Guitar not staying in tune

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wang191

New member
(Sorry if this thread duplicates itself.)

My old guitar doesn't stay in tune much anymore and I'm not sure why. It's a double locking Ibanez RG 250 if I remember correctly.

So I tune her up, check intonation, tighten everything up and it seems to be ok. Then i'll play for about 5 min and the intonation seems off, or strings seem out of tune.

The neck also seems to be a bit more plyable than it used to. I don't know if that's just my imagination talking or if that's what really is happening.

Does anyone have any experience with this happening?
I kind of want this guitar to work, I mean it's not a super guitar but it was always a good stand by if you know what i mean. It got me through 5 years of learning and giging and I always got a great sound out of it.

Thanks for any help you can offer.
 
I assume you're stretching the strings after you put them on. That might be a dumb question since you've been playing for 5 years, but I figured I'd ask.

Take a regular #2 pencil and sharpen it. When the strings are either off of the guitar or loose enough to pull out of the nut, run the pencil lead across the notches in the nut. The graphite in the pencil lead keeps the strings from binding on the nut.
 
Intonation won't change from minute to minute. If it's out of tune then that is a total different story all together. Floyds can be touchy while the strings are breaking in.
 
Well, graphite in the nut won't help since it a double locking trem...unless it's one of those silly "locking nut behind the nut" setups...

I'd have to guess that the trem springs are not set just right.
Have you changed your tuning at all? Eb to E or vice versa for instance?

Your trem saddle should be prefectly level to the body of the guitar.
If it isn't, you will have serious tuning issues.

Here's some cool videos on setting up a Floyd Rose.
 
I hate to even say it, but it could be the truss rod in the neck has broken. Take a long ruler-or a straight edge of some kind-and see if the neck is straight under string tension. Especially after it has gone out of tune after a bit of playing, if its broken its probably easiest to replace the neck that have it repaired. :(

And by the way, a Strat I have had this problem-so the symptoms sounded similar to what I was having too-after the neck replacement it's a great guitar, one of my best actually, hope I'm wrong but good luck either way....
 
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Check the edges that the floyd rests on. The less expensive "licensed by Floyd Rose" models wear out sometimes at the posts and it causes the trem. to glitch a little. This makes it jump in and out of tune every time you bend a string or depress the bar.
 
Anfontan said:
I hate to even say it, but it could be the truss rod in the neck has broken. Take a long ruler-or a straight edge of some kind-and see if the neck is straight under string tension. Especially after it has gone out of tune after a bit of playing, if its broken its probably easiest to replace the neck that have it repaired. :(

And by the way, a Strat I have had this problem-so the symptoms sounded similar to what I was having too-after the neck replacement it's a great guitar, one of my best actually, hope I'm wrong but good luck either way....
Click to expand...
How exactly does a truss rod break without the wood around it breaking?
 
ez_willis said:
How exactly does a truss rod break without the wood around it breaking?
Click to expand...

tightening too much,

or loosening too much and not be able to catch it again.

i dont think he means an actual snap, but i think it's possible; think, leaving it out in cold weather, then rushing it into a 70+degree house, repeat over twice week, for a few months out of the year, over how many years, its possible.
 
Yeah, its basically just a threaded rod that can break or break loose. I also recall a friends 12 string with the same problem-you could tune it, play a few minutes, and it was horribly out of tune. Broken truss rod on that one too! :mad:
 
I'v had the guitar setup a few times thinking it was the springs and I have even tried blocking off the trem bar so that it is stationary. All with no luck.

I'v stretched the strings to make sure that's not it and the neck seems to be pretty straight...it's not much different from the day I got it.

It could be possible that the truss rod is stripped or has something wrong with it. Would it be something that the guy setting up my guitar would not notice?
 
If your truss rod was damaged, I sure hope he'd notice...

Did you watch the Floyd Rose Setup video I linked? It would probably shed some light.
 
I didn't (and still don't) see any linked video. :/

The trem is blocked off right now because I was trying to rule out the trem springs. The intonation seems to be right but certain chords still seem to be out of tune. This is a really freakin strange problem.

THis was my first guitar and it is 10 years old. It's the guitar a knocked around from practice to practice all through High School. It could just be that it's old and wasn't properly taken care of and now it doesn't like me anymore. I would still like to play this guitar. It always was my favorite.
 
Would it be something that the guy setting up my guitar would not notice?
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most definitely. It should be one of the first things you check. Has he or she seen it since you started having problems with it?

Couple of other questions. Is it across all strings or just certain strings?
How old are the strings and are you using the same type and gauge? Once the tuning drops does it stay there or keep dropping? Simple questions I know and possibly nothing to do with your problem but they may help to rule some things out. Pinning down tuning problems without seeing the guitar is difficult and worse with locking systems. Your tech guy should be able to pin it down pretty quick if he's any good. Suggest you drop it off to him for assesment.
 
you can drop of your guitar in my store, becuase i'd love to take a look at it and see whats up...

not that i could fix it or anything, but i'd like to give it my best- it really sounds like an interesting challenge, as a 'tech' guy. (i use that term loosely.)

of course, i know thats probably not possible.


really interesting here, make sure you let us know the outcome.
 
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