SOLVING TUNING ISSUES
Wandering tuning is one of the most irritating setup problems of all. Here, Matt Gleeson of Monty’s Guitars explains how to diagnose and eliminate tuning troubles
“First port of call is actually to have a look at the machinehead – not the machinehead itself but how the strings are wound around it,” Matt explains. “If there are too few winds then you can sometimes get a tendency for the strings to slip, depending on the model of machinehead. On the other hand if there are too many – and you haven’t stretched the strings in properly – that can also cause slippage and wandering tuning.
“Once you’ve checked those things, it’s time to look at every point of contact between the string and the guitar. Take a high E string on a Strat, for example: the ball-end goes into the block and then it comes out of the block and goes across the plate of the top of the tremolo and then it hits the saddle. Then it stretches all the way up to the nut, then it hits the string tree and finally the machinehead. If it’s gripping or sticking at any one of those points – especially if you use the trem a lot – it’s never going to stay in tune, it’s always going to be moving around.
“Even worse, if you’ve got a guitar with a tremolo and it’s doing that on one string, it’s going to also put all the other strings out as well, because the tension will change on that one string, which then means the tremolo will move and cause issues.At the nut itself, Nut Sauce and lubricants like that can be really helpful. Elsewhere, those kinds of sticking points can be fixed by using some 1,200-grit sandpaper, to get rid of any little lumps and bumps that the string is binding on.
“On Les Pauls and other Gibson-style guitars, the strings go straight up the neck but flare out at quite an angle towards the machine-heads once they pass over the nut – especially the G and D strings. This can cause problems that may require some form of nut lubrication. Again, it’s all about reducing friction and the string not being allowed to move as it needs to,” Matt continues.
“Changes in string gauge can also cause tuning issues. Typically, new guitars are shipped with nines and then people will want to put 10s or 11s or whatever on. In that scenario, treble strings aren’t too much of an issue, but when you go to increase the gauge of the bass strings, they can fit really tightly in the nut slots, which can cause some issues.”