Guitar Maintenance Advice

[avillaronga]

Hello all,I've owned classical guitars my whole life and never really needed to do much maintenance on them (other than keeping them clean and changing strings). For the past 4 years or so I have owned an Epiphone Les Paul electric guitar and for the past year or so it has become harder and harder to keep this guitar tuned; to the point that I now need to tune before every take (never needed to do that before) and even with that, it still sounds out of tune sometimes. When I tune in between takes I'm not just having to make small adjustments, this things goes completely out of tune in a matter of minutes, especially the lower strings. My question is: does an electric guitar need any kind of periodic maintenance? I notice there are far more adjustable pieces on an electric guitar than on the classical so I'm wondering if this problem is a result of me neglecting my instrument.... or have I just lost my ability to tune my guitar (although this doesn't happen with my classical or my bass). I use Gibson strings (which I understand are high quality strings) and I change strings every 3-5 months. Since the problem started getting worse it really has made no difference whether I use new strings or keep the old ones, it just won't stay tuned. Any help will be greatly appreciated.Thanks!Antonio

[billg]

I don't think the strings are the problem. Heck, I know a lot of really good guitarists who hardly ever change strings unless they break one because they don't like to record with new strings. To me it sounds like you need to invest in some new tuners, they can get funky over time (especially cheaper ones).

[avillaronga]

Thanks billg. The tuners did seem a bit loose at one point so I tightened them about 6 months ago. I'll look into buying a new set. Thanks,Antonio

[slideboardouts]

Hey antonio,The short answer to your question is: Yes, electric guitars need more routine maintenance than a classical guitar.Their are many factors that can come into play in regards to tuning issues. First, understand that the angle and string pull on les paul headstocks will leave it more prone to tuning issues right off the bat. That being said, there are plenty of things you can do to compensate for it.I can't tell you exactly what is wrong with your guitar without putting my hands on it, but here are some suggestions:The number one thing that causes tuning issues in my experience is the nut. An improperly cut nut will give you tuning problems even with "gentle" playing. More than likely, your guitar has a cheap plastic nut. These days you can spend $2,000 on a guitar and still get a crappy plastic nut. So, one issue could be that your strings have tore through that plastic nut. Even if the nut isn't the problem, I would recommend putting a new, professionaly (this is a custom thing so take it to a good tech) cut nut on there made of a good material. I prefer bone as it has the best tone in my opinion.A good trick to do with the nut is to lubricate it with lithium grease at every string change. That will keep any kind of friction between the nut and string down to a minimum.Another possible issue is the tuners, although most quality closed tuners don't usually cause much trouble. The tuners on my gibson les paul and fender strat are 30 years old and they still work fine. My preference for tuners are grover mini lockers. They make string changes take a fraction of the time and they lock the string in place so it doesn't move. If it sounds out of tune when fretting notes, it could be an intonation issue. After four years, it is probably looooong over due for a fret dressing. Those are the things I would check first. In regards to maintenence, at a bare minimum your guitar will need a fret dressing every so often. If you don't do that, the guitar will buzz, fret out on bends, and just sound like garbage. How often you get them dressed depends on how much and how aggressive you play. I wish I could take a look at it and help you more.-Steve

[avillaronga]

Hey Steve,Even without looking at it, that's plenty of help. I had to re-dress the frets on my classical once so I knew enough to check that last time I changed strings and, though I don't know the exact radius for the Les Paul fingerboard, they look pretty even to me; I'm not having any problems with buzzing or anything like that. I'll check the nut as well.Thanks for all the pointers on regular maintenance, I'm printing a copy of your reply to keep with me. Bottom line is, maybe I need to take this guitar to get looked at by a professional.Thanks!Antonio

[ibanez468]

Toni,Good advice from the slideboard. I'll add one other troublesome thing that could possibly cause tuning problems. That's re-stringing the guitar and trying to use the whole string wrapped around the tuner. Doing it that way, sometimes doesn't eliminate the extra slack that's left from wrapping around the tuner so much. When I re-string, I generally wrap the string around the tuner only 1-3 times myself (depending on what string, nice & tight) before I start winding the tuning peg. Then once it's tuned, I tug the string a few times (lightly, without breaking the string) using both hands from the top (near the nut) and bottom (near the bridge) of the string to eliminate any extra slack, and rewind back in tune. I repeat the process a few times until it doesn't go out of tune anymore. And of course the test to check that it stays in tune is to play and do a couple of bends and see if stays in tune, or whether you have to adjust the tuning peg again. And once I don't have to adjust the tuning peg anymore, and I can bend the strings while playing without it falling out tune, then the extra slack has been eliminated and the thing generally stays in tune from that point.HTHibanez468

[avillaronga]

Thanks I-468 but I think you posted a response to a different thread here as well... Back to the guitar problem, I think I'll take it one step at a time, I'll start with the tuners and work my way down the guitar from there. Thanks to all who helped.Antonio

[texasmusicforge]

You might also consider temperature and humidity as possible culprits. A guitar neck warms up from the player's hands and friction during playing, which will frequently cause the wood to shift just enough to throw tuning off. I always handle/play a guitar enough to warm up the neck prior to tuning up. If you are taking the guitar from air-conditioned storage into a studio where the A/C is turned off during the recording process due to noise, I can guarantee your guitar's tuning will change as the heat rises. The opposite is true if you take your guitar from the hot trunk of your car to a studio that's had the A/C running.Ditto humidity. I have a road-worn Strat that normally has very stable tuning, but take her down to the Gulf Coast for a waterfront gig and it's all I can do to keep her in tune from one song to the next. It's all part of playing a wooden instrument.Cheers,Ed