Electric Guitar that won't stay in tune for long

Retard · 2009-01-18T00:14:25+00:00

Sup Alan Firstly, I must give credit where credit is due, so well done on the site, it's going great. now to the problem at hand. See, i bought an electric...

Electric Guitar that won't stay in tune for long

Retard

String Trees

Sorry, you lost me there ???. Whats a string tree

???You'll notice that I'm gonna using that face alot...

AlanRatcliffe

Retard wrote: Sorry, you lost me there ???. Whats a string tree

One of these...

...and if you are playing every day you should be changing strings at least once a month. Yeah, it works out expensive, but it's worth it.

Retard

Haha oh, my bad.

Yeah, it has been a while since I changed strings. I think at least 2 or 3 months.
What strings. I mean at the moment Im buying medium guage Slinky strings. They feel good to play on and I've able to move fast and freely with, but is there something else I should look at?

Thanks Alan

Gearhead

Retard wrote: Yeah, always flat. Mostly all the strings. Not just a couple.

Does not sound too good. If it's always flat it can't be friction problems on the string trees or the nut, nor can it be an unstable bridge. Leaves the strings, the tuners or the way they work together.

Change the strings, taking care that you do it right (see weblinks for lessons elsewhere on this site). Retune a couple of times within two hours. If you need to retune all the new strings up more than, say, 30 degrees, every day: take it to a tech.

If you really feel that you want to play your strings longer than a month, it would be a good idea to go for stainless strings like Fender 3350L. They tend to loose their nicest tone within a couple of hours, but after that they remain at playable level for longer than others. They are also said to have more stable tuning.

Retard

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Trem - A properly set up trem is important, otherwise it may not always return to zero properly. If the pivot points on the baseplate, or the screws they pivot against are worn (amongst other things), they will cause problems.

Alan, now Im sure Im bugging you. But how can I check if my trem is set up properly? and if not how an I sort it out? wait... whats a trem again ???

Retard

Gearhead wrote: Change the strings, taking care that you do it right (see weblinks for lessons elsewhere on this site).

I know i don't know much, but I do know how to restring at least!

Gearhead wrote: go for stainless strings like Fender 3350L

how much will that set me back? R120?

Gearhead

they're in the $4,50 region so if you want to pay R120 you can get them anywhere.

Riaan-Combrink

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: ...and if you are playing every day you should be changing strings at least once a month. Yeah, it works out expensive, but it's worth it.

Alan, someone told me "if it ain't broken ... don't fix it!!!!!!!!!!!" ?

I'm embarrassed to say I went six months without a string change on my gig guitar :-[ Warren at Marshall's deadpan chirp - with a really bona fide compassionate look on his face - was: "We'll then you'll think you've got an entirely new instrument"! And VV, I'm going to put on those cool new strings you sold me (two weeks ago) tomorrow, I promise ... :-[

AlanRatcliffe

Riaan C wrote: Alan, someone told me "if it ain't broken ... don't fix it!!!!!!!!!!!" ?

? Sometimes we say things like that, but often what we really mean is "If it ain't broken, don't fix it yourself (I need the work)!" or "I don't want to do that for you, it's a mission and more work than I can charge you for it".

But strings? I don't know how people do it. I don't play every single day anymore, but am fairly heavy on strings and use heavier strings (which age quicker IME), and after three weeks they start feeling like limp fish, sound dull and (horror of horrors) I have to start tuning them daily.

I dunno, maybe it's me. I'm the same with drum heads - a month out of snare batter (single ply coated), three months for tom batter heads (two ply Evans Genera), six months out of kick batter and all the resonant heads about once a year. Any longer than that and they start sounding bad to me and I can't get 'em to ring in tune anymore. Am I alone in this? Neps?

I'm embarrassed to say I went six months without a string change on my gig guitar :-[ Warren at Marshall's deadpan chirp - with a really bona fide compassionate look on his face - was: "We'll then you'll think you've got an entirely new instrument"!

Do I really have to translate that one for you too? (Actually, no... you don't wanna know) ?

Riaan-Combrink

Alan, you've gotta read this to believe it.

Thought I was bad?? Don Was went 16 YEARS without a string change on his bass ?

Great article:
http://www.performing-musician.com/pm/nov08/articles/wasnotwas.htm

Gearhead

Bass strings ARE different in that respect

AlanRatcliffe

Scary in the extreme. Some guys like the sound of dead strings on bass. Personally I'd go for flatwounds if that were the case -and those you often do only change when they break (Maybe Don Was uses flats?). But normal roundwound strings just don't ring true after they wear - they can't vibrate evenly when they have grooves worn in them.

I have a lot of respect for Don Was as a producer ...but 16 year old strings? And when one breaks he replaces that one only (you'd get a huge tone difference between the old strings and the new one). For me it says that the musician in question doesn't care about the tone they produce ...or even their tuning that much.

Gearhead

Tapewounds are even longer lasting. And they sound like dead roundwounds as well.