The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1
    I am wondering if some of you can help me with my predicament. It seems that lately the three guitars that I use regularly Go Out Of Tune fairly quickly. I will tune them up perfectly before practicing and often within 10 minutes they are out of tune. I then retune them and I'm good to go however 10 minutes later especially the B string Goes Out Of Tune. Does this happen to anyone else and if so do you have any recommendations for me. The odd part about all this is that it's a relatively new phenomenon. I don't have this problem ever in the summertime or in the other seasons but lately it's happening regularly.

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  3. #2

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    A few things to check without getting some hands on myself:
    Make sure your strings are tied securely to the post at the peghead, and allow some slack when tying a new string on so there is ample wrap around with the initial winding. This reduces the amount of stress at the point the string anchors through the hole.
    Are the filed string grooves at the nut wide enough? Sometimes they're cut for a narrower width string than yours. They'll hang up there and eventually slip through, but not without putting you out of tune.
    You might put some lubricant at that point; graphite is fine. This will help if binding and catching is a problem. Then have the grooves widened by a tech.
    While you're at it, check the tension rod, to make sure the neck relief and tension are working in equality with the pull of the strings. Stability is always a good thing.

    Check those out for a starter. Good luck
    David

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by TruthHertz
    A few things to check without getting some hands on myself:
    Make sure your strings are tied securely to the post at the peghead, and allow some slack when tying a new string on so there is ample wrap around with the initial winding. This reduces the amount of stress at the point the string anchors through the hole.
    Are the filed string grooves at the nut wide enough? Sometimes they're cut for a narrower width string than yours. They'll hang up there and eventually slip through, but not without putting you out of tune.
    You might put some lubricant at that point; graphite is fine. This will help if binding and catching is a problem. Then have the grooves widened by a tech.
    While you're at it, check the tension rod, to make sure the neck relief and tension are working in equality with the pull of the strings. Stability is always a good thing.

    Check those out for a starter. Good luck
    David
    Thanks. Will investigate.

    Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by smittythehandyman60@gmail
    I am wondering if some of you can help me with my predicament. It seems that lately the three guitars that I use regularly Go Out Of Tune fairly quickly. I will tune them up perfectly before practicing and often within 10 minutes they are out of tune. I then retune them and I'm good to go however 10 minutes later especially the B string Goes Out Of Tune. Does this happen to anyone else and if so do you have any recommendations for me. The odd part about all this is that it's a relatively new phenomenon. I don't have this problem ever in the summertime or in the other seasons but lately it's happening regularly.

    Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

    if it happens to all three guitars simultaneously it makes me think about enviroment... heaters? moisture? open windows?

  6. #5

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    Looking for clues:
    Do you guitars always detune flat or do they sometimes go sharp?
    Do all guitars detune in the same direction around the same time of day?
    Are they stored at a comfortable temperature and humidity?
    Do they usually detune while first being played, as your body warms them?
    Do the strings tune smoothly as the tuners are rotated both directions, or do they do nothing at first then change abruptly?

  7. #6

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    If the B string of all three guitars all go out of tune for you, but none of our B strings go out of tune in all types of damp and cold weather, the major clue is the B string you use. If one string goes out of tune, it could detune the other strings.

    Get a new brand of strings. There was probably something wrong with that batch. It probably wasn't the brand, but I'd try a different brand just in case.

    Another problem could be the tuners if you have the same tuners on all three guitars. It is most likely something that all three guitars share, that is why the strings are the most likely problem.

  8. #7

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    What kind of guitars do you have? If they have a floating bridge (e.g. Floyd Rose), this could be the cause of your tuning woes. Sometimes strings can stick on the parts where they make contact with the guitar, then suddenly unstick whilst playing, causing it to go out of tune. You can lubricate the nut and the parts of the bridge where the strings make contact using specialist guitar lubricant (or even just a graphite pencil).

    You should also make sure to stretch new strings by bending them up and down the fretboard whilst tuning. For each string on a newly strung guitar, tune it, then bend it on the first, second, third fret etc. and it will go out of tune. Repeat the process until the string stays in tune after bending it. You can also use the whammy bar on a floating bridge to do a similar thing.

  9. #8

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    Temperature changes can be a big cause of this. If the guitars have been sitting in a relatively cold room, the tuning will change from what it was when they were warm, and it will change gradually as they warm up while being played. This can really be seen if you take a guitar out into the cold weather to another location, go indoors, then start to play. If all three guitars are doing the same thing, it's probably environmental, and you can either maintain the temperature in the room a little warmer, or live with the tuning changes.

  10. #9

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    1) You need better tuners
    2) You own a Gibson

  11. #10

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    In the StewMac guitar repair book, he advocates having the tuning peg "holes", positioned parallel to the width of the guitar.

    String comes "north" then "west" (or "east" depending on which way you're winding the tuning key), then "north" again, before wrapping around the tuning peg itself. Do this with some slack in the string itself so you have sufficient wraps, as you wind the tuning key.

