How far and fast does it go out of tune? Also, is it a single string, or everything?

Well it's a couple of strings, if I practice string bending etc, or playing after 5-10 mins the guitar's out of tune.

It can be one of many issues, best is to take it to a pro to have it checked out.

It can be your tuners, the nut or even the neck that's the problem.

If you find that it is your tuners, and you want to replace them, I see no reason why the Grovers wouldn't fit. You essentially have the same symmetrical 3-a-side headstock.

I know plastic nuts as opposed to graphite nuts (or similar) tend to go out of tune fairly easily.

I'm assuming your strings have been wound a fair number of times around the tuners? Just checking, 'cos I had a friend who would wrap the string around the peg once, then complain when the guitar went out of tune or the string came out...

The tuners are not the most likely suspect for the guitar going out of tune. Remember even bad tuners only have to stay still to stay in tune. It's not difficult.

The most likely suspect is the nut. The strings need to be able to pass smoothly across the nut to the headstock to stay in tune. If they are caught in the slots, the string can stick out of tune. Soon the whole guitar is out. One sign of this is hearing little *plink* sounds as the strings come unstuck again from the nut slots.

Take the guitar to a capable guitar person for a set-up. They will make sure the nut is correctly cut.

Locking tuners do not, surprisingly, generally improve tuning stability. If the strings are correctly wound on to the tuner capstan so that there's no movement, locking tuners make no difference. Their biggest benefit (which I appreciate enormously) is that they make string-changing very much quicker and easier.

SGs sometimes don't have the greatest neck stability - which can also apparently affect tuning.

Best to have it checked out by a pro.

Thanks guys, I'll take it to a pro.

singemonkey wrote: SGs sometimes don't have the greatest neck stability - which can also apparently affect tuning.

This is true, I remember reading an interview with Guthrie Govan where he talked about the original 60's (? I may be wrong - I know it's old but I can't remember exactly which era his came from) SG he had and how the neck was so thin that if you played an open note and then turned the guitar to be pointing with the playing surface down it's pitch would drop by almost a tone and a half ?

singemonkey wrote: Locking tuners do not, surprisingly, generally improve tuning stability. If the strings are correctly wound on to the tuner capstan so that there's no movement, locking tuners make no difference.

I don't agree 100% with this, though in the case of fixed bridges this is mainly true, in the case of a tremelo equipped guitar locking tuners can be quite a marked improvement but only if you're a fairly rough trem user ?

singemonkey wrote: The most likely suspect is the nut.

+1

This is normally the case.

Good advice all round. If you do change tuners, just be careful that the grovers don't make the guitar a bit neck heavy.

If it hasn't been mentioned stretch your new strings properly. I don't use too many winds on the wound strings, but on the unwound strings a tend to use quite a lot of winds.
My money is on the nut as well.

Chad Adam Browne wrote:

singemonkey wrote: SGs sometimes don't have the greatest neck stability - which can also apparently affect tuning.

This is true, I remember reading an interview with Guthrie Govan where he talked about the original 60's (? I may be wrong - I know it's old but I can't remember exactly which era his came from) SG he had and how the neck was so thin that if you played an open note and then turned the guitar to be pointing with the playing surface down it's pitch would drop by almost a tone and a half ?

Yeah. These were SGs from the first three years of production, I believe. Not all of them behaved this way. But enough of them did to give SGs a reputation for poor tuning (Santana also gave them up for this reason). A lot of companies remake the original design now - including the Gibson USA '61 reissue - and people seldom seem to complain. But maybe that's because manufacturers now take special care to avoid this problem. I'm not sure which SG the Vintage is modelled after.

+1 on Reinhard's string stretching advice.

May sound like a silly question but are you re-stringing it correctly? Enough overlap so the string holds?

I think it's your "nut", bru ?