do i live in opposite land??

[jamal buchet]

ami kidding myself to think i can buy a decent non trem guitar that stays in fucking tune......for around 500.00.?!?!?!?..if any of you own a guitar that fits this mold please tell me what you bought...i am NOT exactly a "delicate"..strummer. but man i just cant bring myself to spend 1000.00..on a guitar ...im gonna be a father REAL soon..so my "disposable " income will be limited...however i still have a bit of time left.....is this a possibility??????......




jamal

 

[SS454]

I dislike tremolos also. I can't recommend a guitar for you as I've been out of the buying gear phase for a while now, but if you find one, you could always use Sperzel locking tuning keys. These things work great. Adn really help with tuning too.

 

[jamal buchet]

I dislike tremolos also. I can't recommend a guitar for you as I've been out of the buying gear phase for a while now, but if you find one, you could always use Sperzel locking tuning keys. These things work great. Adn really help with tuning too.

exactly ..i dont use em (whammy bar)....and dont plan to...i always said ...man when i can afford one im getting a "les paul"..but shit ive never even PLAYED one maybe i wouldnt like it?.i heard they were heavy....anyway...i live in a tiny little town and the local music store only sells shit for guitars..they dont have one that costs more than 300.00..i think they push "samick".?? i played a few and they are just a step above whatever brand you can currently buy from j.c. pennies......lol..

come on SOMEBODY has bought a guitar like this ??!?!?!..WHAT DID U BUY?!?!?!?!...

JAMAL

 

[Bongo Boy]

I'm no guitar expert, but I DO know for a fact that price won't guarantee you don't get crap.

But I'm wondering about your symptoms--how long do you play before you feel the need to retune? I've heard some guitars are definitely worse than others for staying in tune, but I can't imagine why, really.

 

[SS454]

My I banez S series has a Floyd Rose. It's not that it has a problem staying in tune, The problem is when you want to tune to a different key, it won't let you. At least not before you pull every hair out of your head. Sperzel Locking tuning keys are good. You thread the string though the tuning post then turn the lock and tune from there. This way the string doesn't wrap around the post but maybe once. So you are taking up the slack on the post.

 

[64Firebird]

There are a few things that you can do to help your guitar stay in tune. First, next time you change strings mix up some graphite and Vaseline and use it to lube the slots in your guitar's nut.

Another thing you could do is have a graphite nut installed on your guitar. Ether of these things will keep you in tune unless you like to do a lot of dive bomb stunts. If that's the case, take the Jimi Hendrix approach and follow it up with a few string bends to bring you back into tune.

Finally, you could have a Floyd Rose installed you your guitar. Don't scrimp on the price here because FR makes some very good ones, but they aren't cheap. I've got an old Kramer Biretta from the mid 80s with a Floyd and it would stay in tune if it was hit by a truck.

 

[Sonixx]

yep...

i've got a Kramer Striker that I put a Kahler on and I've played it on the road for 8 years... stable as a rock... lock nut on the head...

i can dive bomb it all night... but it took me several months to stabilize it.

I traded a Fender Bandmaster amp for it.

I've also got a Melody Maker that's rock stable too and it's got a Washburn surface mount Whammy on it. I had a SG Custom that would never stay in tune. I'm not sure price and stability are necessarily related.

 

[spindlehead]

I've got a Peavy Predator (el cheapo fake strat) that stays in tune forever. I payed about $180 for it (new) about 9 years ago. It could use better pickups but other than that, I think it feels and plays great for an inexpensive guitar.

 

[jamal buchet]

i guess i should have told you all that i am currently playing a fender squier strat..now i like the guitar it was "hotrodded" a bit with custom pickups and a few minor adjustments....but if am playing "rythym" guitar and then want to track a solo next ..invariably i have to retune EVERY TIME....i adjusted the intonation....as best i could ..but it has got to be the tremelo...?...right....anyway what about these epiphone les pauls...crap right???....i was looking at an epi les paul custom...thanks for the replies




jamal

 

[Cyrokk]

I purchased an Epiphone Basher a year and a half ago. No trem. I don't think it's ever slipped out of tune when playing. It's as light as a Strat, and the neck is thinner for easier playing. I think we paid between $200 to $300. It is a fantastic sounding guitar.

My other electric is a Japaneze Strat copy I bought in the 80's. Payed $100 Canadian. Again no trem. Great action and only goes out of tune when breaking in the strings (also, when changing strings give each a little stretch before applying, and with every new string installed, tune the whole guitar up to standard. One other thing, when tuning the string up to pitch, turn the peg the opposite direction so that the pitch goes even flatter, and then turn the peg back in the direction to raise the pitch of the string. This will reduce the number of new string re-tunings to about half).

My son, who doesn't really play guitar, has a Kramer with tremelo. I am so used to playing without a tremelo that it's kind of a pain in the ass to play it. Plus it sounds just like my Strat only without the defining mid character. I also hate the way the bridge is designed. The back mechanism looks like something out of a Sears catalog.

Cy

 

[64Firebird]

I bought a Squiar Strat for my son a while back. I solved the tuning problems on that guitar by adding another spring to the trim. That did the trick.

