “It’s not in need of it, we don’t want to waste your money.” It seems very strange to me and I’m looking for someone else that’s really good that can help me right now.

//


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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 10:59 pm
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Hi,there. You don't state if its going out of tune flat or sharp,but we will assume you mean flat,and in any case here are a few things you can try.You say that you are using 11's so your b string is a 15. Try a 14. Check the nut on the base of the tuning peg for tightness, Run an emory board or nail file (the fine side) lightly a couple of times on each side of the nut slot.Take some chapstick and put a little bit on a toothpick and put it in the nut slot.(or big bends nut sauce). Make sure the bridge pin is secure and also not cracked. When you put the new 14 string through the tuning peg,make sure the hole is facing the front of the guitar,and when you put it thru,bend it,and make sure you work your way downfrom the hole,4 turns max.This is just basic stuff, and you may have success with it. good luck!


Last edited by prepaws on Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 1:30 am
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Ekan wrote:

Yes, that might be a possibility. But the first eight years of my guitar playing worked fine, the first year(s)



That's the proof guitar need some work , some set -up you can't see by yourself.

You can't give any reading about neck bow , reading about if proper scale length , nothing that we could work on .

You said you learn to see abnormalities.
You have a choice , guitar is fine and your ears are wrong OR guitar is wrong and need work.

How can we help you more ?


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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 12:21 pm
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Hi,

prepaws: Thank you for the tips, I have done most of those things but I will try out the others as well.

And stratele52: Also many thanks, I forgot to say that earlier I think. Anyways, it seems it might have been the neck bow. I went to a luthier(after a lot of digging after one) and told him that I wanted a complete set up and they adjusted the neck slightly. I got it back today so I haven’t really had much time to see how much good it did, but prob. if they did an adjustment it will work fine.
Thanks for telling me what might have been wrong, since they’ve told me before it was fine I wouldn’t have guessed it to be the neck. I hope it works great now!
For now, that’s all the help I need, thanks.

//


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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 1:42 pm
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Good news Ekan , I hope you will enjoy your guitar .

Don't forget a truss rod adjustment fort the right neck bow is needed often once a year.

Adjustments you can do easely by yourself with some basic tools and the book written by Dan Erlewine . I learn a lots with his book many many years ago.


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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:53 pm
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It seems like a good read. Thanks again!


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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:12 pm
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Hi, sorry to tell you this but if it goes out of tune after playing it for ten minutes it is not the truss rod,You would have high action,and or string buzzing if it was, The problem is the string is getting loose,so follow what i told you to do and you should resolve the issue


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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 12:27 pm
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Hi,
Yeah if the guitar still has the same problem I will check it out. I have tried a few of those things before thought, but it’s always worth trying everything at least twice.
Thanks!


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Post subject: Re: Impossible tuning?
Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 2:28 pm
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Other things to look at are a worn bridge pin, bad/loose tuner/gears.

B string was always a little funny for me when I was first learning a long time ago. Always seemed to be the first string to go out of tune.

Hope you get this worked out.

Art


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