forgive me my fender brothers but i bought a SG Standard
for my birthday (something different) but at practice
wednesday night I had some tuning issues it played good
and sounded good but I had to retune several times
and the strings are stretched they are not brand new or
anything but come to think of it the most stable tuned
of all my guitars is my stratocaster and i have her floating
not too high just a little off the body. just odd considering
my Gibsonite cousin hates strats for their tuning instability
I find my strat the best at staying in tune she's still
my number one girl just food for thought

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1956 Gibson CS Lemon Les Paul
1957 Fender CS Aged Cherry Strat
1958 Gibson CS Pg 85 Les Paul
1960 Fender CS 3tsb Strat
1961 Gibson SG Wildwood Pelham blue
1966 Fender CS Firemist Metallic Silver Strat

A well setup stock Strat will stay in tune better than most well setup stock Gibson's!!!

Even though you can not see it the bridge and tailpiece on Gibson Guitars do move ever so slightly as you play them. If you remove all the strings at once both parts just fall off. How stable can that be? On all of the Gibson's I have owned I have installed TonePros. www.tonepros.com

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Locking tuners, the biggest stability myth.

I like you have my vintage trem set to float, around 1/4". I never get a problem with it. I don't bother using my deluxe trem, it doesn't return to pitch well. I'm 100% convinced it's because it only sits on 2 posts/knife edges.

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No no and no

I have picked up my Strat and, on many days, just started playing. No fudging the tuning, just play. Vintage trem, floating. Vintage tuners.

The D'Addario strings are ready to be replaced now so I've noticed a little less stability. Will probably rectify that tomorrow. Gonna try a set of DR 9's just for shitzengiggles.

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You're only as strong as
the drinks you pour,
the tables you dance on,
and the friends you roll with.

That has been my experience as well. I own 2 SGs and an ES-339 and my Strats and Teles have better tuning stability than any of the Gibsons.

John

I think Gibson suffer on the angle of the slot of the D&G strings.
The back (headstock end) of those slots needs to be cut wider than the breakpoint of the slot to allow the angling from the nut to the tuner to have less friction. Fender style headstocks have a very straight string path from nut to tuner, also a much thinner nut. Less nut, less to get caught in. No angle out of the slot, nothing for the string to snag on. Though I suppose they could be snagging at the breakpoint end of the slot. There's nothing else much there to impair tuning on them.

It's a bit awkward to cut, I noticed it on my compensated nuts. They are much wider than a traditional nut because of the shelf.

I may write to Gibson offering them a few tips

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No no and no

Your Gibson should have a problem.

A Gibson is easy to keep in tune, more than Strat.

Is it a new one ? If yes,the wood is not dry and it move . I had same problem with a new Strat and after 3-4 years everythis was ok

I used to have Strat stablility problems when tuning to an open E or G for slide with a floating bridge,I found that with it lowered or flush the thing stays in tune much better....looking back to those days I probably had the bridge too high.
I'm more educated now.

Its more likely your setup. Mine bounces back fine. You gotta make sure you have a primo nut slots or a working Wilkinson etc. Rolling or lubed string trees and no friction at the saddles.

It is a misnomer that fixed is more stable than floating. Because its two entirely different beasts. Then you have to consider the different hardware on different guitar even if they are floating.

Personally I feel Fender nuts are not setup well for a floating tremolo anyway. Slots are too deep and best to have a self lubricating nut material like bone or graphite.

SGs are notorious for, "Wow". "Wow" is where you can actually bend a neck backwards and forwards on an instrument with just normal hand pressure. Typically, this presents itself with guitars with softer and/or not fully cured wood(s) where the guitar itself is thin overall and the neck joins the body at a higher fret with no additional stabilizing support from the body. So, as the neck sways from normal playing, by necessity, this swaying expands and contracts the wood around the truss rod, the strings over the nut, bridge and around the machine head windings where the rod and the strings never resettle in the exact same place. Consequently, the guitar simply cannot stay in tune. It's like having a non-locking tremolo that not only can't be set up but you don't even know you are using it.

Before I get flamed, my disclaimer: Not all SGs have this problem and many can be remedied which do.

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You dig?

I think the point the OP was trying to make was that that comment is a myth. -Any- guitar is really only going to be as good as it's setup and any guitar that is poorly setup is going to have tuning issues (regardless of price or quality). Very simply a guitar is -not- going to be stable just because it' "a Gibson" and conversely just because it's a Strat does not mean it's going to have problems by default. A great many of us here have Strats of various models and origins with no tuning problems at all.

