I can't keep my guitar in tune

Duckman · Post by **Duckman** » 16 May 2011, 19:36

Sorry, a little out of topic here, but THIS is so, so amazing to let it go

http://www.turbo-tuner.com/st122-index.htm

Thanks gght!

DrNomis · Post by **DrNomis** » 19 May 2011, 02:25

I checked out that link, will deffinitely look into getting one of those for myself Duckman, cheers....

I think I have figured out one of the causes of my tuning issues, it seems to me that the bridge on my Squier Strat wasn't sitting perpendicular to the centre-line of the neck, I got my trusty 300mm steel ruler, measured the distance from the edge of the bridge nearest to the 6 mounting screws, to the 21st fret's edge facing the bridge, on the Low-E side, I measured 180mm, on the High-E side, I measured 181mm, a difference of 1mm, after some head scratching, i managed to sort it out with 6 spare mounting screws.....

Now, I was able to set the 12th Fret intonation a lot more accurately, and the guitar seems to be a bit more in-tune now.....

So, my question is, does the position and angling of the bridge really affect a guitar's tunability?, if so?, why don't manufacturers takke more care in getting this right, even on budget guitars?......

Duckman · Post by **Duckman** » 19 May 2011, 05:58

DrNomis wrote:does the position and angling of the bridge really affect a guitar's tunability?

Since each bridge saddle in your strat are individually adjusted, not so much, but... maybe its your case...

phatt · Post by **phatt** » 19 May 2011, 08:25

Re wonky strat bridge plates;
Yes the bridges do creep on Strat guitars (Fender ones as well as fake ones).
It depends greatly on the wood. Some body woods are quite soft and the 6 screws start to lean forward. I had a genuine strat body that was so bad the bridge plate was overlaping onto the scratch plate.

I inserted a small steel alligning plate under the bridge plate,, the owner (who I know) has never had anymore tuning issues in 5 years or more now.

A bit of work but worked like a charm

Phil.

DrNomis · Post by **DrNomis** » 19 May 2011, 09:11

phatt wrote:Re wonky strat bridge plates;
Yes the bridges do creep on Strat guitars (Fender ones as well as fake ones).
It depends greatly on the wood. Some body woods are quite soft and the 6 screws start to lean forward. I had a genuine strat body that was so bad the bridge plate was overlaping onto the scratch plate.

I inserted a small steel alligning plate under the bridge plate,, the owner (who I know) has never had anymore tuning issues in 5 years or more now.

A bit of work but worked like a charm
Phil.

My Squire Bullet Strat has a solid Basswood Body, made up of two narrower pieces glued together, I read somewhere that Basswood is a soft type of wood, anyway, yesterday I losened off all the strings, removed the three bridge springs, and the 6 original mounting screws, and had a look at each mounting screw hole on the bridge, I noticed a bit of metal slightly portruding from the mounting screw hole directly adjacent to the saddle for the high E-String, I had a closer look at it with a X 10 magnifying glass, then got a suitably sized drill bit and used it to remove the portruding metal, next I found some spare bridge mounting screws that were a bit larger in diameter compared to the originals, and used them to fix the bridge to the guitar body, result, the bridge was much better alligned, incidentaly, I did notice that some of the original bridge screws were starting to lean forward in their holes....

I've just done a quick intonation tweak, and played the guitar through my Zoom G2, it does seem to play more in tune now to my ears...

If I haven't done so already, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this forum thread, you gave me alot of ideas to try in order to fix my tuning issues...much appreciated...cheers....

okgb · Post by **okgb** » 26 May 2011, 11:55

I haven't read the whole thread , but are you happy with the intonation ?
only the octaves are in perfect tune with varying beating between the intervals
this is the part that keeps me constantly tuning

DrNomis · Post by **DrNomis** » 26 May 2011, 12:05

okgb wrote:I haven't read the whole thread , but are you happy with the intonation ?
only the octaves are in perfect tune with varying beating between the intervals
this is the part that keeps me constantly tuning

To be honest, I was never really happy with the guitar's intonation, I always had alot of trouble setting the 12th fret intonation accurately, it seemed to want to go all over the place, and when I thought I had it right, I would end up having to re-adjust it again, and then when I did manage to get the 12th fret intonation right, it sounded out at the nut end of the guitar neck, I think the guitar was badly made in the beginning, the nut was originally way too high, so I tried sanding the nut down after removing it, so that the first fret action was a bit more like it should have been....

