Devon8822 Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 (edited) Hey, I have a problem and its hasn't bugged me alot until I am starting to use my whammy alot. My G string goes out of tune all the time weither im using my whammy or not (just way faster and worse with whammy) and all my other strings stay in tune just fine like.. i use whammy for 10 minutes... everything is in tune but g string is out a step. Can anyone diagnos this? What did i do wrong in my setups? How can i fix this? thanks Edited May 20, 2007 by Devon8822 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maikman Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 what kinda whammy do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon8822 Posted May 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 what kinda whammy do you have? vintage trem It isn't the whammy though because when my guitar goes out of tune even without whammy use the g string is always the farest out of tune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maikman Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 im no expert, but i would suggest locking tuners if you dont already have them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IbanezFreak666 Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 no i have a locking trem and i have a similar problem. although it isnt much the G string will always be the first to go out of tune and if im using alot of whammy it can go wildly out, and the others will just go a bit out. so yer i need some help too :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Vintage trems are (generally) fairly notorious for going out of tune, and going out of tune fast. Even if you don't use the trem, if it's set to float, the whole system's unlikely to be stable. G strings are generally pretty tight, and fiddly about intonation. Locking tuners help, and you might want to intonate at the nut end a little, but first make sure your fretwork is dead-on, and your nut is slotted perfectly and not binding. Then set up the trem so it's flat, NOT floating, and see how your tuning stability is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon8822 Posted May 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Vintage trems are (generally) fairly notorious for going out of tune, and going out of tune fast. Even if you don't use the trem, if it's set to float, the whole system's unlikely to be stable. G strings are generally pretty tight, and fiddly about intonation. Locking tuners help, and you might want to intonate at the nut end a little, but first make sure your fretwork is dead-on, and your nut is slotted perfectly and not binding. Then set up the trem so it's flat, NOT floating, and see how your tuning stability is. I have had this problem and my bridge has been set for non floating for years, I just set it floating recently. My guitar is set up very well... string trees, nuts, saddles, pivot points.... all lubed up. the rest of the guitars ok but the g strings.... ehh, so you guys are saying this is a normal thign that the g string is always a bit mroe trouble than the others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VesQ Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 The slot for G string in the nut might be too tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Non-wound G strings are bad for me too... I think it's just the nature of the string gauge. On my acoustic, wound G-strings are fine. I think VesQ is right--check the nut slot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Hope I can help here. I have very limited experience but I did solve my problem with the G string on the Polka Dot Rhoads V I built 2 years ago. This was my first guitar ever with a regular nut and non-locking trem. The guitar has a regular bone nut, angled headstock, non-floating wilkinson trem (2 post trem) and locking grover tuners. Everytime I'd use the trem, the G would go sharp. I ended up taking out the nut and filing the G slot slightly wider. I also curved the back side of the nut (the headstock side) so that there's less friction on the strings. There's a bunch of resources on the web and books that show how to properly cut a nut. A proper nut helped a lot. This is key and until you're 100% the nut is properly cut, I wouldn't look elsewhere. A non-floating trem helps also. If you want floating, get a hipshot tremsetter. Works wonders and have them on all my floating trem guitars. I put a bit of vasoline in the nut slots and when I tune the guitar up, I use the trem a little, check tuning, re-adjust, use the trem again check again etc.. until the guitar stays in tune. usually takes 2-3 iterations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar WIll Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 I had the problem with my les paul. Obviously didn't have a vintage trem, but the g string kept "sticking" would be other of tune. I would tune it, but as I played it would go flat. What I think was happening was that the string was sticking in the nut and working it's way lose. To get over the problem I made the slot in the nut a fraction bigger with a file. I then lubricated the slot in the nut with WD-40. This got rid of the problem. (I'm not sure if lubricating the nut would dammage the strings of the nut so i would ask someone more qualified before you do it). I know that this happens with other people on their les pauls as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Graphite is the preffered lubricant for this application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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