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GMC Forum _ GEAR & PRODUCTION _ Guitar Constantly Getting Out Of Tune

Posted by: megadeth1117 Oct 12 2008, 05:21 AM

Hi, I just wanted to know what I should do if the last three strings of my guitar keeping flattening, i have to tune it 3 times before I play

Thanks in advance

Posted by: Outlaw2112 Oct 12 2008, 05:25 AM

what kind of guitar?

Posted by: megadeth1117 Oct 12 2008, 05:29 AM

Whoops, left that out

Its a Dean VX http://www.guitarcenter.com/Dean-VX-Electric-Guitar-104309497-i1150761.gc

Posted by: Outlaw2112 Oct 12 2008, 05:33 AM

Is it brand new or have you had it for awhile?

Posted by: megadeth1117 Oct 12 2008, 05:41 AM

i think its been a year or so

Posted by: Outlaw2112 Oct 12 2008, 05:42 AM

have you always had this problem or is it something that just started to happen?

Posted by: megadeth1117 Oct 12 2008, 05:43 AM

well its been like this for a few months maybe 5-6, but i didn't think it was serious, but now its starting to annoy me

Posted by: Outlaw2112 Oct 12 2008, 05:44 AM

Did you switch the brand of strings you play with or guage?

Posted by: megadeth1117 Oct 12 2008, 05:57 AM

Yes, I have changed string brands once, but the gauges were always the same

Posted by: Outlaw2112 Oct 12 2008, 06:01 AM

Was it ok with that other brand of strings? or did it still go out of tune easily

Posted by: megadeth1117 Oct 12 2008, 06:36 AM

If i remember correctly, I think it was fine

Posted by: Outlaw2112 Oct 12 2008, 06:39 AM

then switch back to that other brand of strings and see if its ok

Posted by: Xuestor Oct 12 2008, 07:58 AM

how do you wound your string around the tuners? Do you just wound them around, or do you use some kind of special locking technique?

Posted by: berko Oct 12 2008, 12:30 PM

I think you should check whether the strings are not slipping off the tuner (maybe they have been fixed too loose or something).

If that's not the case, then try stretching the strings carefully and see how much they drop. After a while they shouldn't drop below a half note.

My third advice would be to switch back to your regular brand strings, to see what happen.

That, i hope, solves, the problem

AND rock on

Posted by: erik Oct 12 2008, 12:49 PM

It might also help to tighten the screws on the tuning pegs.

Posted by: MickeM Oct 12 2008, 01:07 PM

If the:

- strings are brand new they will stretch
- strings are too old they may run bad
- nut is too tight. Might be it's fit for 009 but 010 gets stuck. Put graphite on.
- neck isn't set for the 010 string tention (different brand 010's can have different tension) it may need a setup
- strings are slipping at the bridge. Not so likely with a tune o matic + stop tail though
- machine heads are of low quality. Get new ones.

My bet is the machine heads which are very important for a guitar to stay in tune.
That it's three strings on the same side and you have 3+3 makes me wonder though... if it's more serious than just the machineheads alone.

Posted by: megadeth1117 Oct 12 2008, 04:15 PM

thanks guys for all the help

I was doing some research on my guitar, I think it might be the tuning pegs because people keep saying that they had to change them, I will switch back to the older brand I used previously and see how that works

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Oct 13 2008, 06:56 PM

I think machine heads are loose, try tightening them up with a screwdriver.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Oct 13 2008, 07:02 PM

Are you experiencing this with just new strings when you put them on or all the time with strings that have settled in..What happens after you tune the guitar properly , how long does it stay in tune ?? As said above , most likely its the tuning pegs to blame!

Posted by: megadeth1117 Oct 13 2008, 08:40 PM

The problem just starting happening randomly,

When I tune the guitar it probably stays in tune for about 5 minutes, after that another 10 minutes I have to tune it again

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Oct 13 2008, 08:54 PM

Have you tried tightening up the tuning pegs?

Posted by: megadeth1117 Oct 14 2008, 01:35 AM

This is gonna sound dumb but, how do you do it?

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Oct 14 2008, 01:49 AM

There should be a screw on top of the peg, it is most likely cross type screw, so you just tighten it up with a screwdriver. Also there is a hexagonal screw on the root of the machine head (where strings wound), this can unscrew and the machine head goes out.

Posted by: megadeth1117 Oct 14 2008, 09:06 PM

oh wow i never saw those before, i feel dumb

so do I just tighten the screws on top of the pegs?