Out of tune guitar

[raptor48]

I recently bought a cheap Squier Bullet Special Edition to take with me to practice on. Its a great for its price... but it goes out of tune really easily... I was wondering if this was because it has cheap machine heads? If so, what and where could I get decent ones to replace them?


Please help me out


Cheers,
Stan

 

[Gorty]

I recently bought a cheap Squier Bullet Special Edition to take with me to practice on. Its a great for its price... but it goes out of tune really easily... I was wondering if this was because it has cheap machine heads? If so, what and where could I get decent ones to replace them?


Please help me out


Cheers,
Stan

It could be just new strings and they need to be stretched and settled????

Are they new strings on there??

 

[boingoman]

They could also be sticking in the nut. Getting it grooved right is the best solution if that's the case, but some graphite will probably at least help.

 

[raptor48]

Thanks for you replies.

Gorty: Its not the strings... I stretch them and stuff and do it all perfectly.

boingoman: I'll try that out...

 

[Dani Pace]

Do you use the tremelo bar very much? Using the "whammy bar" will often have a bad effect on tuning. The tremelo has slots for 5 springs, most leave the factory with 3. Adding the 2 additional springs can often greatly help a guitar stay in tune better. The springs average around $5-7 for a couple and are easy to install. Just remove the back cover plate and add the extra springs, hook the spring to the rocker part first then use pliers to stretch it to the post mounted to the body. There is a special tool for this but pliers will work fine. This will make the tremelo bar a bit stiffer to opperate and may take a little practice to get used to but the improvement in "stay in tune" will be well worth the extra effort. This cost a lot less than a new set of tuners (machines) and may solve your problem. On an average, I add additional springs to 1 in 5 of the guitars I set up and so far everyone has been happy with the results.

 

[raptor48]

Thanks for your reply Dani Pace.

No, its not the tremelo. The Bridge is bolted on... it doesn't move at all. It kinda like a Les Paul stopping bridge, so no springs, no nothing.

 

[metalhead28]

If you wind alot of string around the pegs, it's gonna go out alot easier. Wind just enough to keep it on. It could be that.
Otherwise, it's probably cheap tuners or an improperly slotted nut like the others mentioned.

You could probably get the nut looked at at a shop somewhere, and you could pick up nice tuners at just about anywhere on the web. Allparts, Stewmac or something like that. Someone else may know the place with the best prices, I'm not sure about that.

 

[rory]

This is what I'd do:

First, replace the nut with a bone or graphite nut.

Second, replace the tuners with something much better, I'd look around $50-70.

Third, the frets are probably not exactly in the right positions or cut very well, so I'd buy a new neck and pop that sucker in.

Fourth, the pickups are probably subpar so you better replace those too.

Lastly, the bodies on those things are much too light and microphonic, so I'd replace that as well.

That should solve it.

Good Luck!
Rory

 

[David Katauskas]

This is what I'd do:

First, replace the nut with a bone or graphite nut.

Second, replace the tuners with something much better, I'd look around $50-70.

Third, the frets are probably not exactly in the right positions or cut very well, so I'd buy a new neck and pop that sucker in.

Fourth, the pickups are probably subpar so you better replace those too.

Lastly, the bodies on those things are much too light and microphonic, so I'd replace that as well.

That should solve it.

Good Luck!
Rory

LOL - unfortunately, that's probably all true.

raptor, if you want to solve the problem, upgrade your guitar. If funding a new guitar is not an option, then as suggested, look at both the nut and tuners. They are your probable culprits.

 

[ermghoti]

Tuners almost never fail to hold pitch. This is a huge guitar player myth. Replace them if they are gritty, or an inconenient gear ratio, or you like the looks of something else better, but not for tuning stability.

Lube up the nut slots, keep the wraps under control, make sure the neck is bolted securly, and only tune up to pitch, never down.

Since you have a fixed bridge, tune up, pull on all your strings, and tune again. That way, any minor binding issue will be avoided, since the guitar is tuned based on a recently stretched string. It will be out of tune the next day, but pulling on all the strings should put it back, or close.

When stringing, go through the bridge, then through the tuner's hole. wrap the string one-half way around the opposite way that the tuner would wind. Pass the tag end under the main length, and pull up and tight. While holding the string taut, wind in until you are near the right pitch, and tune. There should be barely more than a wrap total, but the tension of the string will trap the tag securely.

 

[ggunn]

If you wind alot of string around the pegs, it's gonna go out alot easier. Wind just enough to keep it on. It could be that.
Otherwise, it's probably cheap tuners or an improperly slotted nut like the others mentioned.