I think I also had some string-friction issues too...

r4ndy · Post by **r4ndy** » 28 May 2011, 21:10

I have an Ibanez S620 with the z-bridge and love it. Easier to change strings and tune than the Floyd style I had on an Roadstar and stays in tune really well with most term acrobatics. Still love my Ibanez 77 LP copy, but I think it needs a new nut, cuz I can't keep it in tune for more than a song and I get the pinging on the B and G strings all the time. Curious to see what you think when you get the Ibanez.

DrNomis · Post by **DrNomis** » 29 May 2011, 16:48

r4ndy wrote:I have an Ibanez S620 with the z-bridge and love it. Easier to change strings and tune than the Floyd style I had on an Roadstar and stays in tune really well with most term acrobatics. Still love my Ibanez 77 LP copy, but I think it needs a new nut, cuz I can't keep it in tune for more than a song and I get the pinging on the B and G strings all the time. Curious to see what you think when you get the Ibanez.

I just finished paying off the Ibanez guitar that I had on Lay By at Cool Bananas, it's an Ibanez S420, and has the z-bridge on it too, the pivots are ball bearings, I'm really impressed by the performance of the z-bridge, I think it's a great improvement over the knife-edge system, I love my new Ibanez S420 to bits, I can say that after all the searching for a decent instrument, I think I have finally found something that works for me, it plays great, my fretting hand does not hurt after playing barre-chords for a
while, like it did when I played the Squire Bullet Strat, the S420's Wizard 2 neck really seems to suit me much better, the string action is great, no fret buzzing at all, the
action at the nut end is great, intonation seems to be spot-on, tuning stability is good, I can't think of a single bad thing to say about my Ibanez S420 guitar, even the two
Infinity humbuckin pickups are good, very quiet and powerful pickups....

I think the reason why the Wizard 2 neck suits me better is because I have small hands and my hand muscles aren't that strong, plus also the flatter fretboard camber seems to make it easier for me to play barre-chords, which is something I've always wanted to get into playing more of rather than Root-5th style chords, this new guitar has made me fall in love with playing guitar again, and I've found myself wanting to play using clean sounds alot more now...

DrNomis · Post by **DrNomis** » 30 May 2011, 14:10

I just posted a link to my photobucket album where you can check out some pics of my new Ibanez S420 Guitar, it's in the Cafe section....

pinkjimiphoton · Post by **pinkjimiphoton** » 04 Aug 2011, 00:29

hi, just kinda skimming this thread....gonna add my 2 cents.

most guitarists plain don't know how to string guitars right. they end up buying tuners, and nuts, and all kindsa crap.

i've been playing since 1969, pro since 76, and have played/owned damn near every guitar imaginable.

so let me hip ya to a trick that will make a huge difference.

most players think ya stick the string thru the hole and wind away until you have a bunch of windings....nope, all them windings add to the problem.

here's how to do it.

make sure the tuner's holes are perpendicular (in line with) the neck.

stick the string thru your bridge's hole, then thru the hole in the tuner.

pull it thru reasonably tite.

wrap the string under itself, ALWAYS TOWARD THE CENTER OF THE HEADSTOCK. the string will pass under itself. pull up on the loose end, and start twisting the tuner. this will lock the string against the tuner's post with the STRING ITSELF.

tune to pitch, tug on the string a few times, until it stays in tune.

repeat with the rest of the strings.

you don't wanna have more than 2 winds wrap around the tuner post, really. any more will just equal slop and tuning slippage.

if ya use a whammy, extra points if you tin the ball end of the strings with a little bit of solder. just melt it up the wrapped part.

once the string is tuned to pitch, you should be good to go...after stretching them a few times.

it's quick, easy, and can make even a cheap ass piece of crap tiesco del ray stay in tune.

hope that helps the op!!

peaaaaace

pink

GuitarlCarl · Post by **GuitarlCarl** » 04 Aug 2011, 02:43

Pinks got it right! Nobody winds em' right anymore and tremolo guys... a bit of "nut sauce" or some other brand nut lube really helps too. I do like the trick with the solder on the ball ends, seats them better right? Wonder if that was the thought behind Fender's Super Bullets...

pinkjimiphoton · Post by **pinkjimiphoton** » 05 Aug 2011, 02:37

yah, nut sauce makes a huge diff..i use radio shack "teflon" tech lube mixed with powdered graphite.

works like a charm.

the solder thing makes a big dif, i almost never break strings anymore at the bridge, and usually, once i tune it and tug on it a couple times, it's good to go.

worth trying.

pedalgrinder · Post by **pedalgrinder** » 19 Sep 2011, 07:41

I've got the answer just sing out of tune with your guitar and all will be good [smilie=wine.gif]