Unhappy with New Les Paul

  • Thread starter Thread starter tom18222
  • Start date Start date
tom18222 said:
because i play Eb, and it was setup to E when i got it, naturally.


i already stated it was a GIBSON LP.


i spent 50 for a setup and tuner installation. i have the same tuners and another guitar, and dont have this problem. they are planetwaves auto trims. they are nice, at least on my other guitar.


one thing i noticed a few times is that the strings come out of the slot in the bridge. its happened a few times to me.
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The tuners are very rarely the problem when guitar won't stay in tune. Much more common is a sticky nut, sometimes due to the slots being cut too narrow. If there is friction in the nut, when you first bring a string up to pitch, the portion of the string between the nut between the nut and the peg is tighter than the rest of it, and over time, it equalizes, which makes the playing portion of the string go sharp. Likewise, when you bend a string, you pull the string through the nut and it takes a while to go back, so the playing part of the string is flat until that happens.

If it has a plastic nut replace it with bone; plastic grabs the sting more than bone does. A problem with the nut can also cause open strings to buzz.
 
i'm gonna take it to another shop, i think. i dont really know what it is. i sincerely appreciate everyones help. next time i need help, i'm going to use another obscene title. it works.
 
ggunn said:
Much more common is a sticky nut.
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Particularly if you are using "skinny top, heavy bottom" strings as you stated earlier, your nut probably isn't cut correctly for those heavy-gauge bottom strings.
 
ggunn said:
Much more common is a sticky nut
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Between a fretjob and a sticky nut - I would take a sticky nut every time (especially if it involves a heavy bottom!). It leaves you much more satisfied and usually costs less than a good fret-job (unless your up on MLK - but the QA over there is iffy at best....).
 
sorry

tom --- sorry you are having trouble w/ your gibson ...... buying a new guitar should be a verry happy experince that should last a lifetime ... hope you get it sorted out and begin enjoying it
 
BTW..... LPs are traditionally set up extremely low, and if you like that kind of setup(which I dont), you will here some acoustic fret buzzing on the lower strings in the lower registers from time to time, but you wont really hear it in you amp.
 
one more thing, i hang it on the wall--could this be affecting anything?
 
I wouldn't get discouraged with the guitar.It just needs to be setup.You
could have saved your money on those new tuners because 9 times out
of 10 the problem with L.P.'s are at the nut.You dont have a bad guitar,
you have a bad tech.
Take it to a pro and get it set up right.Invest in some graphite lube.
 
tom18222 said:
one more thing, i hang it on the wall--could this be affecting anything?
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Well, considering all the guitar shops that have extremely expensive guitars hanging on the wall, I doubt it. :D

But as ez said, if you have a case, that is definitely the best place to keep it. Probably more so for acoustics because of humidity/temperature (which is controlled as far as I know in music shops).
 
It's amazing how quickly this thread went completely to hell haha
 
its amazing how having a title like this attracted so many people. if i just put "guitar help" there would be like 5 responses lol.
 
tom18222 said:
its amazing how having a title like this attracted so many people. if i just put "guitar help" there would be like 5 responses lol.
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Its all about perception - your angry title got us all flaired up! People would be less inclined to respond to a nice, humble post...

"Umm yes hi I am new here and bought Gibson it broken thanks for help"

Yea - I'm going to respond to that.
 
tom18222 said:
its amazing how having a title like this attracted so many people. if i just put "guitar help" there would be like 5 responses lol.
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Yes but you still haven't had one single answer that is even close to the answer you need to hear and there is a LOT of real mis-information in this thread as well. You are in effect right where you started but armed with a lot of incorrect and useless advice. A decent thread title would have prompted better responses. It is quality not quantity that counts in this instance.

Don't get me wrong I'm not a total prude but needless profanity dosent prompt me to respond. Thats just me I suppose...
 
muttley600 said:
Yes but you still haven't had one single answer that is even close to the answer you need to hear and there is a LOT of real mis-information in this thread as well. You are in effect right where you started but armed with a lot of incorrect and useless advice. A decent thread title would have prompted better responses. It is quality not quantity that counts in this instance.

Don't get me wrong I'm not a total prude but needless profanity dosent prompt me to respond. Thats just me I suppose...
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Hey, muttley, are you saying that the problem is the tuners and not the nut? With all due respect, I have had the problem he described (the tuning issue) and it was the nut doing what I said. Replacing the badly cut plastic nut with a correctly cut bone one fixed it. It was on a Les Paul as well.
 
ggunn said:
Hey, muttley, are you saying that the problem is the tuners and not the nut? With all due respect, I have had the problem he described (the tuning issue) and it was the nut doing what I said. Replacing the badly cut plastic nut with a correctly cut bone one fixed it. It was on a Les Paul as well.
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It's almost certainly neither. A few clues from the OP...

when i first got it, it played pretty well. nothing to really complain about.
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most frets buzz.
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one thing i noticed a few times is that the strings come out of the slot in the bridge. its happened a few times to me.
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There are a few things to note first

The guitar played OK when new. The problem arose after a setup. The fact that it is strung with 10's and tuned to Eb is not likely the problem although a decent guitar tech will adjust the nut slots regardless of tension. The lower tension is dealt with by altering the neck relief. If most frets buzz as stated then the most likely problem is a badly adjusted truss rod resulting from the setup post purchase.. I would return it and get it done correctly. At the same time I would ask that the stop tailpiece is set correctly to stop the strings jumping the slots in the saddle. It needs a bigger break angle which will also help with tuning problems. Adjustment to the saddle slots is also most likely needed to accommodate the string gauge being used. Only after this has been done can you deal with any remaining tuning and intonation problems. On fat frets and heavier strings a lot of times tuning problems are down to bad setup (already discussed) and technique (its not that easy to jump a string from the saddle of a tunomatic bridge unless you play quite hard..I do it tho!!) Thats where I'd look first. This is of course all based on comments from the OP and could be way off but judging by his remarks I very much doubt it;)

But like I said I'm not inclined to comment when the thread title is.... well crass really.:rolleyes:
 
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