How long does a guitar that stays in tune actually stay in tune?

[JasonE]

I do all of my own setup work and have for years. All of my guitars stay in tune very well. They are usually in tune right out of the cases. I always check them with the tuner before starting anyway just to make sure.

I tend to get the guitars out early enough to let them acclimate to temperature and humidity changes then when I check them before starting they usually have changed if they are going to. If I have something go out after that it will usually be within the first song or two, happens rarely. They will be solid after that. I live in South Florida so temperature and humidity changes are very common with going from air conditioned areas to outside areas.

 

[Morphine]

I lose track of the last time I tuned

 

[Andy Eagle]

View attachment 128983
I lose track of the last time I tuned

or it's nemesis the "nevertune"

Worse to string up than a Floyd Rose and totally changes the tone of anything you put it on.

 

[goodwill559]

Sounds like a temperature related change...

i consider my guitars never in tune, but often very close

 

[Unboxed]

My PRS SC245 will stay in tune extremely well; I've taken it out of its case and it was so close I could have started playing. My DGT will also do that. The rest of my guitars are good for the night unless I'm really getting crazy with the tremolo. I'll check them and touch them up between songs because I'm anal but they never seem to drift far enough to force me to retune.

I think it's tied to having the nut slots lubed and the guitar set up well. A friend has a Les Paul that won't stay in tune through a song and often requires a long tuning session between songs or after breaks and it drives me crazy. I really go nuts when we have to stop a song so he can tune because it's so far out. I can't imagine why anyone would put up with that.

I had a LP std 60s that I loved the look and feel of I couldn't get it to stay in tune for 1 song with any bends. Took it to multiple techs, had them check the nut, all that shit, even paid for new grover tuners, lubed the ever living dog shit out of it, just couldn't get there. Anything and everything that you can possibly google suggestions tried, yes tuning up not down, Joe Walsh instruction video, blah blah blah...NOT. ONE. SONG. Made me want to smash baby kittens and I finally sold the motherfucker and bought another Jackson Soloist.

 

[Unboxed]

I have had guitars with floating trems stay in tune with themselves for over a year in non-climate controlled storage (basically at home in a case). I have also had the same guitars stay in tune pretty much for 3-4 months till the strings gave up. IMO, when set up correctly, fully floating dual locking trems stay in tune far better than fixed bridge guitars.

100% this...and I wish it weren't true, I really do.

 

[rushfan]

View attachment 128983
I lose track of the last time I tuned

After hearing me lament that my Epiphone SGs don’t stay in tune as well as my EVH Wolfgangs (they are better with the new tuning pegs), my kids are getting one of my SGs an Evertune Treatment, since I joined an AC/DC tribute band, in the Angus Khan role earlier this year, for Christmas! One can set it up to still bend and vibrato well (I’d been researching!). Excited to send it in when I receive the gift.

www.akdc.rocks

 

[Admin M@]

One of my guitars is a 1996 custom Parker strung with Elixir 009s. It stays in tune, like, forever.

 

[Andy Eagle]

I had a LP std 60s that I loved the look and feel of I couldn't get it to stay in tune for 1 song with any bends. Took it to multiple techs, had them check the nut, all that shit, even paid for new grover tuners, lubed the ever living dog shit out of it, just couldn't get there. Anything and everything that you can possibly google suggestions tried, yes tuning up not down, Joe Walsh instruction video, blah blah blah...NOT. ONE. SONG. Made me want to smash baby kittens and I finally sold the motherfucker and bought another Jackson Soloist.

I guarantee I could make it stay in tune. The nut may be at fault to some degree if it is really bad but you could try the wraps UP to reduce the downforce . 100% fixable though .

 

[TSJMajesty]

Well-stretched strings, stable temp/humidity, well-cut nut, lubed nut and bridge, and always tune UP to pitch, and the guitar really should be quite stable, for at least a few songs. Mine is almost always in tune whenever I pick it up almost every day.

 

[Rick]

It drives me nuts when a player is constantly tuning. Fix that damn thing! A guitar ought to stay reasonably in tune through a set unless you’re playing in extreme temperatures or something similar. If my guitar were to sound off, I’ll check it, but it’s rarely necessary unless I’m in one of those ”direct hot sunlight” or “very cold outdoor stage” situations. I keep a second guitar ready at all times, and will pick it up rather than bog the show down constantly tweaking my tuning.

