SG won't stay in tune

[kruliosis]

I just bought a 2005 SG natural burst about a month ago. I love this thing, except it won't stay in tune for more than 20 minutes. I always tune it before I put it away for the night. Whenever I take it out of the case it's still in tune before I play it. Could anyone tell me what the problem might be?

[TinFish]

Have you had it set up since you bought it?

If not, a set up might get rid of the problem.

Also you can tell your guitar tech about the problem and see what he thinks.

[80LPC]

This is most likely caused by the nut slots. If you have standard guage strings, try some lubrication. You can use powdered graphite in the slots, or spray a small amount of WD40 onto a soft cloth and wipe it over the nut. Don't be tempted to spray lubricant with a straw connected to the aerosol. Then, refit the strings making sure you always tune up to the note. If you accidentally go sharp, slacken the string and slowly tune up once again. Now do some bends around the 12th fret area, and recheck tuning.

 

If you have heavier gauge strings fitted for drop tuning, you need the nut slots widening slightly to accomodate these strings. And once again a little lubricant helps.

[Swmcv2007]

I had the same exact problem with my 04 SG Standard in ebony.

 

They were going to file down the nut a little bit and try some other stuff.

 

It's ready but I have to wait for an Easter check to clear before I can pick it up. Hopefully the problem is fixed and if it is, I'll let you know what the culprit was.

[BigKahune]

I agree with what's already been said and want to add: possibly the unwound the strings (if you haven't changed them). Sometimes the the knot keeps slipping causing the string to go flat (lower pitch). If it's the wound strings going out of tune it's one of the other causes listed here.

[kruliosis]

The guy I bought it from said it was all set up perfect, but the action was far too high for me, so I lowered the action. After lowering the action, the top E string would ring like crazy when I did alternate picking, so then I raised it a tad, and that mostly took care of that problem.

 

After doing all that, I couldn't keep the guitar to stay in tune. So I went ahead and put on a new set of Ernie Ball Regular Slinkies. The problem still persists though.

 

I'll definitely try everything you guys recommended. Hopefully one of those works. Seeing a tech is my last resort because those guys around here tend to charge a lot. But if I have to, I will.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys! I'll let you know how she's doing after I tinker with it. And Swmcv2007:Let me know how everything turns out.

[guitar_randy]

if you play it out of tune you'll fit in with alot of you tube videos people make.lol

Try some big bends nut sauce.its not a joke.its really called that .it about $10 for a small container but it will work.

[kruliosis]

UPDATE:I tried the WD40 trick yesterday and it worked like a charm!I even beat on the guitar more than I normally do just to see if it would go out of tune...but it's still tuned perfectly. Maybe it's just me,but the SG seems to play a lot better too.I'm still puzzled by the fact that that made such a big difference.Should I do this everytime I change my strings?

 

Thanks to everyone for your advice. I still would have been stuck with my guitar anxieties without your help.

[greg420blues]

I just bought a 2005 SG natural burst about a month ago. I love this thing' date=' except it won't stay in tune for more than 20 minutes. I always tune it before I put it away for the night. Whenever I take it out of the case it's still in tune before I play it. Could anyone tell me what the problem might be?[/quote']

 

I didn't even read the other posts ... I had to go right to my report. I bought an '04 natural burst SG Standard and had the EXACT problems you're having. Here's the various things I did to it:

 

1. Essentially floored the stop tail piece within 2mm of the body.

2. Replaced the tuners with the Grover replacements

3. Had a new nut put on it, properly filed for the .011's I use.

4. Had a truss rod adjustment to accommodate the added tension from the heavier strings.

 

So far so good .... been over a year since I had the last thing done to it (nut job) and it stays in tune like a champ. Only problem is, I can't really isolate which thing I did to it that fixed the tuning issues. REALLY started with replacing the tuners. Those Grovers are smooth AND they didn't require any new holes. In fact ... they're so nice, I went and replaced the tuners that came on my V. HOWEVER, that being said, you should probably start with replacing the nut. Also, make sure you mess around with different string winding techniques. I started looping my strings over, essentially locking them into place. That in conjunction with the nut job would probably take care of ya.

