Is there any hope for a guitar that needs to be tuned every day?
Each night for about 3 weeks i've been playing for between 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Yet every night i need to tune it. Is this a sign of worn out strings or a cracked neck?
None of the above.
Hell, I tune after every song when playing live....just about. Not to mention tuning after every take in the studio....
There is no way in hell your axe will stay in tune overnight. The variances in temperature is enough to stuff up your tuning, never mind the hectic strumming and bending you do while you practice....
Don't stress about it, it's par for the course I say...
The player does make a difference, but properly set up, most guitars can stay in tune pretty well. 9/10 of the time it's simply old strings or a bad nut.
I'ts a IbanexRX160.
I'm practicing arpeggio, and plucking, so no whammy or hard strumming. I'm also using my fingers, and not a pic.
About the strings... well I have no idea! It is the original set from when my wife bought it for me in may. There is a bit of a vibration on on E6, so I will perhaps send it in to Phil Cullam for a service, and mention the tuning. If it stays like that, then i guess it is normal. My nylon lasted several days, so I thought that might be the same with electric steel.
Any ways, thanks guys. Feeling a little more comfortable.
with the temp fluctuations we have its pretty normal.... so worry not ...unless its going out of tune in all different directions by completely different degrees.....
In a single practice session I retune once every half an hour, and that's with fresh sets of strings and well lubricated and maintained parts - This is very normal, unless you have a locking bridge, when my RG1527 is locked I only have to tune it once a week or so and I'm abusive on the whammy bar.
If you have the original strings it came with, it's long overdue for a change - they put those on in the factory and between shipping, warehousing, display,etc. it can easily mean they have been on there for more than a year before you even bought it. Plus you should be changing them regularly anyway - every month to three months max, depending on how often and how much you play. If you're playing daily, then I'd say every month to six weeks.
Big temperature changes can mean more frequent tuning, but it does depend on the guitar. I play guitars with big, fat necks and find once they have settled I don't need to tune them often (in fact my Strat usually only starts going out of tune when the strings get old). My electric 12-string is the exception, which needs tuning every time I pick it up - but I know I've got to recut/replace the nut on that one (just really don't want to...).
Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
....(in fact my Strat usually only starts going out of tune when the strings get old).
LUCKY BASTARD!
My electric 12-string is the exception, which needs tuning every time I pick it up - but I know I've got to recut/replace the nut on that one (just really don't want to...).
One day is warm and the next day is cold... It makes a huge difference to the tuning...
Fresh strings are even more difficult to control. It makes sense to tune and re-tune more often than necessary.
The alternative could be embarrassing. :-[
It's not luck - Staggered locking tuners so there are no extra string wraps and no string trees, a fat maple neck and a properly cut Graph Tech trem nut... Plus the bridge is down hard against the body. .011 gauge strings at standard pitch probably help too.
All 12-Strings do that...
My Aria doubleneck didn't... This one has a mahogany neck though (which is a lot more suceptible to weather and even the angle you hold it) and I am definitely getting a bit of binding in the nut (I was in a rush and cut it too quickly). It's not too bad, but I know it can be better.
I agree with Alan about the strings, its ALWAYS good practice to change strings soon as you buy the guitar. Get the strings changed and a full setup done to ensure maximum comfort to you (by full setup I mean have the luthier or store techs check the intonation as well, some places will not offer unless you ask). Think about the gauge of the strings as well. I always use .011 strings with a .046 on (E)6 coz I like my action really low and .049 on (E)6 will give me buzz when I play aggressively. But my point is, I find that medium and high gauge strings stay in tune for longer, as Alan mentioned.
About the temperature fluctuations having an effect whether your guitar stays in tune: This also depends on where and how you store your guitar when you are not playing it: in a carry bag? How much padding is on it? Does it sit with the neck upright and away from a wall? Is it stored in a hard case? How well insulated is that Hard case? Or do you just jeep it on a guitar stand? All this determines to what extent the temperature fluctuations will affect it.
Arno West wrote:
None of the above.
Hell, I tune after every song when playing live....just about. Not to mention tuning after every take in the studio....
There is no way in hell your axe will stay in tune overnight. The variances in temperature is enough to stuff up your tuning, never mind the hectic strumming and bending you do while you practice....
Don't stress about it, it's par for the course I say...
Not really. I've heard/seen a high res demo of that thing and it doesn't sound great. Uses a hex pickup and Autotune software, and when in Auto tuning mode, it doesn't use the normal pickups at all and has the Whammy pedal pitch shift type grunginess.
