Going out of tune a lot... why?

[Mike Gug]

My brother-in-law has a Squire Tele. It has OEM tuners with string through body and 6 saddle bridge. I've never heard him complain about "going out of tune everytime he picks up the guitar" until he started using Musicians Friend strings.

 

Could it be the strings? Could it be the tuners starting to slip? No wild temperature or weather flucuations.

 

I'm gonna have him re-string with name-brand strings to see what happens.

 

Any other suggestions?

[Caevan O’Shite]

Well, if the strings are the only change, and the tuning problems started only after switching them, then one way or another, it is most likely the strings or directly related...

 

Are they properly installed? Neatly wound (with minimum winding) around the tuner's posts? Do they seat well and stably in the string-through-body ferrules?

 

Are they different gauges than before? Has the guitar been set-up with the new strings in mind (intonation in particular, as well as action and neck-relief)?

 

Do the strings just plain $uck?

[Bluesape]

How many different actual string manufacturers are there? One store owner told me that all strings come from 3 actual plants. This same guy insists that Dean markley strings give him a skin reaction - some chemical incompatibility with his body chemistry.

 

I've no tuning issues with any brand of string.

[S. Yeti Bigfoot, Esq.]

One thing that will cause that is if you have the bridge/tremelo tension adjusted for one guage of strings, say 9's and put something like 10's or 11's on...you have to set up the guitar again every time you change string guage. Another thing is if the strings aren't installed correctly...looped and locked (the unwound ones) on the peg.

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by Bluesape:

How many different actual string manufacturers are there? One store owner told me that all strings come from 3 actual plants. This same guy insists that Dean markley strings give him a skin reaction - some chemical incompatibility with his body chemistry.

 

I've no tuning issues with any brand of string.

I think there are more than 3 plants, but not much more. Gibson, for one, still manufactures their own strings out of Elgin, IL. I don't know whose strings come from what plant for other brands, though.

 

Outside of poor winding technique, has he played guitar long? Does he know to stretch the strings when they're changed?

[Mike Gug]

MOST EXCELLENT! Thanks to all!

[dave251]

Sounds to me like the nut needs to be refit. If the new strings are slightly larger, they will stick in the nut, causing tuning problems.

 

The first place to look is the nut.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Originally posted by dave251:

Sounds to me like the nut needs to be refit. If the new strings are slightly larger, they will stick in the nut, causing tuning problems.

 

The first place to look is the nut.

VERY good call, Dave, I'm embarassed that I didn't think of that...

[skipclone 1]

besides using the best strings possible I`d second the vote for stretching them before playing the first time-very important for stability.

Does this guitar have locking tuners? if so they shouldn`t be slipping on the pegs.

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

On Strings: If Gibson makes their own and Rotosound make their own, then that implies that every other brand of string on the planet comes from the one factory, which is a bit rough to postulate.

 

On Going Out of Tune:

 

I'm also curious about how long he has been playing the guitar. And whether the problem persists even after a couple of days. Is it his first string change?

 

Not sure about the nut thing. It sounds a bit drastic: I'm always changing string gauges on some pretty cheap and cheerful guitars (ie presumably they have crap nuts too) and I don't have chronic tuning problems. Methinks that either the strings are crap or that they need stretching.

[Guitarzan]

i had tuning issues on the Spirit "by steinberger" that i had. the music yo strings were crap, bad windings on the ball end. but my main problem was the neck joint. it had enough play that you could shift it slightly and screw up the tuning.

after i "Ritchie Blackmored" it my tuning stabilized.

the nut, neck joint and trem can be a big tuning disaster on some guitars.

nuts can pinch

necks can shift

and trems can move ( but that isn't a tele prob)

the cheap strings i had were terrible on the ball end.

check and see if the neck can move side to side.

it may be hardly noticable, but if it does it is going to really mess with the tuning. i glued mine and solved my problem. maybe the bolts aren't tight enough?

[S. Yeti Bigfoot, Esq.]

Originally posted by Sasquatch51:

One thing that will cause that is if you have the bridge/tremelo tension adjusted for one guage of strings, say 9's and put something like 10's or 11's on...you have to set up the guitar again every time you change string guage. Another thing is if the strings aren't installed correctly...looped and locked (the unwound ones) on the peg.

Ooops! My bad...I missed the fact that this was a Tele....I had Strat on my mind. I should learn to read more carefully.....

[Caevan O’Shite]

By the way: this 'conspiracy-theory', 'all strings are made by one of three or so factories' thing is a bit exaggerated and misleading; many brands make their own strings from raw "Music Wire" and other materials made by another manufacturer.

 

They may very easily specify different requirements for the raw wire they order, or they may use whatever meets their cost requirements; and I'm sure that the production techniques and equipment used- not to mention the people actually running everything- makes a difference, too.

 

Certainly the chosen gauge of core-wire and the gauge of the winding will make a diffeence in both tone and feel of wound-strings, as will the winding technique and the conditions during production and handling. Thicker core/thinner winding results in a darker, stiffer string; thinner core, thicker winding, results in a twangier, more flexible string. This does vary sometimes from one brand to another, and some (Thomastik-Infeld, for example) use this core-to-winding ratio to design different sets of strings for specific results (T-I "Be-Bop" round-wound Jazz strings, for example, with thicker cores and thinner windings than the usual).

 

Hex-core? Round-core? Roller-wound, and by what means? Pure, solid nickel or bronze, etc., or plated? Steel? Stainless-steel? Silk-inlay? At what tension and speed are strings wound at? Any cleaning or treating at any point in production? All of these things and others will make a difference.