[kruliosis]

I thought about looping my stings as well. I have mixed feelings though. Some people say that winding the strings messes up your tailpiece(causing divets).

[greg420blues]

I thought about looping my stings as well. I have mixed feelings though. Some people say that winding the strings messes up your tailpiece(causing divets).

 

Naw, I was talking about "tying" them on the string post. Put the string in the post ... let it wind around the bottom once ... then wind around the TOP once ... then back beneath the first wind and continue the way down ...

 

It really locks the string on to the post.

[kruliosis]

 

Naw' date=' I was talking about "tying" them on the string post. Put the string in the post ... let it wind around the bottom once ... then wind around the TOP once ... then back beneath the first wind and continue the way down ...

 

It really locks the string on to the post.

 

 

[/quote']

 

Ah, I see what you're saying.

 

It looks like I'm going to have to take this to a tech after all. I still have that top E string problem(the string hitting the bridge pickup). I tried raising the stopbar, raising the action, lubing the nut slots, tightening the string tension,and it still won't fully go away. The E string slot obviously was filed too wide from the guy I bought it from, but I'm not sure that's what's causing it to ring. Time to get this thing looked at.

[uyasgali]

I thought about looping my stings as well. I have mixed feelings though. Some people say that winding the strings messes up your tailpiece(causing divets).

 

I think you are talking about top wrapping your strings. I do that on my studio and my SG. You could always get another tailpiece if you wanted to try it.

[TinFish]

 

Ah' date=' I see what you're saying.

 

It looks like I'm going to have to take this to a tech after all. I still have that top E string problem(the string hitting the bridge pickup). I tried raising the stopbar, raising the action, lubing the nut slots, tightening the string tension,and it still won't fully go away. The E string slot obviously was filed too wide from the guy I bought it from, but I'm not sure that's what's causing it to ring. Time to get this thing looked at.[/quote']

You can lower the pickup if it is too high.

[kruliosis]

Myles: I've thought about wrapping the strings. What are the benefits?

 

TinFish: That was what I was thinking too. I'm too inexperienced to try this myself. I guess I'm just a little chicken about doing a rook job, because I've never actually done any work on pickups before.

[Alfa Corse]

I had this when I received my SG Standard fron Virginia / USA .

 

Take off the strings and check that the 12 screws on the back of the headstock and the 6 nuts on the front are well screwed. On my SG those wasn' t well screwed and now my SG stays in tune perfectly.

[80LPC]

It does sound like the pickup is too high, or maybe the polepiece for the 1st string. The benefit of locking the string is that it allows you to use less turns on the post. Fewer turns on the post means less slippage, so the strings bed in quicker. I personally don't do it - I just stretch each string in turn by pulling it away from the fretboard about 1 inch at the 12th fret. I do some big bends also around the 12th, then retune.

 

Be very careful tightening the screws on the machine heads. In fact I would say if you don't have any experience of working on guitars, leave well alone. Those screws can easily strip the theads in the wood. The sleeve bolts on the headstock face have very fine threads - these are easily stripped.

[MikeRom]

I thought about looping my stings as well. I have mixed feelings though. Some people say that winding the strings messes up your tailpiece(causing divets).

 

Top wrapping scratches the bejesus out of the stop bar for sure but does gives the strings a nice slinky feel. Or if you want to lower your stop bar all the way down but the strings hit the back edge of the TOM, top wrapping is an alternative.

 

 

Before trying anything else to your nut, run some pecnil graphite in the slots for which ever strings are giving you a hard time. Cheap, easy, effective.

[TinFish]

TinFish: That was what I was thinking too. I'm too inexperienced to try this myself. I guess I'm just a little chicken about doing a rook job' date=' because I've never actually done any work on pickups before.[/quote']

Adjusting your pick up hight is actually one of the safer things you can do.

 

Just depress both the E strings on the last(22nd) fret and measure from the pole piece(screw) to the string.

