Tuning Stability Myths

Ceri · **Posted:** Thu Apr 22, 2010 9:02 am

I hate to subscribe to any kind of myth or stereotype. But the uncomfortable truth is that my Les Paul has less perfect tuning stability than any other guitar I own. I put that down to very slight movement in the bridge, as Chet says. And also I suspect the Grover tuners on it are less positive than some others.

I've fannied with the nut a goodly bit. I don't think it's that.

Still love my Paul, though.

It's all good. Variety is the spice of life.

Cheers - C

Xhefri · **Posted:** Thu Apr 22, 2010 9:03 am

Chicagoblue wrote:

Most tuning issues are based on a poorly cut nut.... 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....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... So, get your nut cut and don't leave the fiddle out in the sun. :lol:

Great advice. That explains several things. One is why Gibsons tend toward this problem. I do not know how many nice old Gibsons I have seen ruined by people replacing the tuners. Like, can that many tuners go bad??? No! they were simply frustrated with the tuning issue and thought that would fix it. It was the nut most likely.

Also all my Strat Plus guitars have a roller nut. My Strat plus' stay in tune great. Sometimes I even dive a complete octave and wow, still in tune! Love my Strat....right now I have a 1991 Strat Plus DX wired like an Ultra in Transparent Blue Metallic on Ash. Nice guitar. Stays in tune so nice......

mAx___ · **Joined:** Tue May 05, 2009 3:58 pm **Posts:** 102

I have a Gibson ES-175 and a stock Malmsteen Strat with the floating vintage tremolo.

The Strat is by far the one that better stays in tune, no question. Even after weeks of just playing the ES-175, I would grab the Strat from the case and she would be dead-on in tune. The Gibson -which has no tremolo- needs to be tuned almost every single day.

budglo · **Joined:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm **Posts:** 1986

I have had 4 strats to date and a few Gibsons .I have never had a problem with any of my strats once they were set up, but my SG was a PITA to keep in tune.Strats and tuning problems due to a tremolo is a myth started by someone who probably never really owned one. :shock:

Shockwarrior · **Joined:** Mon Dec 28, 2009 9:02 am **Posts:** 488

nikininja wrote:

I can assure you mate, that guitar is well setup

I beg to differ it must be broken as the floating trems not working

Wasn't the 2 point trem added to improve stability?

Not keeping tune means so many different things anyway.
Like what strings, how far out of tune, sharp or flat, what was done to bring the guitar out of tune, can the guitar be brought back tune without tuning?

Answer that and do a few bends, measure a few places, lube a few places and have your capo ready, a marker pen, an analog tuner and a magnifying glass handy and you can get to the bottom of most problems. Either that or makes for a fun afternoon if your bored.

stratoBobster · **Joined:** Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:21 am **Posts:** 959

Martian wrote:

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.

I had a vintage SG Standard, bought for me new when I was a kid. It did not hold a good tune, no matter what. I always believed that mahogony is just too soft to have as many exposed frets as an SG has. Les Pauls, being single cutaways escape the problem.

mthorn00 · **Posted:** Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:47 pm

nikininja wrote:

I noticed it on my compensated nuts.

Good Lord Nick has compensated nuts!

Just struck me as funny

Xhefri · **Posted:** Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:57 pm

mthorn00 wrote:

nikininja wrote:

I noticed it on my compensated nuts.

Good Lord Nick has compensated nuts! Just struck me as funny

Ya it is a good thing too. Can you even picture un-compensated nuts? I mean...that would be.... a rip off....or a bad pict or something

GregoryJoseph · **Posted:** Thu Apr 22, 2010 2:36 pm

Of all the guitars I've ever owned, nothing can touch my 1985 Japanese Squier Strat when it comes to staying in tune.

I can literally put it away for a year, knock it over, etc. and it will be in perfect tune.

I love that thing.

VT BlackStrat · **Posted:** Thu Apr 22, 2010 3:42 pm

mthorn00 wrote:

nikininja wrote:

I noticed it on my compensated nuts.

Good Lord Nick has compensated nuts!

Just struck me as funny

Yeah! He even posted photos! :lol:

Martian · **Posted:** Thu Apr 22, 2010 4:07 pm

mthorn00 wrote:

nikininja wrote:

I noticed it on my compensated nuts.

Good Lord Nick has compensated nuts!

Just struck me as funny

Indeed, I wonder where he 'bagged' them.

nikininja · **Posted:** Thu Apr 22, 2010 5:24 pm

This is all getting very personal all of a sudden isnt it?

Anyhow I'm going to get to the bottom of this as I'm sure the 2 point trem is inferior to the 6point because of the way it focus's pressure on 2 points only. 2point trems do work great and are really smooth. I just dont think they have the longevity of the humble 6point vintage trem.

I'll be taking photo's tomorrow as I will be bored.
shall I snap my highly polished nuts?

This is getting worse than a carry on film. Ooooh Matron

Anyone who's never seen a Carry On film. Take a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWq1ig4sVnA&feature=related

Blertles · **Posted:** Thu Apr 22, 2010 5:27 pm

I have one of these, this solves the issue.

I guess I feel that a gibsons glued neck joint will flex a little, as glue tends to do that under pressure and variations in heat/humidity. The same could be said for mahogany, but not that much

straycat113 · **Posted:** Thu Apr 22, 2010 6:30 pm

There is a great DVD from a killer UK guitarist called Tremolo Bar Techniques that I would recommend for everyone. He shows you how to set up a six point, two point and a Floyd. He also says that a six point though the most limited can actually take severe abuse and then proves it. He then goes on to say that his main ax is a CS Beck with a 2 point that is an improvement over a Floyd, Anyone will find this very interesting and he shows you just about every trick in the book for each setup before going into some wild trem licks and techniques. -Check it out.

Shockwarrior · **Joined:** Mon Dec 28, 2009 9:02 am **Posts:** 488

Blertles wrote:

I have one of these (Floyd Rose) this solves the issue.

Don't let Nikininja see that he will want to convert it to a 6 point trem.

straycat113 wrote:

There is a great DVD from a killer UK guitarist called Tremolo Bar Techniques

I have that DVD in my collection its by Michael Casswell
You can watch the trailer here for free well worth it.

http://www.licklibrary.com/store/michae ... niques-dvd

	Page 2 of 4	[ 53 posts ]	Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 Next
Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 Next

	Page 2 of 4	[ 53 posts ]	Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 Next
Go to page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 Next

Andorra	EN	ES	FR
Belgium	EN	DE	FR
Croatia	EN
Czech Republic	EN
Estonia	EN
France	EN	FR
Germany	EN	DE
Italy	EN	IT
Latvia	EN
Lithuania	EN
Malta	EN
Netherlands	EN
Poland	EN
Romania	EN
Slovakia	EN
Sweden	EN
United Kingdom	EN

Austria	EN	DE
Bulgaria	EN
Cyprus	EN
Denmark	EN
Finland	EN
Greece	EN
Hungary	EN
Ireland	EN
Liechtenstein	EN	DE
Luxembourg	EN	DE	FR
Monaco	EN	FR
Norway	EN
Portugal	EN
Slovenia	EN
Spain	EN	ES
Switzerland	EN	DE	FR	IT

Mod Shop

Custom Shop

Tuning Stability Myths

Who is online