Tuning Issues

[kingbenlucas]

Hey,

i have a les paul studio, i am a hard hitter and when i play live i go out of tune within a song easily.

what is the best way to improve tuning stability? do locking tuners make a big difference?

 

Cheers

Benjamin

[NeoConMan]

BIG difference?

Maybe.......

But I don't think so.

 

90% of the tuning issues with a Les Paul (in my experience) are due to the nut.

Might need to be filed by somebody who knows what they're doing so the strings don't grab and bind.

 

The biggest issue with the post might be improper winding of the string, so it slips.

Unlikely, I would say.

[RichCI]

Locking tuners might help, but are more useful with tremolo bridges.

 

You specifically mentioned playing live; are you changing strings right before your shows? If so, are you giving them a good stretching? It's a good idea to not change strings right before a show; try doing it the day before and stretching the strings so they have some time to settle.

[Ricky330]

I recently changed the tuners on my Standard Premium Plus from the supplied green key tuners to Grovers. This made all the difference to my tuning. I also change strings no later than the day before a gig and tune my guitar at least one or one and a half tones (i.e. 6th string (bottom E) is tuned up to F# or G) for an entire day before in order to stretch the strings.

 

Before

 

 

After

[ChanMan]

You could always try graphite or Big Ben's Nut Sauce on the nut and see if that helps.

[Thundergod]

Locking tuners might help' date=' but are more useful with tremolo bridges.

[/quote']

 

+1

 

 

You can also do a rappid search in the forum and youll find this has been discussed a lot of times... each time we have given many possible solutions, so maybe you can find what suits you there.

 

 

And... Welcome to the forum.

[ramon_jr]

i used to have problems untill i learned the proper way to wind the strings around the posts. after that i learned how important it is to stretch the strings and use a good tuner untill the strings are in tune. my studio les paul stays in great tune.

[retrosurfer1959]

There has been a lot of conversation on the forum about nuts and strings binding in the nut, I use Big Bend nut sauce when I do string changes another and recently found another great tool to clean the slots up that is available from StewMac it's called Mitchell Abrasive Cord. it's like dental floss sandpaper and it comes in different sizes for the different string guages. It's not cheap but damn it works well to clean up a rough or improperly cut nut. Also was great for cleaning up a old telecaster bridge that was causing some issues that I could not get cleaned up otherwise.