It Goes Out Of Tune While I Am Playing!

STRING STRETCHING

I haven't mentioned the most basic and easiest problem to eliminate? I don't think so.

If you are playing and the guitar starts in tune then it goes out after a while, it is a symptom of string slippage, or what some people call string stretching.

Classical guitar strings 1, 2, and 3 do stretch. They take hours of tuning and pulling before they stay in tune. Metal strings do not continue to stretch. Once they are up to pitch they do not stretch out, they remain at that tension unless you bend a note.

What does give you impression that something is stretching is the string wraps around the tuner post are not tight and the string wrap is getting tighter when you either bend a note or they very gradually get tighter as you play, due to string tension.

How to solve this problem is to neatly wrap the string around the post by wrapping each new wrap below the previous wrap. In some instances you may need to wrap above the previous, we'll save that explanation for another day!

Locking the string has amazing results. I have been locking my stings since I was about 19 years old, and let me tell you, I would have it no other way. For example when I do a gig I can put new strings on right before the gig and have no tuning issues. I bend almost every other note and never have to re-tune.

Locking the strings basically means you have one wrap cross over another and have only about 3 or 4 wraps then pull the string taught till it stops slipping when pulled or bent.

One other method, which I prefer, is a locking locking wrap. If I can get a picture posted here I will. In the meantime I will explain in words. If you wish to experiment and try this use a piece of twine so you are not wasting guitar sting.




LOCKING THE STRINGS

1. Pass the string through the post in the same direction as when you normally wrap them. 2. Go around the post clockwise (when looking down over the top of post and using tuner six, or low E). 3. Pass the string under the string that is going into the post. 4. Once you have gone under and is past the string go back in the opposite direction, this time, passing over the top of the string. 5. Now you have a "lock" in the string. Pull gently to remove any slack there may be and start tightening the tuner and wrap the string neatly remembering each new wrap goes under the previous, using only about 3 or 4 wraps.

When your string is all wrapped and ready to tune, now, is when you pull the string, pulling away from the tuner. I wriggle it and pull away from the tuner at the same time. I have broken a couple strings when I first learned how hard to pull. You also have to be sure to pull away from tuner not bridge. There is no stretching going on at the bridge, and you can easily break the string. Bending notes is a good way to tighten it up, although it takes longer than actually grabbing the string and pulling. Keep pulling till it stops going flat. If you wrapped right and assuming the tuner is good it will stop going flat.

I cut the excess string end close to the tuner, short enough so there is not a hypodermic needle protruding out of the post. I have been stuck with them many times, it is not fun. My hair stands up on end just thinking about it!

That is the story about strings slipping out of tune, due to poor wrap techniques. I once saw a close of B.B. King's guitar tuners and the string were wrapped a million times and they were all over lapped and it looked like a big mess. Yes I am sure that they may have stopped slipping, but it may have taken a little longer to get the loose wraps to tighten up.

If you can use the locking method I described it can be quick and easy and a sure shot deal.


TEMPERATURE CHANGES

Did you ever put your guitar down at the end of a set at a gig, pick it back up for the next set and it has gone sharp?

Temperature changes cause a guitar to tune differently. When you start the gig, your guitar is a certain temperature. As you play and you get hot and/or the lights heat up the stage the guitar goes flat. When the guitar is warm the wood seems to soften, causing the neck and/or body to bend forward due to string tension. At the end of the set you put the guitar down. Now the guitar is cooling and the wood is getting harder and the neck and/or body pulls back to original tension, causing the strings to go sharp.

When you return for the next set all you have to do is hold the guitar put you hands on the neck hold in a spot for 5 seconds then move them to another spot and repeat process. Watch the tuner, watch how the guitar will go flat and return to the tuning of the end of the last set.

Yes, there are exceptions to every rule, the guitar may have some issues that cause it to go out of tune not due to temperature changes, but the temp changes have a big effect on guitars, some guitars more than others. The density of the wood has a big effect on how much the temperature can change it.

I, many times, have played outside and when the sun shone on me and the guitar went flat, a cloud came out, it went sharp. I use maple guitars when I play out of doors and save the other woods like mahogany for indoors. Maple is the harder wood.

I suggest you warm up your guitar before the gig starts and about 2 or 3 songs into the gig re-tune. You have a good chance that will remain your tuning for the night, if the guitar has no other problems.

I really enjoy my roller nut. A roller nut is a nut that has ball bearings in it and the string rolls over the two ball bearings and the guitar always returns to the tuning you had before you bent a note. Not like some guitars that go sharp after you have bent a note. More about that some other time! There is always more.......