 

[Track Rat]

My 71 Telecaster is the most stable guitar I've ever owned. When I was playing out all the time, I swear I'd tune it at the beginning at the night and it would stay there all night. Shit, I could use it to swing my way out of a bar fight, just wipe the blood off it and it would still be in tune. A friend of mine just picked up a Tele and he says it stays in tune better than his Strats (Floyd Rose equiped).

 

[jimistone]

you can get a strat for less than 500 bucks. it dosen't matter whether it has trem or not...it will stay in tune if its a fender (no experiance with squires).

the first thing to do is put 2 more trem springs on it. 3 springs are not enough to give you tuning stability IMO. I always use 5 springs and i do some hendrix tunes that have some radical trem work. if you do alot of heavy trem work it ain;t gonna stay in tune no matter what you do (with the standard fender trem).

also, the heavier the string gauge the more tuning stability you have. i use strings that start with 11 gause little E string. 9's don't stay in tune that good....unless you have a very light touch and don't do alot of heavy bending. i don't know why anyone would want to use those light ass strings anyway, they are pussy sounding tone wise. i don't think there is anybody that has a style that are harder on strings than mine....alot of times i will break a brand new string...but my guitar will stay in tune.

so....fender guitar+5 trem springs+heavier gauge strings= tuning stability

 

[Guernica]

you can get a strat for less than 500 bucks. it dosen't matter whether it has trem or not...it will stay in tune if its a fender (no experiance with squires

Hey Jamal,

........word

check out ebay, and git yourself a decent american strat for under 5 bills. Alot of guys block their tremolo's , thusly puttin em out of commision. Im witcha though, for me.... a tremolo just gets in the way. .....damn clumsy bass players nowadays.

 

[LocusLarsen]

This might be the most stupid answer but...

Are you stretching your strings after you put them on? That might help a lot more than anything else.

 

[dragonworks]

Check out carvin, they have lockdown tuners fairly priced. Check out any lock down tuners, and yes, make sure you stretch those strings.

 

[mixmkr]

I've got a couple strats, (mim, am stand, etc)mim tele, Gibson V, L6s, SG, les paul std, Guild StarfireIII, Gretch duojet, some cheapie copy stuff. ..etc, etc. Plus all the stuff from the past years.... I put 10's on all of them.. and I can wank them all out of tune. I think a lot has to do with how hard you play them. I don't believe in tremelo/no tremelo, graphit nut, stop tailpieces...etc THEY WILL ALL GO OUT OF TUNE. If you don't bend a note past a whole step and play in a "normal" fashion...sure, it will stay in tune for 10 songs. Smack some strings with pinch harmonics, and generally "lay into" your guitar...it'll wimper. Did Hendrix play lousy guitars?...didn't he tune during just about every song?

However, a Taylor acoustic seems to be an exception...cause it seems you don't need to pound 'em!

that's my opinion. I've even used the locking tuners...what a hassle...no quick tuning there

 

[jamal buchet]

hey ..WOW.thanks for all the info ...opinions and replies...funny enough i think i found a guitar right here in the clinic.....how cool is that?!?!?!?.....man im stoked.!!!




thanks
jamal.....soon to become.."jamal and his les paul"...

 

[Clive Hugh]

Jamal,
One more thing, are you putting too many turns on the machine head? A useful method of stringing I learned about 20 years back has done wonders for my sanity and temper ever since.
Pass the string thru the hole and pull the end clockwise around the post. After it passes the main string, pull it upwards and wind the string over it. This locks the bugger in place, you only need a minimum of wind up, one turn is actually enough. I usually end up with a little bit more. Stretch the string and it will stay in tune.
One of the most common problems is people wind a couple of inches around the post, this continues to settle in for a while and stretches out of tune till it takes up.
The next thing to check is whether your string slots in the nut are too deep or too narrow.
What happens is you wind up and increase the tension between the post and nut where it is binding. You now have two separate tensions, when you give a good play the vibrations allow the strings to equalise and yo! you are out of tune.
I recommend a graphlon nut available from Stewart MacDonalds, and get the slot cut just a bit deeper than half the string diameter.
This should go a long way towards solving the tuning, I don't necessarily suscribe to the extra springs theory, I use 3 springs and 2 strats which both stay in tune brilliantly.
Clive

 

[jamal buchet]

Jamal,
One more thing, are you putting too many turns on the machine head? A useful method of stringing I learned about 20 years back has done wonders for my sanity and temper ever since.
Pass the string thru the hole and pull the end clockwise around the post. After it passes the main string, pull it upwards and wind the string over it. This locks the bugger in place, you only need a minimum of wind up, one turn is actually enough. I usually end up with a little bit more. Stretch the string and it will stay in tune.
One of the most common problems is people wind a couple of inches around the post, this continues to settle in for a while and stretches out of tune till it takes up.
The next thing to check is whether your string slots in the nut are too deep or too narrow.
What happens is you wind up and increase the tension between the post and nut where it is binding. You now have two separate tensions, when you give a good play the vibrations allow the strings to equalise and yo! you are out of tune.
I recommend a graphlon nut available from Stewart MacDonalds, and get the slot cut just a bit deeper than half the string diameter.
This should go a long way towards solving the tuning, I don't necessarily suscribe to the extra springs theory, I use 3 springs and 2 strats which both stay in tune brilliantly.
Clive

that string winding trick is A GREAT IDEA....yeah my tuning posts look like balls of yarn.....i will deffinatly try this......

nice work
jamal