SG Tuning Problems

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ido1957

ido1957

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My friend's standard SG will sound good and in tune when I play it a certain way - usually light strumming. But when I press too hard and strum hard it sounds out of tune.
This is really annoying as it is basically unuseable in my opinion. Any suggestions? He doesn't want to sell it.
 
And if he has 'big' frets, you squeezing hard pulls them down 'further' and makes it sound out of tune. But a good set up of the intonation can't hurt, and is always a great place to start. Maybe try heavier strings to discourage you from squeezing them so hard? ;)
 
I have the Standard and I had the same problem. Just change the gauge of the strings up to 11s. Stays in tune a lot better for some reason and also makes the guitar sound bigger (which is tough to do because that thing can scream).
 
SGs have notoriously flexible necks. Not a lot of meat at the joint. People don't realize how much they are yanking things around when they dig in. You must learn a lighter touch for that guitar.


lou
 
I have little hands/fingers so I use 09's max. I can't see playing softly or gently all the time. Especially for rock and roll. I can't believe that Gibson would make a guitar for this much money that requires a certain size strings/gentle playing....if so it sucks...
 
SGs have notoriously flexible necks.

I used to have a Melody Maker...between a string bend and a neck bend I could take it up almost an octave...:D
 
ido1957 said:
I have little hands/fingers so I use 09's max. I can't see playing softly or gently all the time. Especially for rock and roll. I can't believe that Gibson would make a guitar for this much money that requires a certain size strings/gentle playing....if so it sucks...
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It's not gentle that's required - watch clips of Angus. You just can't pull back with your fretting hand. You don't even know you are doing it - but you are. Or push forward for that matter. The neck moves - deal with it.


lou
 
ido1957 said:
I have little hands/fingers so I use 09's max. I can't see playing softly or gently all the time. Especially for rock and roll. I can't believe that Gibson would make a guitar for this much money that requires a certain size strings/gentle playing....if so it sucks...
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I hammer and bash the shit out of my SG, and every other SG I've ever owned, and it plays just fine, every time. You just need a good setup done to it.
 
I'd bet a chocolate donut on Ranjam's answer. IF intonation were out you'd play out of tune high on the neck all the time. Even with "light strumming". Pluck a note midway up the neck now squeeze harder and softer with you fretting finger. If the pitch wavers significanly, well, you can imagine how any inconsistency in your fretting would put you out of tune. As has been said. Heavier strings would help (and sound better tone-wise). You can have the frets worked down, but make sure whoever does knows his/her stuff. Done wrong he guitar will buzz forever. If you play that guitar enough I'd bet another chocolate donut your fingers will learn how hard to squeeze to play intune - kinda like playing a violin :)

J
 
Greg_L said:
I hammer and bash the shit out of my SG, and every other SG I've ever owned, and it plays just fine, every time. You just need a good setup done to it.
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I have an Epi SG, which I believe is the same one Gerg plays-and it holds it's tuning extremely well and I hammer and bash the shit out of it just as much. I could not say the same for the 70's Gibson SG I had in the late 1970's though-that thing would not hold it's tuning at all.

I wonder if the SG you are playing is from the 'Norlin' era, Gerry? That might be a cause for the problems......
 
That does kinda suck ido!

Strange to me that the intonation would seem fine playing lightly, but be off when pressing down harder. I have an older SG with very, very low frets and althought the intonation is far from perfect (it has that old, cheap style "special" bridge with the fixed saddles), it is not affected in the least by how much pressure I apply to the neck with my fingers.

So, I too suspect the size of the frets may be to blame, but I am of course by no means an expert.
 
Are the pickups too close to the strings?

Frets crowned properly?

The necks on SG's are flexible but not that flexible, I knock the shit outta mine and the tuning is pretty solid.
 
I've played a few SG standards that were real crap, very different from the SG custom which I think are great. Are the strings old ? or maybe defective ? Try new strings and a good set-up.
 
ido1957 said:
I have little hands/fingers so I use 09's max. I can't see playing softly or gently all the time. Especially for rock and roll. I can't believe that Gibson would make a guitar for this much money that requires a certain size strings/gentle playing....if so it sucks...
Click to expand...

You're looking at the wrong way. It's not about needing a certain playing style to suit a guitar, it about getting the guitar setup to suit your playing style. I'm pretty heavy handed with my fretting hand, and I bash the shit out of the strings with my picking hand. What this generally means to me is that I need a low action and I lower my pickups a little.
 
legionserial said:
You're looking at the wrong way. It's not about needing a certain playing style to suit a guitar, it about getting the guitar setup to suit your playing style. I'm pretty heavy handed with my fretting hand, and I bash the shit out of the strings with my picking hand. What this generally means to me is that I need a low action and I lower my pickups a little.
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I have a friend who's an accomplished guitarist who can't play my guitars as they always sound out of tune - and he can't work out why, whereas when I play them they're fine... it's just different playing styles - I have a lighter touch, med pick and have my guits set up with a slighly higher action and prefer baseball bat necks, whereas he has a heavier touch, pick and is used to shredder action levels and thin necks.

Consequently he sounds shit on my guitars. So getting yer axe set up for your playing style will help...
 
axelstrong said:
Or, you really don't know how to tune a guitar. Sometimes, I have to walk away from mine, and come back later to finish tuning. Try this in the mean time.
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Really??? I'd take up the harmonica if this was the case with me.
 
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