Dead string/intonation/tuning prob

J

jcook

New member
Hello all,

I'm having a weird problem with my guitar:

I have an ESP standard series Viper with Ernie Ball "Not even slinky" strings on there (12-56 i think). Recently I've begun to notice one of the strings (3rd string) coming out of tune a lot, and really quickly. It came out of tune almost instantaneously. So I restrung the guitar thinking that may have been the problem.. no dice...

Just strumming through each string i noticed that the third string sounds more "dead" than the other strings with less sustain. Its not completely dead, but it has more of a muted sound and is not ringing out as good as the other strings. Also, the 3rd string will not intonate properly.. all of my other strings are fine except the 3rd, its not even close and i cant get it close with any adjustment.

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what is causing this. I figure neck problems are ruled out since all of the other strings are fine. I'm thinking it could be a problem with the nut, but i'm not sure what could cause this to all of a sudden happen.

Has anyone seen something like this before? I wanted to ask before i took it to a guitar tech.

Thanks
 
When you restrung the guitar, did you use a different set of strings or just reinstall the same ones? Every once in a while I get a crummy string that just won't cooperate. Swapping it out normally fixes this.
 
The coming out of tune sounds like a peg, saddle, or string stop problem. The intonation not adjusting is wierd. Is it touching the first fret maybe? That would suck if it did, because you'd probably need a new nut.

Is this a problem that recently developed?
 
Thanks for the replies. I thought if i needed a new nut it would be affecting the other strings as well? It just seems to be a problem with the one string.

I checked under the strings to see if it were touching the first fret and there is a noticable space between the strings and all of the frets. Also, i can hear the problem with the string even when a strum it open. Less sustain than the other strings.
 
jcook said:
Thanks for the replies. I thought if i needed a new nut it would be affecting the other strings as well? It just seems to be a problem with the one string.

I checked under the strings to see if it were touching the first fret and there is a noticable space between the strings and all of the frets. Also, i can hear the problem with the string even when a strum it open. Less sustain than the other strings.
Click to expand...


It could be a number of things. The easiest thing to check is for a dead string (or even two, it happens). Get a replacement string, and see if that fixes the problem.

Other than that, it is something I would need to see to evaluate. It could be a problem with the saddles, but I wouldn't know without seeing it. If the string sounds dead when freted, it is almost certainly NOT the nut, but it could be. Take it to a good repair person. That is the only way you will know.


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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
It's truly amazing how a dead string can cause massive intonation problems.

I had the same problem, I replaced the string, and without any adjustment intonation was back to normal.

It's your best bet IMO.
 
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