  12. #11

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    If you're not already doing it, you need to lock the string over itself at the tuning peg. Here's a good tutorial.

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan0996
    If you're not already doing it, you need to lock the string over itself at the tuning peg. Here's a good tutorial.
    This is the way I was taught many years ago by Hideo Kamimoto.

    OTOH, my new Comins arrived with about 5 ordinary wraps per string and no locking.

    New strings take a while to settle in. I don't know if it's just the metal stretching (nylon is worse) or if it's the string seating microscopically on the tuning post and in the tailpiece. But, for a few days, it can happen and then it will stop.

    A seasonal problem with three guitars suggests a temperature or humidity problem. Or maybe, whatever brand of strings you get for Christmas.

  14. #13

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    I believe it's a combination of factors that causes the initial period of instability. The strings need to stretch to a stable state, and the wraps around the tuning posts are not completely tight, and need time to be able to slip into the tightest possible position. I stretch the strings multiple times as I install and tune the strings, but that's still not enough. If I loosen the strings, it again takes time for the tuning to stabilize, although not nearly as long. Friction over the saddle and nut also plays a role, IMO. It's not a simple system, and lots of factors interact with each other.

  15. #14

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    Tuning problems could be caused by any combination of:

    Changes in temperature
    Aging of the string
    The way the string is installed
    Slippage in the tuners
    A problem at the nut or bridge
    Structural problem somewhere (e.g., neck warp/twist, crack in the guitar top, etc.)
    Not actually a tuning problem but the pickup magnet causing a warbling effect because it's too close to the string
    Gremlins

    The trick is test and identify every element separately, then fix or replace the culprit when you find it. Or you can do what I do, which is to assume gremlins and just tune the guitar a lot.

    John

  16. #15

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    Or the guitar being a Gibson. That's another Gremlin...

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    Or the guitar being a Gibson. That's another Gremlin...
    This wasn't funny the first time you posted it in this thread. Whilst I'm by no means a Gibson fan-boy, I've never had an issue keeping a Gibson guitar in tune, or any other guitar for that matter. Wrap the strings on the post correctly, stretch the strings, and make sure the nut is cut for the string gauge you use. There's really not that much to it. A poor craftsman blames his tools.

  18. #17

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    Do you leave the room between tuning and playing?
    Maybe one of your family members is trying to tell you something?
    Or just plain gaslighting you, heh.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jonah
    if it happens to all three guitars simultaneously it makes me think about enviroment... heaters? moisture? open windows?
    Restringing technique....

  20. #19

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    Oscar Peterson used to detune one of Ray Brown's bass strings before they'd hit the stage. When OP would call the song and hit the opening notes on the piano, Brown would be flummoxed to find his bass out of tune. True story from Herb Ellis.

  21. #20

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    If the room you're in is cold when you start playing, your strings will likely be flat, as the wood has shrunken further than the metal stings. If the room is warm when you begin, the strings will have gone sharp as the wood swells faster than the strings. And assuming you put the Guit in tune just be fore you quit playing 4-24 hrs ago, just start playing, even though it's out of tune.. What should occur after, say, a half hour is the Guit will have gone 96-100 % back in tune...IE. Don't tune up soon as you pick up the Guit. If you do, then, as Guit warms up it will have gone sharp while playing and the whole tuning hustle starts all over again..This could be the answer to your frustration...M

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by customxke
    This wasn't funny the first time you posted it in this thread. Whilst I'm by no means a Gibson fan-boy, I've never had an issue keeping a Gibson guitar in tune, or any other guitar for that matter. Wrap the strings on the post correctly, stretch the strings, and make sure the nut is cut for the string gauge you use. There's really not that much to it. A poor craftsman blames his tools.
    Chill out dude

    NB: my vintage 175 probably needs a set up, but it is a hard instrument to be without for more than a few days.

    Also, the more you repeat jokes, the funnier they get... everyone knows that.

  23. #22

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    With three guitars at once, it's either environmental, or something in the way all three are strung.

    One thing I consider important is eliminating string friction everywhere I can. All contacts save the tuner post are lubed, and I string my strings from bottom-of-post to top (one under the post-hole, two over), in order to decrease downward pressure -- i.e., friction -- at the nut even further. I have a method I use that ensures the string does not cross over itself at all on the post; wraps will grab and slip as the post rotates with tuning, otherwise.

    And Christian, this even works on Gibbys.

  24. #23

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    Locking tuners would mostly solve your problem.

  25. #24

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    As the OP seems new to the guitar, I vote for improperly wrapped strings on all 3 guitars.
    No need for expensive locking tuners.

  26. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by DRS
    As the OP seems new to the guitar, I vote for improperly wrapped strings on all 3 guitars.
    No need for expensive locking tuners.
    Yeah, the tuner industry would love to have you think you need new tuners, but that's rarely the case. My experience has been that quality tuners usually hold up pretty well for years and years. Intonation issues are usually about old strings or improperly mounted strings. Environmental changes can also be an issue, but it's usually a pretty temporary one.