Fender Strat w/locking tuners NOT staying in tune.

Re: Fender Strat w/locking tuners NOT staying in tune.

With a hardtail bridge it doesnt take hardly any time at all to get the
strings stretched and stable.Get the string started and stretch it by hand.
Tune it up,play the guitar a minute,tune it up again and you're pretty much
good to go Nil your tuners may work best when very little string is on the
post but with regular non locking tuners 1wrap around the post and its just
as locked. The string on the post doesnt make it any more or less stable
than a locking tuner.

"Ludwig77" <gregjgman@gmail,com > wrote in message
news:5e987d78-d913-454b-be97-8891922d9336@24g2000hsh.googlegroups,com ...
>I have a Fender Strat w/locking tuners that is NOT staying in tune.
>
> I have changed the strings several times on the guitar and I'm sure I
> have the locks set up correctly.
>
> Should I be wrapping the strings a few times around the tune trees
> even though it has locks?
>
> Any suggestions on a remedy?

Re: Fender Strat w/locking tuners NOT staying in tune.

The whole point of locking tuners is that there is no wrap. The
theory I think is that some slack in the wrap can cause the string to
go out of tune.

After about 10 years of never being able to keep a guitar in tune I
realized about 15 years ago that 1) you need to stretch your strings
out well. 2)You need to have a well cut well lubricated nut as well.
I use pencil lead in the string slots on the nut. 3) you need smooth
saddles Graphite saddles help. I can get any pos guitar to stay
pretty much in tune now.

Stretching out the strings is by far the most crucial of the 3 things
too. To stretch out new strings tune them to pitch and then grab them
one by one and yank on them pretty hard a few times, then tune them
back up to pitch, and repeat until they are stable. If I need to
perform and am restringing I'll tune a step up and stretch the strings
and then leave them tuned up until I need the guitar, and retune it at
that time. Another thing is when you tune a string tune the string
flat and bring it up, don't tune it sharp and bring it down.
Honestly I have a squire tele, and a Chineese made Hamer with cheap
tuners and when I stretch out the strings well, I have no more issues
keeping them in tune than I do my strat with graphtec saddles, and
sprezels. I play hard too and bend a lot, and usually if I play
somebody else's guitar I knock it right out of tune, so try really
stretching your strings out and see if it helps.

Re: Fender Strat w/locking tuners NOT staying in tune.


<TreyBianchini@gmail,com > wrote in message
news:8aa52422-4ce6-4a19-9da5-25ce5fb3e71c@m3g2000hsc.googlegroups,com ...
> The whole point of locking tuners is that there is no wrap. The
> theory I think is that some slack in the wrap can cause the string to
> go out of tune.
>
> After about 10 years of never being able to keep a guitar in tune I
> realized about 15 years ago that 1) you need to stretch your strings
> out well. 2)You need to have a well cut well lubricated nut as well.
> I use pencil lead in the string slots on the nut. 3) you need smooth
> saddles Graphite saddles help. I can get any pos guitar to stay
> pretty much in tune now.
>
> Stretching out the strings is by far the most crucial of the 3 things
> too. To stretch out new strings tune them to pitch and then grab them
> one by one and yank on them pretty hard a few times, then tune them
> back up to pitch, and repeat until they are stable. If I need to
> perform and am restringing I'll tune a step up and stretch the strings
> and then leave them tuned up until I need the guitar, and retune it at
> that time. Another thing is when you tune a string tune the string
> flat and bring it up, don't tune it sharp and bring it down.
> Honestly I have a squire tele, and a Chineese made Hamer with cheap
> tuners and when I stretch out the strings well, I have no more issues
> keeping them in tune than I do my strat with graphtec saddles, and
> sprezels. I play hard too and bend a lot, and usually if I play
> somebody else's guitar I knock it right out of tune, so try really
> stretching your strings out and see if it helps.

String "yanking" should de a standard part of any radical tuning, as in
changing strings or changing the guitar tuning. Ever watched Leo Kottke
doing it when changing tuning? Scary. Also tuning up (flat to correct)
rather than down (sharp to correct) except for very small corrections, as
you suggest. I yank the strings instinctively, and I think I do it more
often than not, even for very small corrections. That might be to much of a
good thing on a trem bridge.

Tony D

Re: Fender Strat w/locking tuners NOT staying in tune.

TreyBianchini@gmail,com wrote:
> The whole point of locking tuners is that there is no wrap. The
> theory I think is that some slack in the wrap can cause the string to
> go out of tune.
>
> After about 10 years of never being able to keep a guitar in tune I
> realized about 15 years ago that 1) you need to stretch your strings
> out well. 2)You need to have a well cut well lubricated nut as well.
> I use pencil lead in the string slots on the nut. 3) you need smooth
> saddles Graphite saddles help. I can get any pos guitar to stay
> pretty much in tune now.
>
> Stretching out the strings is by far the most crucial of the 3 things
> too. To stretch out new strings tune them to pitch and then grab them
> one by one and yank on them pretty hard a few times, then tune them
> back up to pitch, and repeat until they are stable. If I need to
> perform and am restringing I'll tune a step up and stretch the strings
> and then leave them tuned up until I need the guitar, and retune it at
> that time. Another thing is when you tune a string tune the string
> flat and bring it up, don't tune it sharp and bring it down.
> Honestly I have a squire tele, and a Chineese made Hamer with cheap
> tuners and when I stretch out the strings well, I have no more issues
> keeping them in tune than I do my strat with graphtec saddles, and
> sprezels. I play hard too and bend a lot, and usually if I play
> somebody else's guitar I knock it right out of tune, so try really
> stretching your strings out and see if it helps.

Yeah - I've been pre-stretching strings after restringing before I use
actually them to play for years. But I've never considered the
contribution of the amount of the tuner windings in that...now I may.

--
- Rufus

Re: Fender Strat w/locking tuners NOT staying in tune.

On Thu, 08 May 2008 17:19:38 -0700, Ludwig77 wrote:

> I have a Fender Strat w/locking tuners that is NOT staying in tune.
>
> I have changed the strings several times on the guitar and I'm sure I
> have the locks set up correctly.
>
> Should I be wrapping the strings a few times around the tune trees
> even though it has locks?
>
> Any suggestions on a remedy?

If it has a tremolo system it's not going to stay in tune. Mine don't
stay but they don't go out of tune wildly either. I tightened the spring
screws on the backside of the guitar and the screws in front of each
saddle effectively disabling the tremolo. Also make sure the neck screws
and the tuners are tight.