HELP please!!! Sudden Guitar Tuning Problem!!!

Hey guys... I've been playing for about 8 months on my father's old takamine acoustic (from my limited knowledge it's a pretty nice guitar.) Anyways, today I was practicing for a few hours and everything was fine... Just strumming away with my thumb... I left for a little while to take a break and after I started playing again I noticed that the guitar seemed to be a little out of tune.. I assumed the tensioners got turned while the guitar was on my bed.. I attempted to tune it by ear, as my electric tuner wasn't around, and I spent almost half an hour and couldn't quite get it right.. Finally I noticed that the guitar itself was slowly loosening tension on the strings.. I looked at the neck to see if it was bending, but I couldn't find anything wrong with it (of course, I only know a little about how a guitar should line up.) So now here I sit b/c guitar center is closed.. I took the strings off and started to attempt to adjust the truss rod, but all the information on that is centered around adjusting the action..

So.. If anyone could throw a suggestion or two at me about what it could be that'd be great..

Also, when I got the guitar I had a full setup done on it from a highly recommended tech.. It's been gravy to play up until now!:(

-Jim

Hey Jim,

Unfortunately I'm no expert at these things. Fortunately for you, since you are full access, you can ask Steve White. He's the professional guitartech here on the GT-forum. You can ask him here:

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=30

Hope that helps.

JJ

I can't help either and neither will this...Steve's on vacation until Aug. 14th.

In the meantime, some more info might help the more knowledgeable members find an answer. Are all the strings detuning or just some of them? Are the strings new, how old are they? Are the strings properly wrapped around the tuning pegs. Can you see/feel anything out of normal in the machine heads?

It might be time to see that tech again...good luck!

My guess is it's the G string causing the tuning problem. If it is, most likely the wrapping around the string has broken leaving only the core of the string.

Just change out the bad string. Any of the wrapped strings can do it, but the G and D are smaller and its harder to see.

Originally Posted by: fizurpHey guys... I've been playing for about 8 months on my father's old takamine acoustic (from my limited knowledge it's a pretty nice guitar.) Anyways, today I was practicing for a few hours and everything was fine... Just strumming away with my thumb... I left for a little while to take a break and after I started playing again I noticed that the guitar seemed to be a little out of tune.. I assumed the tensioners got turned while the guitar was on my bed.. I attempted to tune it by ear, as my electric tuner wasn't around, and I spent almost half an hour and couldn't quite get it right.. Finally I noticed that the guitar itself was slowly loosening tension on the strings.. I looked at the neck to see if it was bending, but I couldn't find anything wrong with it (of course, I only know a little about how a guitar should line up.) So now here I sit b/c guitar center is closed.. I took the strings off and started to attempt to adjust the truss rod, but all the information on that is centered around adjusting the action..

So.. If anyone could throw a suggestion or two at me about what it could be that'd be great..

Also, when I got the guitar I had a full setup done on it from a highly recommended tech.. It's been gravy to play up until now!:(

-Jim

Weather/Atmosphere change? My Gibson ES333 was actually a gift from a relative. Or, as he said it; 'permanently stored at your house where you can play it too'. When he passed away, the family wanted me to keep it.

Why did he 'gift it'? It would not stay in tune at his house. His house was old and climate control was awful. No AC and leaky windows. Always damp and humid at his house. Never stayed in tune. I've now had the ES for almost six years and that thing never goes out of tune at my house.

Thing is, the temp always changed at his house and temp is not really a good friend of tuning. Especially when something that requires a balance of tension to stay in tune.

It's the change that is often the killer. Warm then cold. Humid then dry. Things like that.

When I lived in Fargo ND, gigs in the winter were always a pain because invariably during the set, I'd break a string. Culprit? Temp change from very cold to warm, dry heat.

Is this your issue? Like others said, hard to tell. But all the above are worth considering. Guitars are delicate machines in many ways.

Always keep the tuner near, I say.

my guitar teacher said me that the best way to tune is buy ear but it is difcult at this point- get a clip on tuner is the easy way
if you want have here some tips to tune the guitar

http://guitarlesson.co.il/