Pressing the G String too hard on my Les Paul

  • Thread starter Thread starter ido1957
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ido1957

ido1957

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Makes it go sharp on the second fret. Quite noticeable on an open D chord because I use my index finger on that string. Don't notice it so much on open A or bar chords. Nothing more distracting than an OOT guitar.

It takes a light touch obviously but it annoying becaue I have never had that issue on my Fenders or Kramer.

2nd fret is the same with all strings - I tested them all - but G is the one that you can really hear go out. Other frets are good.

Thought for a moment a fret dress might help...

On a similar subject - all my guitars have that wonky low E going sharp when fretted so I tune it slightly flat so it's in between.
 
Is the G string in tune at the twelfth fret? Does the intonation need to be tweaked for that string?
 
Wish14 said:
Is the G string in tune at the twelfth fret? Does the intonation need to be tweaked for that string?
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2nd fret is the same with all strings - the harder you press the sharper the note. Intonation was set up twice by the shop. Once with 10's and once with the current 9's.
 
ido1957 said:
2nd fret is the same with all strings - the harder you press the sharper the note. Intonation was set up twice by the shop. Once with 10's and once with the current 9's.
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Maybe check it with a straight-edge. Maybe that 2nd fret is too high or something. You'd think a LP Custom wouldn't have this problem.
 
Greg_L said:
You'd think a LP Custom wouldn't have this problem.
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No kidding. Unless it's had a refret, but even then, someone should've done a better job. You'd kinda think that the tech who did the setups would've noticed it.
 
If the nut isn't cut correctly it will sound out of tune at the second fret just the way you have described it. I recently replaced the nut on an LP custom that had this problem.
 
ocnor said:
If the nut isn't cut correctly it will sound out of tune at the second fret just the way you have described it. I recently replaced the nut on an LP custom that had this problem.
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What exactly was wrong with the cut of the nut?
 
I have a 76 Les Paul custom. After a number of years my G string was doing the same thing. It was really frustrating me. Had to play lightly on the 2nd fret G string. Not so with my Fender or Ric. I re-set up the guitar........no change. Tried lights...mediums....different brands...no change. The frets levels were fine and not overly worn. As was pointed out already........it turned out that the nut needed changing. The tech who did it told me that the nut on some Les Pauls was not what it should be................whatever that meant. He said it was affected more than most by going from a wound G to unwound....etc.....which I had done for a while. So....anyway...........you know the ending. Change the nut and have it done by a pro if you're not sure how to do it. Just my 2 cents.
 
You could also try going to a heavier G string. I had the same problem wiht my Epi Dot (admittedly a cheap guitar) and when I changed to 'jazz strings' with a wound G string, the intonation issue went away.
 
and I must point out that you can make any string go out of tune at any fret if you push it down really hard
 
miroslav said:
What exactly was wrong with the cut of the nut?
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The string slots were cut wrong and some of the strings were sitting too high. So the closer you were to the nut the harder you would need to press down which caused those strings to sound out of tune with the others. That's why the farther away from the nut you play the less noticeable it is.
 
my biggest question is why it would be the 2nd fret mainly.
If it's the nut being too high then the 1st fret would be even worse than the second and he hasn't mentioned that at all unless I missed it.
 
It's not the nut. If it was it would affect all frets. The nut would not be incorrect just for one fret.

Fat Gibson frets are the usual culprit here. Also read the intonation and tuning primer....

The problem that wide fat frets gives it the that the possibility to over stretch the string at the fret while pressing down on it is greater thab a nornal fret. The break point can also be sited over a wider string length. Gibsons fretboards are machine cut and machine fretted and dressed, it wont be a bad fret unless some one has recrowned it in the past.. .
 
Lt. Bob said:
my biggest question is why it would be the 2nd fret mainly.
If it's the nut being too high then the 1st fret would be even worse than the second and he hasn't mentioned that at all unless I missed it.
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You are correct about the 1st fret being worse. Due to finger positions when playing basic chords sour notes at 2nd fret will be more obvious.
 
ocnor said:
You are correct about the 1st fret being worse. Due to finger positions when playing basic chords sour notes at 2nd fret will be more obvious.
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The higher up the fret board you go the less you would notice as the extra tension and string deflection that causes the problem is evened out.
 
muttley600 said:
Fat Gibson frets are the usual culprit here...
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I was excited about a fat-fret guitar once....for about 10 minutes.
Yeah, they play easier, but the tuning issues were just a PITA, especially since I tend to grab the strings a bit harder at times.

I cut my teeth on guitars that had medium-thin frets, so when I pick up anything with fat/jumbo frets it's a short lived love affair. :D
 
Try rubbing on the g-string, then when it's time for the big event pull it off to the side and out of the way to avoid chafing.

:D
 
muttley600 said:
It's not the nut. If it was it would affect all frets. The nut would not be incorrect just for one fret.

Fat Gibson frets are the usual culprit here. Also read the intonation and tuning primer....

The problem that wide fat frets gives it the that the possibility to over stretch the string at the fret while pressing down on it is greater thab a nornal fret. The break point can also be sited over a wider string length. Gibsons fretboards are machine cut and machine fretted and dressed, it wont be a bad fret unless some one has recrowned it in the past.. .
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It's definitely not the nut. Without being able to physically play the guitar it's impossible to properly diagnose your problem. You might have to tune the guitar a little differently to compensate for this problem. Good luck!
 
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