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Any ideas.........guitar will not stay in tune....

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(@nottheguy)
Estimable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 164
Topic starter  

I know its hard to do sight unseen - but i'd like some advice as to what the likely problem is....

I have an Ibanez Artist AR-250 - same setup as a Les Paul - fixed bridge, tailpiece ---- no trem. (pic below) It's been setup and plays like a dream - it just will not stay in tune - especially the G string. It drives me nuts! Its mostly after playing leads and doing a lot of bends, etc. I do wrap my strings around the post like I'm supposed to....

What do you think the culpit is likley to be? Tuners? Nut, Bridge?
I'm going to take it in to be checked out next week - but would like some advice....

Any ideas?

Its a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself.


   
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(@steve-0)
Noble Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 1162
 

Have you had a setup done? If not than I would guess that the G string is getting caught on the nut because the slot might not be properly shaped. When I got a new nut on my guitar it was pretty cheap ($15 or so).

Steve-0


   
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(@nottheguy)
Estimable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 164
Topic starter  

I had a complete setup last summer - and the problem has always been there - i've lived with it, but am now playing with others and it's a pain to retune after every song!

Its a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself.


   
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(@steve-0)
Noble Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 1162
 

I would talk to the person who set up the guitar and ask them what it might be: it seems strange that if it was the tuners or the bridge that only one string would go out of tune :? .

Steve-0


   
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(@greybeard)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 5840
 

It may be the tuning peg. Many have a small screw, at the end of the "knob", to adjust the tension. You'll need a small phillips screwdriver to tighten it a little - that may cure your problem.
Oddly the G string is the worst on my Burns.......

I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

Most common problem I've encountered has been with a binding nut slot. Usually with the G string.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@nottheguy)
Estimable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 164
Topic starter  

Most common problem I've encountered has been with a binding nut slot. Usually with the G string.
Ya know - if people didn't know this was a guitar forum - this could really sound bad.........I hate those binding nut slots with a G String! :D :D

Its a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself.


   
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

I have had to do so much fiddling and adjusting on my Johnson to get that right...

Broke a G string once. On a crowded fairground. That turned some heads.
:lol:

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@demoetc)
Noble Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 2167
 

That's the thing about g-strings though: they get pulled and yanked, poked through holes and twisted up and bound tight, then fingered and tapped, sometimes slid upon by shiny metal bars, plucked, picked at and generally abused.

Might be okay if they were covered or protected or wound with something, but there they are (mostly when on some solid body), completely exposed—bare, shiny and smooth—being pushed and pulled back and forth, humming and vibrating along, getting jammed in nuts, stretched obscenely, bending backwards over hard, metallic ridges.

Oh yah, sometimes someone will come along and spray or rub or wipe some lube on it so it's all nice and slick and slippery, but right after they're being touched everywhere again by exploring, prodding, squeezing, yanking, sliding fingers.

Sometimes they'll snap and leave their ends just hanging loose and useless; sometimes they'll stretch out and lose all their tone or simply sag and droop and be all out of tune.

It's really a pretty sad life ;)

******************************

NTG: when you put the strings on, do you do any pre-stretching?


   
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(@causnorign)
Honorable Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 554
 

My guess would be the tuning peg, only because it constantly happens. I think if it were snagging on the nut after a while it would stay in tune. Have you changed the strings, if so does it still happen with new ones?


   
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(@ricochet)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

Sounded like a .45 when mine let go on the fairground. Startled everyone over the sound of hundreds of chugging antique engines at a show.
:shock:

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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