For your neck pick up the factory setup is 3/32" on the bass side and 3/32" on the treble side.

For your bridge pickup the factory setup is 1/16" on the bass side and 1/16" on the treble side.

 

These numbers are just rules of thumb though, you can lower them more if you want to decrease the volume and get some more clarity. I wouldn't recommend raising them much higher because the pickup's magnet begins to interfere with the vibration of the string and you begin to lose sustain and tone.

 

To adjust the height you just tighten or loosen the 2 screws on either side of the pickup, tightening them will raise the pickup and loosening them will lower the pickup.

[Buc McMaster]

Wrapping the stop tailpiece with the string reduces the angle of break over the saddles and can lead to string rattle, dependent on the height of the two pieces. Good down tension over the saddles is important to sustain and volume - not enough down tension can cause fret rattle. Wrapping does nothing to improve the sound and is merely a hold-over technique from when there was only a tailpiece, no bridge, on Gibson's guitars. Ideally, once you have bridge height set to your liking for action, the tailpiece should be lowered toward the body until the strings just clear the back edge of the tunamatic - resting on the saddles but not on the back edge of the bridge. This gives the proper string break over the saddles. A tailpiece cranked down to the point of string contact with the back edge of the bridge can be trouble over the lond haul. It puts a "roll-over-backwards" pressure on the bridge. The only point of string contact should be the saddles.

[uyasgali]

Myles: I've thought about wrapping the strings. What are the benefits?

 

TinFish: That was what I was thinking too. I'm too inexperienced to try this myself. I guess I'm just a little chicken about doing a rook job' date=' because I've never actually done any work on pickups before.[/quote']

 

You have a decreased break angle and the strings will not touch the back of the bridge at the same time you will be able to lower the tailpiece all the way down. I think another goal would be to have better sustain and easier bends (I'm not sure if this is true or is percieved).

 

One thing to keep in mind is how much of the twisted part of the strings (where they are wrapped around the little "wheel") does not come out from the tailpiece. You can put the "wheels" from an old set of strings on the strings before you run them throught the tailpiece as a spacer. You don't want the strings to bend over the tailpiece on that twisted part. I'm not sure if that makes sense, I'm a little tired.

[kruliosis]

Thanks for all the advice guys!

 

I'll have an update for you all by tomorrow. I got an appointment with a guitar tech(a good one) . He was cool enough to open his shop for me on his day off. I'm expecting to have this guitar in tip-top shape. Some on-site schooling from this dude should hopefully teach me enough to do everything I'll need to whenever adjustents are needed the next time I get another Gibson.:-/

[lespaul214]

Im having the same problem with my guitar although it isnt an SG. However i've been told that my machine heads are, per say, less than adequate. Try changing them

[80LPC]

However i've been told that my machine heads are' date=' per say, less than adequate. Try changing them[/quote']

 

You hear this so much. Ask the person recommending a change to explain why.

 

The truth is that worm gears can't 'slip'. Even the cheapest machineheads don't slip unless they are damaged.

 

It's a myth that generates a lot of sales...

 

Save your money for a good setup.

[kruliosis]

UPDATE:Well, the tech stated the obvious. He said that the bridge pickup was way too high. Also, the frets seem to be a little off. All he said about the frets was that they didn't come that way. A truss rod adjustment is in order, and the tuners need some attention too(he didn't state why). So I gotta wait till May 5th and pay $90 bucks for a setup. Additional adjustments will be made when I go down there and try it out.

 

Unfortunately, he doesen't do setups while you wait. I'm gonna have to ask him how he did everything so I can do this stuff myself in the future. I couldn't find anything on You Tube to show me how to do what I needed to. That's ok though. This guy did an awesome diagnosis and knows what he's doing. Better to have a reputable pro work on it than a rook like myself.

 

Even though I've been playing for awhile now, I've always had cheap guitars with fixed bridges and stock pickups, so I never had to adjust anything before. Quality guitars are a whole different ball game.

 

I'll keep ya'll up-to-date when she's back home.