Hi all,
So, I'm wondering if anyone can assist with a Les Paul related problem that refuses to go away, no matter what I do. The bastard will not stay in tune. Typically, when I first take it out, it requires a good 5 minutes or so to get it tuned and stable. It then might stay there for 15 minutes, maybe longer, then the g string, or sometimes the B or D, but less commonly, will go out. And they may not necessary go flat - they sometimes sharpen.
I put on an Earvana nut, hoping that it would sort out these issues, but it has not done so. I've had it professionally restrung a few times, just to see if my restringing technique was the issue, and that seems to be fine.
I need this thing to stay in tune, as I don't have the luxury of looking down at a pedalboard tuner between songs - all my tuning must be audible, and anyway, it seems to require multiple retunings before it behaves. It's a Precision Guitar Kit which we built, and it has good grovern tuners and a Toneprose bridge on it, so I can't see the hardware as being the problem. Its also been examined by Noiseworks in Coventry, who couldn't crack the issue.
WTF is wrong with this thing?
Thanks
Matt
Comments
Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.
Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
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Exactly as you describe, take 5 minutes to settle it, then all of a sudden the G string will dive wildly out of tune (and I mean wildly). And forget playing an open chord and having it sound anything other than horrible. I then either tickle the guitar in anticipation, or I avoid it totally as play time is prescious and I can’t afford half my 20 minutes to be tuning.
In summary, the headstock pitch, the 3 a side splayed string headstock, mahogany is not as stable as maple, the quality of the neck joint, how well the nut is cut, all contribute along with playing style.
Actually, it is not. OP described it thus.
By itself, the hardware is fine but it is reliant on the stability of the wooden parts, the neck joint and the threaded bridge and tailpiece inserts.
In my opinion, it would be beneficial to see the tongue of the tenon at the bottom of the neck/Rhythm pickup cavity.
My experience is that if the nut is properly cut (not just the depth of the slots but that they have an appropriate splay), they are lubricated with a soft pencil and strings are properly fitted, stretched and tuned, they hold their tune perfectly well.
How are you stringing it? If you're not doing the 'half back turn and lock under' method with the minimum wrap on the post (typically less than one full turn), do so - it really does make a difference compared to any other method. Or fit locking machineheads and pull the string tight through the post before locking to guarantee the minimum wrap (typically less than a quarter turn).
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
String stretching after a restring: When I first restring any of my guitars, I go through a string stretching 'ritual' and lightly pull each string a total of ~20 times and retune.
Then I bend every string up a tone 8 times and retune. Then I bend up the 2nd and then the 3rd string up a minor 3rd and retune if necessary (I only do big bends on those strings).
This doesn't apply to a fixed bridge guitar but, with whammy bar guitars, I depress the bar and allow it to return to pitch a few times then wobble the bar.
Tuning method: I always tune up to pitch, and tune slowly when i get close to pitch (apart from quick on the fly adjustments during a gig).
Lubrication: I use Big Bends Nut Sauce on the nut. But I suspect I could just use a graphite (soft) pencil or Vaseline, as mentioned earlier.
This just popped into my inbox.
If this gadget does work, it must be weird for someone like him who's had decades of struggling daily with LP tuning issues then suddenly discover this small device that fixes it.
P.S. Also funny that he seems to have an iPad purely as a tuner. Lavish!
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.