Alright, so my friend has had a little Amigo acoustic guitar for about seven years. She lent it to me for an art project. I took the strings off, cleaned it, sanded off some finish, painted it (not the whole thing-- just designs), put some gel medium on top, and sanded it smooth. Today I got some new strings for it-- silk steel, that's what the guys at the guitar shop said would be best-- and restrung it. The problem is, though, it get out of tune really really quickly. The strings are a little loose-feeling because it's a 1/2 size guitar, but I don't know if that's the problem. It's due for school really soon, so I can't replace the bridge or tuners or anything like that. Is there any 'quick fix' I can use that'll keep it in tune just a little longer?
If the guitar has been without strings for a few days, it probably has to re-adjust to having strings again.
Also, brand new strings often take a bit of time to "settle in" and stabilize.
Play it for a while, re-tune, play, re-tune.
Let it rest for a few hours, and repeat.
If there isn't anything wrong with the guitar itself (such as bad tuners), it should settle down after a bit.
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
new strings also stretch a bit. you can get them to stability a bit more quickly by pulling on them (grab around the sound hole and pull away from guitar an inch or so -- be firm, but gentle), then retuning. the other typical non-hardware issue the causes detuning is failure to properly wrap the strings around the tuner capstans (pegs or posts).
here's a link to instructions for this: http://guitar.about.com/od/beginners/ss/acoustic_string.htm
-=tension & release=-
The neck is under pressure every moment strings are tightened. So yes, a few days will relax the neck.
If your guitar doesnt stay in tune for a decent amount of time, at least a few sessions, and you dont bend, yer neck is prolly screwd up. If the neck is bent, it might be fixable, more power to ya. But its an added $$ amount.
Best advice for the money is spend some time with it before you buy it. If you find something you like, drop a small deposit to hold it for you. That is, unless you have the money to throw a few hundred around on a whim or 5. Watch yer investment! What you reserved might have been changed! Damn those mass produced guitars, and used car dealer type salesmen!!
Strings
Sadly, new strings take some time to break in, and bout the time they are at their best, it time to change them.
Ive found with some fastfret and a 3m pad the strings will last a bit longer, and your skin will be removed with some Maintenance. Im not poor enough to play a box....
In my exp, if you play for 4hrs after switching the strings and then 4 hrs more, you have the best the strings will offer. After that they are junk. you can still play with them, but they will never sound as good again.
To prolong the tune, if not the brilliance of your strings, look up string locking systems. Even if you dont use yer tremolo, your guitar will stay in tune far longer than without one.
Hope this info is usefull.
(sorry for the babble..)
Guitars: '85 Les Paul standard - Epiphone PR150
AMPs: Peavey Vympyr 75 - Crate MX15R
Effects: Digitech RP 150 - (Peavey Vympyr 75)
Playin for fun since 1975
