Hello all:
I have a 1980s Ventura V-6. It is a great guitar with wonderful sound.
The strings had never really been changed on it in a long time; it got a lot of attention in its case before I started playing it regularly. The nice mellow tone was great, but the strings started getting so mellow that I couldn't hear them very well anymore.
So I put new strings on. What a difference! I put on light strings where I think it had at least mediums. I did this mainly because the guitar is old, it is bellied, and the heel of the neck is cracking away from the body of the guitar.
Strangely, though, the new strings don't stay in tune. Not that they get flat—that I'd expect—, but each day I retune it I notice many of them have gone sharp! I'm trying to figure out what is causing this, since I was always under the impression that new strings stretch over time and therefore slowly go flat until they are more settled.
The only cause I could think of is that perhaps the guitar is slowly reflexing now that it has lighter strings and the distance between the nut and bridge is actually increasing as it 'bends back' toward its original shape.
Is this possible, or is there something else that could be going on?
Should I be worried?
Thanks,
Jon
It's possible. But what's probably more likely are changes in temperature and/or humidity.
Temperature changes affect the strings and wood at different rates, because they have different coefficients of expansion. Changes in humidity will make wood swell or shrink, but won't really do anything to the strings. I find my guitars are almost never in perfect tune from day to day, and it's all because of the weather.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Well; it's been cold and rainy the last few days. Today it's warm and sunny.
I'll have a check of it when I get home.
Thank you for the quick reply!
Jon
I dont know how your weather is, but around me its been a crazy spring!! Hot, and humid one day, and the next cold, dry, and the heats on...My steel body resonator is normally pretty stable. not a lot of wood to move around... but even that has been all over the place tuning wise.. one day, its a bit flat... the next its sharp...
Paul B