You could probably get the nut looked at at a shop somewhere, and you could pick up nice tuners at just about anywhere on the web. Allparts, Stewmac or something like that. Someone else may know the place with the best prices, I'm not sure about that.

I have 6-8 wraps on the high strings and my Strat stays in tune just fine, even with lots of tremelo action. Tuners, even cheap ones, are very rarely the culprit.

Even if you don't have a tremelo, you could have a problem with friction in the headstock. A quick check for this is to take a string flat, bring it up to pitch with a tuner, let it set for a minute and check it again and see if it has drifted sharp. Or check that a string is in tune, do an extreme bend, and check it again to see if it is flat.

If you are seeing this stuff, then the nut is retaining tension in the strings by restricting their movement across it. Cheap plastic nuts are bad about this (and brass nuts are worse). If the nut slots are too narrow for the gauge strings you are using, that makes it worse.

Take your guitar to a good tech and have him replace the plastic nut (if that's what it has) with bone or graphite and file the nut slots to fit your strings. Five bucks sez that fixes your prob.

PS: I don't recommend filing the nut yourself. The correct depth of the nut slot is a pretty delicate adjustment.

 

[Thurgood]

Ggunn you crazy with 6 or 8 wraps.. Funny. I have tried both schools of thought, multiwrap and uniwrap. My current tech is a multiwrap guy 6 or 8. Guitar stays in tune nicely. A good friend in Austin does the uniwrap and swears by it. He also does a funny thig with the g-string and b- strings, he winds those two backwards. I would get confused with that arrangement but it would be great at jam sessions when some wanker says, "hey man let me check out your ax, dude" to which you reply, "Sure man, but it probably needs tuning." Silently observe the growing consternation becoming more apparent on said dude's face.

 

[CIRO]

I´ll try my "guess":

"bridge octave tune"
(I don´t know if this is the correct translate for english).

Check it.
Do you know how it works?(plays open string, after the harmonic on 12 fret, they have to sound at same pitch ...)

Ciro

 

[RandyW]

Its the tuners

I don't care what any one says about tuners on a Squire, they are JUNK.
Get a cheap set of Groovers 18:1 for about $30 and you'll be set.
You oviously know how to stretch your strings, and you have a hard tail so there is nothing else it could be. Well I guess the strings could be pinching
in the nut so you could open the nut slots open a bit if you have nut files.
But you might want to check your neck bolts and make sure there tight.

The new bullets are plywood guitars so they are not anywhere as nice as when they used alder bodies. I have an old squire that I modded with carvin tuners and pickups that plays and sounds just as nice as my american strat and MIM tele.

 

[ggunn]

I´ll try my "guess":

"bridge octave tune"
(I don´t know if this is the correct translate for english).

Check it.
Do you know how it works?(plays open string, after the harmonic on 12 fret, they have to sound at same pitch ...)

Ciro

Intonation. Yes, that's important, but I inferred from the OP that the tuning was changing - in tune one moment, out the next. Intonation is a static effect.

 

[Fusioninspace]

Does this thing have string T's on the headstock? Those can be troublesome as well. My kid's $70 Squire bullet is dead on intonated and stays in tune - it has the T's, but I did hit all the friction points with a dab of 3-in-1 oil.

My approach to guitars has been: if it not structurally damaged/defective, has a torson rod (that you can actually adjust), functional tuners and saddles that can be adjusted (along with string height) then it can most likely be set up properly.

It does have a fixed bridge (non-trem), so I think that really helps a 10 year old keep it in tune (and help the 48 year old dad from going crazy listening to an out of tune guitar).

Focus on the basics and your cheap-o Squire should be a great light duty guitar.

 

[raptor48]

Thanks for everyone who replied...

metalhead28: No, unfortunately my problem isn't what you are talking about, but I'll keep those brands in mind, thanks.

rory: Yeah, I would probably have to do all that, but this is my second guitar... just a budget one that I leave at my friends place, so I don't want to spend that much money that it.

David Katauskas: As I said before, this is my second guitar... my main guitar is a ESP MH-250 which I fitted with an Original Floyd Rose... which is another reason why I bought a cheaper guitar (to play songs which need de-tuning)

ermghoti: Yeah, I'll try using lube on the nut slots and I'll probably look into some new machine heads though. The way you described to resting is what I already do

ggunn: I think what your suggesting might be my problem... I'll try it out.

RandyW: Thanks for you suggestion. I'll try replacing them with Groovers 18:1... but one question about the 18:1... what does that ratio refer to? Is the higher the better?

Fusioninspace: Ok, I'll keep that in mind...