Strings slipping/out of tune

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steveaustin

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The strings on my new Schecter PT keep going out of tune, sharp & flat. It's the small E, A & D. I've solderd the windings at the ball, wound the strings againist the post (Grover tuners, hole through the post) w/ 3 to 4 windings & of course the strings have been stretched. Fender Bullets & Dean Markleys have been used. The nut is plastic & there's 2 string trees. I have not tried graphite powder yet, heard it helps. Any advice before this quest is started would be apprciated.
 
strings constantly going out of tune is mostly the sign of a bigger problem. i mean bigger. can you return it to where you bought?

guhlenn
 
If, when you tune up or down, you hear faint pinging sounds from the strings, the graphite will work. you don't need no powder, just an ordinary graphite pen will work.

The pinging comes from the string sticking and then with a "ping" being released. If there are no pings, thats not the problem, and graphite would probably not help here. My totally uneducated guess is that it's the tuners.
 
Steve,
In my experience, there's really only two reasons strings go SHARP. Temperature change (rise) will cause the truss rod to expand slightly and will pull the strings sharp, but the more likely thing is that the strings are geting caught in the nut or string retainers and coming back sharp (this is a trem guitar, I assume?). If the tremolo is set to float, then any tension change on one string affects all the others. You can add more springs and tighten the claw to pull the trem back to rest on the body giving it a fixed return point. Some people reccommend a different method of "tying" the strings to the tuner posts where you put the string straight through the hole, wrap it back around underneath the hole and hook it over itself, then tightening. I hope some of this helps.

peace.
 
hi Steve,

i guess they go out of tune while you're playing. how fast does it happen? do they change even if you don't play and just let the guitar sit in the stand? the room you play in, is the temperature constant?

micmac
 
aww..... effedupstrat beat me to the temperature question, sorry bout that.

micmac
 
Steve,

This definitely sounds like a combination of two problems.

First: Follow "effedupstrat's" advice about winding the strings properly. If you don't understand what he means, go to a good guitar shop and have them show you how to do it. Winding the strings wrong will cause all sorts of mayhem.

Second: I'm really anal. Here's what I do everytime I change strings. I sharpen a pencil and lightly rub it back and forth in each nut slot. I also put a drop of 3 in 1 oil onto a Q-Tip and apply a little bit to the underside of the string tees, and to each bridge saddle where the strings make contact. Don't go crazy with the oil...just a tiny bit. This, IMHO, makes all the difference in the world. It cuts down on friction so that the strings don't get hung up and go sharp. It also minimizes the number of strings that you'll break. I play the hell out of my guitars, and I used to break strings left and right until someone showed this to me. Since I've been doing this...5 years or so...I've broken maybe two strings. It works.

Good luck.
 
The strings go through the body, fixed bridge (it's the Pete Townsend tele type...remember the 1980 tour). I'm wrapping the string up & againist the post of the tuner so locks. It dosen't kink and it only happens when playing (bending). Had it for 2 weeks now. I'll try the pencil & oil trick.
 
The strings go through the body, fixed bridge (it's the Pete Townsend tele type...remember the 1980 tour). I'm wrapping the string up & againist the post of the tuner so locks. It dosen't kink and it only happens when playing (bending). Had it for 2 weeks now. I'll try the pencil & oil trick.
 
The oil & graphite worked. Some at the nut, trees, even the saddles & strings holes in the back of the gtr. A combination of oil (transmission fluid in a pen pointer) & graphite at the nut made the difference I think. This is a great gtr for $400.00. Split coils, xtra jumbo frets, binding...& black as night. Thanks for the responces.
 
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