This forum may not be the proper one for this question, but any guidance would be appreciated. I have been playing a little over a year. My first acoustic was a gift -- a Jasmine Takamine S33. I like the guitar a lot. It has a good tone for a guitar of its price range, but it doesn't stay in tune very long. I find myself having to tune it every 2-3 days, after playing maybe 30 min. to an hour each day, with all of the strings, except for maybe the high e string, going gradually flat. New strings don't seem to help. I use D'addario light guage strings, which were the strings it came with from the factory. Should I consider new tuners? And if so, how difficult would it be to replace them??? Expensive also? Or, does my axe have some other more difficult problem? Again, any advice would be appreciated.
The silver lining to all of this is that I've gotten good at tuning my guitar!
Lawdude
Ever notice that the world "listen" contains the same letters as "silent"?
it could either be the quality of the tuners, or even the way the guitar got restrung. decent tuners shouldn't be terribly expensive, and as far as instalation as long as the post in the same size as your old tuners it should be an easy fit. just watch out that you don't break the screws holding the tuners on. i've heard quite a few horror stories involving that
"I got a woman, stay drunk all the time!"
-Led Zeppelin-
You are only tuning every 2-3 days? That's fantastic.
I tune every day.
Nick, et al.,
Okay, your point is well taken. I guess perhaps I am only highlighting my inexperience. But it just seemed to me perhaps my acoustic should stay in tune a bit longer, particularly where I do not get the opportunity to play often? You indicated that you retune every day. Is that the norm? Again, I play only about 30 minutes to an hour a day.
Incidentally, I do stretch my strings when I change them until I can stretch them and they stay in concert tune. I don't wind (usually) more than three non-overlaping loops. I wipe my strings down every time when I am done playing. My bridge pins are snug. Not sure whether my strings are too tight in the nut slots, but I don't think so.
I change strings about once a month.
As Nick pointed out, maybe I just think my axe should stay in tune longer.
I'm hopeful that someone will just say I'm being a silly newbie.
Lawdude
Ever notice that the world "listen" contains the same letters as "silent"?
I tune mine every day.
-- John
"Hip woman walking on a moving floor, tripping on the escalator.
There's a man in the line and she's blowin' his mind, thinking that he's already made her."
'Coming into Los Angeles' - Arlo Guthrie
I tune mine every time I pick anyone of them up at any given time.
As stated, 2-3 days is to long (WAY to long).
It isn't a silly newbie question really.
I have guitars that stay in tune that long, but I check them every time.
I'd say you should be able to tune one day and play the next without issues.
Now if the temperature drops, or it rains, or a cold front moves through, you will be retuning.
Tuning also depends on how hard you strum. Sometimes I can go a day, and other times I'm tuning in the same session (especially on my 12 string).
Dennis
I also tune everyday!
Chuck Norris invented Kentucky Fried Chicken's famous secret recipe, with eleven herbs and spices. But nobody ever mentions the twelfth ingredient: Fear!
ChuckNorrisFactsdotCom
My guitar strings usually go out of tune together, or so it seems. If one string is blatantly out of tune, I tune it. Usually I just strum an E chord and see if it's about right. It usually is and I can't tell the difference. I'm usually running scales and doing weird picking anyways. I think I'll tune with a tuner about once every couple of weeks. Otherwise I just tune to whatever my open low E string is. Sometimes I'll tune to a song that's on the TV. That being said, my guitar is always in-tune relative to itself, if that makes any sense.
Dave
Sometimes in life you get shown the light,
In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
So long as the guitar doesn't suddenly go out of tune when you're playing (happens to me when I do whammy dives on my electric), then i think it's not a huge issue. Next time you re-string your guitar, wind the strings around the tuner string posts (like previously mentioned) a couple of times and it should stay in tune.
Steve-0
You should check your tuning everytime you practice or play. When you go to put the guitar away if not in a hardshell case, face the strings against the wall or stand.
Joe
. . . if not in a hardshell case, face the strings against the wall or stand
Interesting. What is the rationale for that practice? I keep mine in its hardshell case always when it is not being played. But I had never heard of facing the strings against the wall or stand.
Lawdude
Ever notice that the world "listen" contains the same letters as "silent"?
Everyone has their own way of doing things. This is mine.
Old habit. believing with the strings pulling the neck forward it's always made since to face it that way. It may or may not really have any noticable effect. Plus protects the front in case old girl friend throws something it will ding the back not the front....lol
joe
While this may seem obvious, I have seen people with improperly strung acoustics.
Make sure that the strings area wrapped around the tuning posts with the string leading from the medial (inside) of the tuning post to the nut. When the strings are wound with the string leading on the lateral sid eof the tuning post it causes a lot os stress on the neck and the strings will go out of tune very quickly - even before they are played.
If you only need to tune every 2-3 days then that is normal.