No one in the audience enjoys listening to you tune, so you do it when you have to, and no more. If you have to every song, something’s wrong.

And @TSJMajesty is right… the way you tune matters. If you tune down to a pitch, you’re inviting tuning issues. Tuning is tension, and you don’t over-tighten a nut and then bring it down to the right torque. You bring it up to the right torque. Tuning a string is the same. There is a right way, and a reason it’s right. We here didn’t invent it.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Great points @Rick!

And really, I kinda feel like a guitar player should strive to develop his/her ear well enough, to the point where you can hear when a string has gone out-of-tune, while you're playing.

Ever notice a player grab a tuning peg and give it a little tweak, during a song?

 

[Patzag]

I flew with my Parker Fly from Aruba to Paris for a gig, opened up the gig bag and went on stage. Didn't even have to tune it.
When I string my guitar, I apply the things @TSJMajesty mentioned - stretching, up-tuning - and I'm generally good to go. After some weeks/month, the guitar won't tune stably anymore - I know its time to change the strings.

 

[peteri]

If it’s a decent Telecaster- literally decades!

I find Teles stay in tune stupidly well. For me a lot of it depends on the players right hand

 

[Roland]

One of my guitars is a 1996 custom Parker strung with Elixir 009s. It stays in tune, like, forever.

Yep, took mine to India in 2008. Despite temperature and humidity differences, and air pressure changes during the flight it came out of the case perfectly in tune. It stayed that way until I changed the strings.

The key things are a stable neck, and no unnecessary winds on the tuners to store/release tension. Nowadays I play headless guitars, with direct pull tuners. The only thing which affects their tuning is the venue temperature changing through the gig.

 

[Andy Eagle]

It drives me nuts when a player is constantly tuning. Fix that damn thing! A guitar ought to stay reasonably in tune through a set unless you’re playing in extreme temperatures or something similar. If my guitar were to sound off, I’ll check it, but it’s rarely necessary unless I’m in one of those ”direct hot sunlight” or “very cold outdoor stage” situations. I keep a second guitar ready at all times, and will pick it up rather than bog the show down constantly tweaking my tuning.

No one in the audience enjoys listening to you tune, so you do it when you have to, and no more. If you have to every song, something’s wrong.

And @TSJMajesty is right… the way you tune matters. If you tune down to a pitch, you’re inviting tuning issues. Tuning is tension, and you don’t over-tighten a nut and then bring it down to the right torque. You bring it up to the right torque. Tuning a string is the same. There is a right way, and a reason it’s right. We here didn’t invent it.

AND the worm gear is resting against the cog when you tune UP but not when you tune down . This allows the cog to slowly or as soon as you bend a string move until it does. This and poor string fitting is 99% of Les Paul tuning issues particularly with universally garbage Grovers. These often feel nice and smooth but always have backlash. Even the cheapest half broken tuners (Grover )will stay in tune perfectly if you do this right. Really most tuning issues on most guitars are user error.

 

[sb-SG]

After hearing me lament that my Epiphone SGs don’t stay in tune as well as my EVH Wolfgangs (they are better with the new tuning pegs), my kids are getting one of my SGs an Evertune Treatment, since I joined an AC/DC tribute band, in the Angus Khan role earlier this year, for Christmas! One can set it up to still bend and vibrato well (I’d been researching!). Excited to send it in when I receive the gift.

www.akdc.rocks

Revelatory to me. Set right my bends feel as natural as they ever did but the smoothed out micro-intonation compensating for those tiny variants in pitch (e.g. depressing a string to a fret) just sound wonderful to my ears. I guess those same micro variances in pitch will be character to others ears and that's OK too but for me I really appreciate the accuracy of Evertune (with decent fretwork).

 

[unix-guy]

How about this one? Any guesses on how long it stays in tune? Assuming it ever gets in tune

 

[Cooper Carter]

Purchase a quality set of locking tuning heads.
IMO, leaving stack-wound tuning behind is the number one biggest improvement you can make to the overall performance of an otherwise good guitar. It's a real shame that the industry standard isn't simply to include them stock.

 

[mr_fender]

+1. And they make changing strings super fast too. No fiddly crap at the headstock. Just pull the string through snug, lock it down, snip the excess, stretch the string a few times and tune up to play.