tele tuning trouble

[exbassist2570]

I just bought a 2002 Mexican Tele..and its in excellent condition..almost like brand new..Anyway,,I cant seem to keep it in tune for more than a few mins..I tried putttin on new strings,,but still no change..Can Anyone give me any ideas?

[sumgai]

ex,

I just bought a 2002 Mexican Tele..and its in excellent condition..almost like brand new..Anyway,,I cant seem to keep it in tune for more than a few mins..I tried putttin on new strings,,but still no change..Can Anyone give me any ideas?

Oh we got ideas alright, and we sometimes we don't even charge for 'em!! ;D

Hi, and welcome to the forums!

Guitars can go out of tune for the hell of it, that's for sure. But about 99% of the time, it's due to something that the player did just prior to his noticing that the thing is gawd-awful outta tune. So, what are you doing to your axe, just before your ears start cringing?

Massive string bending is an obvious first answer, but that's not the only possible cause. How about the nut itself, could that be binding the strings a little? It doesn't take much, and under some circumstances, it's not easy to spot because the nut 'releases' the string long after it pinched it in the first place.

The machine heads themselves might be unable to keep a string in tune. Further in that vein, how are you wrapping the string around the machine head's post? This is a hot button topic for some, I know. Me, if it's not a locking tuner of some sort, then I prefer to see at least three wraps around the post for the wound strings, and four wraps for the plain ones. I also make sure that the first wrap goes above the string, and the remaining ones go below it. In this way is the string pinched between two of the wraps, which helps prevent slipping.

And finally, what kind of strings are you using? This topic is worse than Ford vs. Chevy, or Fender vs. Marshall, everyone has their own opinion, and is able to rationalize it until the cows go back out in the pasture the next morning. Me, I prefer Dean Markley's Blue Steel, regular gauge (10-46). They simply can't go out of tune, no matter how much I wail on 'em. As others will be quick to point out though, they do wear through your frets a bit quicker than regular strings. I'd say that depending on a bunch of factors, you'll be wanting a re-fret job about 25% sooner than otherwise, if you use stainless steel strings like these.

Which is definitely worth it, if you're a tone-junkie. Hey, you're here, aren't ya? That makes you an Official GuitarNutz, just like the rest of us! ;D Checkin' out different strings is part of the challenge of getting the best tone you can.

Also, be aware that new strings will 'stretch' on their own for the first several minutes after being mounted up. You can speed up their "break-in" period by giving them a hefty yank or two, as you're tuning up. Some strings will give you fits for the first couple of hours, if you don't get rowdy with them right at the outset. If you break more than one new string, you're overdue for a calibration regimen - you don't need to play Circus Strongman here, you just wanna give them one or two sharp tugs, after they'be been mounted and tuned. You can repeat the exercise twice (tune, tug, tune, tug, final tune), but after that, it's not likely that you'll gain any further benefit. Experience will tell you the best way to go here.

HTH


sumgai

[ccso8462]

Hi Exbassist,
Welcome to guitarnuts!
I bought a MIM Tele last year and found that it was impossible to keep in tune. It turned out to be the nut binding the strings. A quick touch up and a little pencil lead (graphite) in the nut slots did wonders.
Also, I have heard of people putting a tiny touch of chapstick under the string trees as that is a possible binding point also. I use a white lithium grease on mine, just because that's what I have on hand and it doesn't spread or affect the strings.

Carl

[michaelcbell]

I'll second the notions given above, and add my own little bit: a few years ago, I bought a martin acoustic and found the little "care and feeding" manual that came with it to be very helpful. A link is below (a .pdf). The stuff about string winding starts an page 14.

www.martinguitar.com/catalog/PDF/Care&Feeding.pdf

[tele56]

Had a similar problem with my MIM tele. After eliminating some of the obvious causes it turned out that the neck screws needed to be tighted just a bit. Every time I would pick up the guitar it would go out of tune...especially the low E and A.

[duosonicboy]

I mix a little Vaseline and graphite to make a paste and spread it everywhere the string touches, plus all moving parts. Also check that the screws which hold the tuner together are snug (not tight!)

[Teleblooz]

I too am the proud owner of a 2002 MIM Tele (see my avatar). Fortunately, I haven't had the tuning problem you described (not at all on this guitar, and not recently on any of my others), but I think it's due to the "magic bullet" of using a #2 pencil in the nut slots every time I change strings. The graphite is a great dry lubricant, and doesn't gum up the strings or affect the tone or longevity at all. My baby blue stays in tune beautifully once the strings are stretched in.

It's even (almost) cured the Strat-style trem on my Squier Bullet.

[GuitarTechCraig]

I just bought a Lite Ash tele and had some tuning problems.
I decided to replace the string trees with roller string trees and the problem went away.

[aztele56]

+1 string wrap on post. Check the Fender web site for info.