was having a little jam yesterday and noticed the tuning of my high E and B strings was being a bit unpredictable. often, turning the pegs would not effect the tuning of the string, as though they were slipping on the posts, or the strings were binding somewhere. i dont know. then it would get to the right tuning according to my tuner, play a song or 2, then it would be way out as thought he string had become 'unstuck' and gone out of tune.

my first thought was the string tree, just this cheapo looking thing :



then i noticed the strings were maybe not in the nut properly, if anybody can confirm ? more the thicker strings though. i dont know what guage they are, could be anything from 11's to 13's



took a couple of pics of the bridge, but couldnt really see anything wrong. there are black marks under the strings that look like rub marks, or maybe just where dirt has accumulated.





when i was taking those pics, i just gave the trem a hefty push and heard a string ping somewhere as they went slack.

if i buy a 'roller string tree' off ebay, will it just be a straight drop in replacement. they are cheap and easy to fit, so thats what im looking at first.

Hello moochy: almost certainly the "ping" means the strings are binding a bit in the nut slots. String trees can cause friction which adversely affects return to pitch, but the strings don't usually actually bind in that place, as such.

Several levels of action to be taken. The first is: slacken the strings one at a time till you can just lift them out of their slots in the nut and rest them across the top of it along side. Then take a length of dental floss and run it back and forth through that slot a bit. That'll get any dirt out of there and also smooth any small abrasions. What you don't want to do is to cut the slot any deeper, so take care not to press too hard on the bottom of the slot as you go.

Pop the strings back in the slots, tune to pitch and see if that has helped. If not, then it might be time to have a tech run a proper nut file through those slots. It might well be that you have larger gauge strings on there and they're just a touch too wide for the slots at present.

By the way. How is it you don't know what gauge strings you have on your guitar...?

Cheers - C

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thanks for the tips.

i havnt used any of my guitars much over the last few years, barely half an hour a week, if that. divide that amount of time by 3, as i have 3 electric guitars i swap betwen every now and then, and ive sort of lost track of what strings are on what guitar. i went through a phase of having really heavy strings on my tele's, until i broke the nut on one of them . but i dont think i ever fitted them to the strat as i didnt know how it would affect the trem stability.

im currently in the process of getting all the guitars set-up and strung with the same strings, just so i dont forget again. but as im paying a shop to do it (checking intonation seems a bit beyond me, and one tele needs a fret dress) its going to cost me, and considering how little i play them im not overly eager to get it done.

cheers though, i shall investigate. would the roller tree be a straight drop in anyway ?

Yes, it should.

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2000 American Deluxe Stratocaster
2011 Gibson Les Paul Trad Pro 50's
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Learn to do these things yourself.

And try to have 3-4 winds on each peghead. It doesn't help tuning stability if you have 5 on one, and 2 on another. Too many winds can be one reason why the string doesn't react directly to peg turning.

Cheers

David

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It look you don't have enough string turn aroud your tuning post.

Also, maybe using the "tie" method of stringing where the first wrap goes above the string through the post and the remaining wraps below it. That's supposed to improve tuning stability by anchoring the loose end of the string. I would think it's even more important when you have just a few wraps on the post.

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Custom Shop '59 Stratocaster
AV Hot Rod '52 Telecaster
AV '56 Stratocaster
'65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue

that would be my 1st thought,
improper wrapping of the string post.
or the ball end of the string not seating proper in the trem block.

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1989 Samick "The Samick" Les Paul
2007 Fender Strat MIM Deluxe / 1985 MIJ neck
1990 Epiphone Strat
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I agree with Ceri, your problem is most likely the strings binding in the nut. I would take a little time and learn how to do my own set up starting out with new strings and knowing what gauge they are. When I restring my guitars (using 8s or 9s) depending on the scale length of the guitar, I take a #2 lead pencil and place the point in the nut slot and give it a twist. Graphite pencil lead does a good job of lubricating the nut slot. Its worth the time to learn how to set up the neck relief, intonation, string height, pickup height, etc.. This way when the weather changes and you need to tweak it slightly you can do it in just a minute.

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