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Gibson Midtown Custom Problems


Stupidcreature

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I've owned a GMC since April 2015 and when i first received the guitar i loved it. However even when it first arrived (ordered from Thomann) i noticed slight intonation issues with it. I had the guitar set up by my local guitar shop last summer and this didn't really seem to do much. The guys at the shop loved playing with it but every time i pick it up i can hear that it's out. The problem seems to be primarily with the G String but i have noticed other strings also just don't seem to correspond together well. I also thought that it could be my technique, however i don't get any problems from my other guitars or my friends guitars of a similar standard to the midtown.

 

I am reaching the end of my tether with it. I love the guitar but i can't continue to play an instrument that i expected to be of a high standard for the price i paid (£800), only for it to keep sounding out of tune.

 

I have also looked into buying an Earvana nut for the Midtown but have seen mixed reviews.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance guys.

 

 

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Does the guitar intonate well with a machine but sound out of tune when you fret chords up by the nut? That'd be nut problems there.

 

Does it intonate well with a machine but sound out of tune as you get past the 7th, maybe 9th fret? That's a neck problem.

 

Is the neck and nut and bridge and frets set up? All things can make it sound out of tune in different places on the neck.

 

rct

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A good buddy of mine bought one and had constant tuning issues. All strings seemed properly intonated when played open. Meaning open strum and plucked at the 12th fret harmonic. I intonate a little differently. I finger the note at the 12th to compensate for the finger pressure on the string causing the string to bend a little sharp.

In any case, the tuning problem only happens with my buddy. Works fine for me. I have a much lighter touch when playing. I noticed he was constantly pulling the strings sharp as well as actually flexing the neck a little. It appears there is more flex in the neck than I've seen in other guitars.

My buddy also has a Les Paul and many Fenders which handle his heavy hand better.

I may just wait a bit and buy the Midtown from him. I don't think he will ever be happy with it.

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I always intonate, and even tune, by pressing on the string at the actual fret that I am going to play as I will play it.

 

It just doesn't make sense to tune or intonate one way, and play the note another. Maybe it's close enough for some, and maybe it depends on the guitar.

 

For a long, long time, tuners have been so GOOD, and chromatic tuners take all the work out of it. It really is just as easy to fret a string on the 5th fret and tune as it is to pluck an open string. And it's just as easy on ALL the frets.

 

Why do I want to just know the open string and the harmonic at the 12th fret is good?

 

Point: Check all the frets, all the notes. It's easy. It will tell you a lot about what is going on.

 

Example: if a chord "sounds" off to you, fret the chord and check the notes with a tuner.

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  • 1 month later...
keep sounding out of tune.

 

I'm kinda following everyones thinking but I think what you should check "first" is the intonation. Check the first and second Octave and see whats going on. Taking another's word for what they supposedly did doesn't help solve an issue.

 

 

Is in fact the G string a tuning issue and did you adjust the saddle? I mean the usual issue imho is saddle travel space. Rarely I have seen nut and neck issues from the factory. But hey, who knows. But I would actually go through it with an accurate tuner first.

 

Also the Midtowns like yours has BB 1+2s in them and the pole adjustment can be a little tricky balancing them out. Could be the issues your hearing IF the tech already did the intonation.

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