I'm not debating the comments about the guitar being "new" or the wood being a bit green...that's certainly true enough however saying a Gibson is easier to keep in tune that a Strat really isn't true. The simple truth of that matter is that -any- guitar, regardless of brand, price, quality, etc., can have tuning problems given the right conditions. Personally I have several guitars for example and every spring and every fall I have tuning issues when the weather changes...Strats or otherwise. Even my acoustics can go a bit wonky given a drastic enough change of temperature/humidity.

Personally the single most stable guitar I have is my old Kramer...of course she does have a Kahler trem and a locking nut so I guess that doesn't really count

I certainly have to agree with Nick though that the biggest myth about all of this I think is locking tuners...if nothing else, it's a really great marketing ploy. Also, while not specifically a "myth", the way a lot of people wrap their strings on a tuning post makes a big difference...a lot of people simply don't know how to change their own strings properly. For that matter I just ran in to a guy a few weeks back...newer player and he was griping about his Galvaston 335 clone...kept saying he needed to "down tune the low E" for the guitar to sound right. I took a look at the guitar and sure enough the intonation was -really- screwed up. Of course this guy's response was "Intonation? What's that?", LOL!

Peace,
Jim

I have a locking device near my nut very similar to this one:


When I first got the guitar, the screws in this device were loose so I had the ability to adjust the tuning with the tuning keys on the headstock... At that time the guitar did not stay in tune very well at all... Maybe the worst I have ever experience...

However after my setup the locking device was all locked up so that you could not adjust the tuning with the headstock keys... You have to adjust the tuning with 6 screws at the bridge... Now this guitar stays in tune the best of any guitar I have ever owned... And I have owned (or currently owned) many gibsons... Les paul custom, ES-175, ES-335 etc...

The next best guitar as far as tuning stability would probably have been my Gibson ES-175... Currently, it would have to be my Guild X-170 that stays in tune the best besides my MIJ strat...

This may answer why almost every Gibson I have owned has a G string tuning problem. One band I was in the other guitarist called it the "Gibson G string thing". If I used flat wounds or .11s then no problem.

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Most tuning issues are based on a poorly cut nut. Strings don't stretch, stretching the strings, seats the strings onto the posts and settles both ends. Cutting a nut properly is an art because as some have stated, there are angles to consider as well as depth. Sometimes when a player moves up in gauge they leave the nut cut at its original size. So theoretically, while a set of 10's will play in a nut that was formerly fitted for 9's, they are binding in the slots.

The easiest and least expensive adjustment you can make is to loosen the strings and rub a number two pencil into the nut slots. (#2 pencil is graphite) You can buy "nut sauce" that you drop into each slot to keep the strings moving properly. Using your trem will move the stings through the slots and if they are tight, they bind, ever so slightly and you have tuning issues.

As also correctly mentioned, the other culprit is humidity. Mother Nature wants to play with her creations and wood moves, plain and simple. Your guitar should be placed in a case or a room that is not overly dry or damp. Now that is a tall order for most of us, but where you leave the guitar can limit its exposure to the extremes. You'll notice this when you pick up a cold guitar and all the strings are sharp or flat.

A good luthier will charge about 20-35 dollars (USD) to cut and verify a nut. If you want to go further, replacing the nut with bone or one of the other quality synthetic materials will allow your strings to move freely. Setting your trem to Fender specs should have no bearing on a guitar falling out of tune, unless your trem is in terrible disrepair.

So, get your nut cut and don't leave the fiddle out in the sun.

Shockwarrior

I can assure you mate, that guitar is well setup and that the knife edges are worn. Its the price you pay for having a 2 point trem, you force all the pressure of the strings on to two fulcrum points. Exactly the same as a floyd rose system. I never get the problem with synchronised trem's that have the pressure applied to six points. Ok it's not as smooth feeling as a 2point, but its as durable as a mountain. My sync' trems set to pull up the G a tone and a half. I dont even bother retuning it between gigs it's so stable. Put it away, a week later get it out, check the tuning (usually good to go 7 times out of 10) then on with the souncheck. Once it's warmed up to the room and settled in it may need a bit of further adjustment, never more than the B string and maybe the A.

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No no and no