Gibson studio not staying in tune :(

[River]

Tune it. Play it. Take a break. Tune it. Play it. Take a break.

Rinse and repeat.

Have to move the tuners between breaks? Live with it. It's a living, breathing instrument.

 

[River]

You wouldn't put pencil 'led' in your car's engine, would you? Pencil 'led' is not a 'lubricant'. Use nut slot lube, or even a very small drop of clean motor oil will work.


(You guys and your 'pencil lead'....)

Yeah, pencil lead = graphite. Fan-fucking-tastic lubricant. Sorry if it's too "cheap" and practical for you.

 

[dennistruckdriver]

A small drop of clean oil is mighty cheap too....although it is difficult to write with.

 

[gibbbbbbbaaaay!!!]

A small drop of clean oil is mighty cheap too....although it is difficult to write with.

I've accomplished that.

 

[axepilot]

Either your:

-Strings are slipping on the machines - improper stringing

-Strings aren't stretched out

-Strings are binding in the nut

 

[AXE]

Or....
You just have no clue of mechanics or harmonics.

Tuning a guitar should be 101 . period.

I made a promise not to harsh da newbz...

Slack all of the strings a full step and bend them from hell. Not just a little A LOT!!!
Then tune UP to the desired pitch.
And all should be good.

If not....


Yer F*CKED...

Love.

AXE

 

[diceman]

Graphite (pencil lead) works like a charm for me - I use it on all of my guitars.

 

[Chicago John]

Maybe your strings are not secured properly to your tuning machines... See this:
http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/backstage/53797-proper-way-restring-your-guitar.html

 

[GibsonRocker]

I'm still trying to figure out why he gets to have the guitar i want, and he cant figure this out.

 

[S. Bullock]

Guitar Crazzzy,
I have a similar problem keeping my '78 Custom in tune. It is outfitted with Schaller M6s and have tried pre-stretching the strings, lubricating the nut, filing the nut, changing to a different string manufacturer, changing how the strings are wound on the peghead, and nothing has worked. In correspondence with Dan Erlewine, he indicates that the tuners are the problem. Unfortunately there are no manufacturers that make a compatible drop-in for the 90 degree M6s or else I would change them out. Soooo, I can only tell you what I've tried and wish that I had a solution for you.

 

[AngryHatter]

1. String your guitar properly. The best way is to under-wrap: put the string through the tuner hole, with enough slack to pul it 1/2" to an inch from the fretboard. Wrap the string 1/2 of the way around the post, the opposite way the tuner will wind. Pass that tag end under the main string, and pull it straight away from the peghead. Tune to pitch, you should end up with 1 and 1/2 to maybe three wraps if you did it right.

2.As already mentioned, stretch your strings. I hold the guitar in my lap, grab the string in my fist near the neck joint, hold the string in the nut with my other hand, and twist pretty hard, pulling the string straight away from both the head and bridge simultaneously. It'll take 4-6 stretches to get pretty close.

3. Always, always tune up, from flat to sharp. If you're sharp, tune down, and then back up. Other wise, the guitar will quickly go flat.

4. Learn to read your tuner. The initial attack is sharper than the sustained note. I tune to the sustained note, after about two seconds, the note should have settled down.

5. Lubricate and/or cut the nut properly. The stings should not "pink" during tuning or bending. If a little pencil lead or commercial lubricant doesn't fix it, the nut will need a taste of file.

6. Same as above, with the saddles.

7. Don't overlook intonation. If the intonation is hosed, you'll tune to open strings, find that chords are out of tune, retune to fix them, find you're out of tune in a different key, and then eventually do something silly like replacing the tuners.

8. It's never the tuners.

^^^This.

 

[xray23]

GuitarCrazzzy, it seems odd that all of a sudden they don't stay in tune. And it's odd nobody yet mentioned the following...did you change the gauge of strings? If you went larger, no doubt you will have problems. Aside from that, everyone had excellent advice for you. Make sure nut slots are correct size for gauge(let the shop do that one), lube nut, install strings, strech 'em, tune 'em, intonate, repeat the stretch and tune and intonate thing.

 

[captain amazing]

i found that candle wax works WAYYYYY better than graphite, i'd sugguest you give that a try buy taking a candle and rub it on the nut till the slots are full