For those of you that remember, I posted a lengthy post about tuning problems with my electric guitar that I later stated was fixed. What I did to fix it was, I lubed all the points of contact of the strings (so... the nut, saddles, string trees, etc.). Secondly I put fender bullets in there so I thought they would hold in tune. Well, my attempt was successful for about 4 days, I could use the tremelo without and problems (I could do the biggest dive bombs and it'd stay in tune), I could bend without problems either. After 4 days I noticed it increasingly slipped out of tune, I tried to re-lubricate each part that i lubricated before but the guitar still slipped out of tune, and got increasingly worse. With all of this, yesterday the E string broke... after only a week of having them on my guitar (usaully, strings last me 3 weeks or so, at least 2 weeks). Should I just give up and sell my guitar, and buy an electric that stays in tune or is there something else i can try? I'm pretty much completely out of ideas.
Steve-0
Hi again:
When you say it slips out of tune, is the pitch higher, or lower than it's supposed to be?
Was that the high E string or the lowe E string that broke. That might've been a separate issue and nothing to do with the trem. On the other hand, with the renewed freedom of having something that stayed in tune, you might've (maybe) gone a little too wild? Not to say that you shouldn't, but when I used to do stuff in front of people, I'd save the wild stuff for last just in case a string popped -- which it normally didn't.
Anyhow, where did the string break? Nut or at the bridge?
Just trying to figure this one out; it's really a poser.
Hi again:
When you say it slips out of tune, is the pitch higher, or lower than it's supposed to be?
Was that the high E string or the lowe E string that broke. That might've been a separate issue and nothing to do with the trem. On the other hand, with the renewed freedom of having something that stayed in tune, you might've (maybe) gone a little too wild? Not to say that you shouldn't, but when I used to do stuff in front of people, I'd save the wild stuff for last just in case a string popped -- which it normally didn't.
Anyhow, where did the string break? Nut or at the bridge?
Just trying to figure this one out; it's really a poser.
Ok, when I use the tremelo it slips out of tune to a pitch that is higher... when I just bend the string it goes lower. The high e string broke while I was stretching it in hopes to keep the strings in tune. The string broke at the nut (well, it looked like it was closer to the string posts).
I don't really mind that the string broke, I bought fender bullets before and had the same problem so I'm not too concerned. I'm just getting frustrated at the tuning problem.
Steve-0
Whoa, double post
Yah I hear ya.
Gee, that's totally weird, that it would be higher after you use the trem -- I assume it's a divebomb type thing? But it reminds me of a rachet, where you push the handle and the thing loosens but when you pull it back it's tighter. Almost like something is still moving when you depress the bar and when it comes back it's pulling it further than it was. The only thing I can think of is that some how the whole plate is moving. You know how there's those little screws at the front of the plate that basically hold the bridge plate to the guitar? Sometimes, especially in an older guitar, the holes that the screws go through wear out into an oval shape -- more like a slot than a round hole, you know? And if the whole plate shifts -- even a little -- it'll probably be toward the neck because of the tension and that would drop the pitch of everything.
On those screws by the way, you have to set them so the underside of the heads are acting as a sort of stop for the bridge, so it won't keep on tilting forward if you know what I mean. If they're too low, the plate won't be able to lift up as much, and too high and it'll go too far. They might also be either worn or not adjusted properly. If you had the guitar with the strings and the springs all off for instance, and you held the guitar neck down, the bridge would lift up and toward the floor and it's only those little screw heads -- and the tremblock underneath, moving in its slot -- that keeps the thing from flipping all the way off.
Each of the little screwheads (if this is what you have) should be touching the face of the plate the same amount. One might be too high up or down, making things a little off balance for the other side of the bridge. I think mine has 6 screws and I have my bridge set to it goes about half way up and halfway down. It's never totally flat against the face of the guitar. So I have the screws screwed in just enough to hold it at that 45 degree angle if you know what I mean.
One other thing I was thinking, since I reread your earlier thread and all the things you tried, is whether or not the neck itself is really tight on the body.
I'm also thinking maybe a Wilkinson tremolo might help. They're not that expensive and I think they're an exact replacement for the regular trem.
Just another idea anyhow.
On those screws by the way, you have to set them so the underside of the heads are acting as a sort of stop for the bridge, so it won't keep on tilting forward if you know what I mean. If they're too low, the plate won't be able to lift up as much, and too high and it'll go too far.
That makes ALOT of sense, when I got the guitar a while ago I remember moving the bridge up for some reason (I probably didn't know what i was doing). I guess I should maybe move that bridge down a bit and see how that works.
Steve-0
You could certainly give it a try. At this point anything might make an improvement.
But when you say 'up' do you mean moving the whole thing toward the neck, or up as in it tilting upward with those little screws along the front of the plate as the fulcrum? There's just so many angles going on with a trem, you know?
Well, if I can remember correctly... I believe the bridge itself tilted upward with the screws as the fulcrum.
Steve-0
Right, that's right.
Give it a go and see what happens. Those screws might be maladjusted, or the screw holes might be worn.
Could be as simple as a string failure. Seems as if this matches your situation:
1. Bend high e, it is then out of tune and lower in pitch -- it is stretching at a failure point. Now the tension on the high e is lower, since it stretched. But the trem will still be set to the the same tension, so all the other strings will have to "take up the slack" and each be under a little bit more tension. The result is all other strings will be a bit sharp.
2. Use the trem. Especially, if you happen to bend up, but possibly if you dive (you will overshoot a little on the return and bend a little high), the weakened high e will not return to pitch. If it does not return to pitch, all your other string will also be out of tune -- that's the big disadvantage of a floating trem of any type: one string goes out, they all go out.
Solution: Replace the string (or all of them). It's possible the string was simply defective. Also possible that you bent it during installation or your guitar has an edge or catch point that is wearing the string.
Also, don't over-lubricate your guitar. If everything is working properly, it shouldn't need much lubrication in the first place.
Good luck -- Greg
-=tension & release=-
