Heath
I have picked up a very annoying problem on my cort , i recently replaced the strings on my cort with EXL 115 (11's) orginal the guitar had the EXL 110 (10's) on , but no matter what i do the guitar sounds out of tune , but if i plug in the tuner ( i have tried 3 different ones) they all say it's perfectly in tune . and when i play something it really is out of tune ........
So i turn my head to the great guitar luithers of the forum and beg for some advise ....... cos gawd knows i am now confused.
FatBoy
Have you tried tuning it the old fashioned way? i.e not using a tuner? I have found that sometimes people trust tuners too much. For instance, you can tune your E string to an E, but it could be an octave too low if you are not checking it by comparing to the other strings.
Heath
this is why i tryed different tuners , thinking maybe the batterys were going flat , and even tried the tuner on the amp , all is good across the board
g1
When does it sound out of tune?
Playing open strings? Playing chords? Playing further up the neck?
If it sounds in tune with open strings but further up the neck it doesn't it could be an intonation issue. Compare the note at the 12th fret with the harmonic at the 12th fret (with a tuner). If they are different then intonation adjustment is probably necessary.
If the action is very high it can also cause the guitar to sound out of tune. When you press the string down onto the fret it adds tension making the pitch higher. Changing string gauges can also affect this. Can be rectified by adjusting the action and/or the intonation. However I wouldn't expect changing string gauges to make a very noticeable difference unless you have a very precise ear.
Riaan
I'm no expert, but having had similar experience in the past, I learned that (1) tuners seem to be very reliable even with old batteries and (2) problems like this is almost always to be blamed on the guitar rather than the tuner.
I would check the truss rod, it probably needs adjustment after the change in string guage. Only after readjustment of the truss rod would I check the intonation.
AlanRatcliffe
Did you set the intonation after changing string gauge? If not - naughty, naughty.
Also a good chance the strings are too big for the nut and are not seating properly, so the string is not contacting and leaving from the very front of the nut - which will do exactly as you describe. You might need to widen the slots slightly.
What Cort is it - one of the models with a single coil at the neck? Does it get worse as you play higher up the neck and worse on the bass strings than the treble? Does it sound like there are two notes, slightly out of tune with another, creating a warbling beat frequency that sounds like a bad chorus? If so, it might be Stratitis - try lowering the neck pickup a little and see if it improves.
Heath
its a zenox z44 , 2 chrome top emg pickups , i will check the nut (it's a graphtec nut) , when playing open strings it sounds ok , but playing chords is the problem and it gets worse the higher up the neck you go ......... but no i didn't check intonation ( i will beat myself with a cat of nine tails and salt later) . the rod shouldn't need adjusting after going up from 10 to 11's surely . but i shall pull out my feeler gauges and check the relief
AlanRatcliffe
It's not stratitis if it's humbuckers.
Look at the fingerboard side of the nut and make sure the strings are sitting at the bottom of the slots. If they are, it's probably just a case of setting the intonation at the saddles.
Truss rod might need a tweak, but that affects action in the middle of the neck, rather than intonation. So if the action has gone a bit high, just tweak it up an eighth of a turn tighter (clockwise with the wrench).
Heath
Dumb Question , anychance of just getting a bad set of strings . is that even possible .
AlanRatcliffe
Yes - very possible. Not common with D'Addario, but still happens, You'll usually only find it's one string though.
toastyrat
Definitely sounds like intonation to me....
Even if it's a bad set of strings surely it would change the tuning? I've bought one or two bad sets in my life, but i say that cos the one or more string breaks really easily.
AlanRatcliffe
toastyrat wrote
Even if it's a bad set of strings surely it would change the tuning? I've bought one or two bad sets in my life, but i say that cos the one or more string breaks really easily.
The strings that are duds are unevenly wound or have damaged cores that are uneven. This becomes more of a problem with shorter scale length, which basically means you hear it more as you play higher on the fretboard. So you might not hear it on the open strings or in first position, but it becomes a serious issue as you play higher. The only strings I can get for my headless bass (D'Addario) always have this problem (although not too badly to use). The Ernie Ball classical strings are all problematic too.
