Tuning

I've had my PRS Custom 24 for several months now and I adore it, however I have run into SEVERE tuning stability issues. [br] To combat this I bought locking tuners, which helped but didn't do a whole lot, then I got it set up by the most highly rated luthier in my area. [br] After this my tuning stability was extended to about 2 songs if I did NOT use the whammy bar, and 1 if I did. Before this the guitar would make it maybe 35-60 seconds before going out of tune without the whammy, and as soon as I even touched the whammy, it was out.

So, it's certainly better, but it's still irritating, I wouldn't expect a 1000 dollar guitar to have this many issues, especially after 250+ Dollars on upgrades, would anyone have a suggestion?

Any help is appreciated even minor stuff. [br][br]

side note: I am also using high quality string, which I put on last week.

Check the trussrod, it may be loose, had this once on my american strat after it fell on a gig ( a drunk person fell on stage in the break of a gig ), it just didn't stay tuned any more, took a while before I found out though, just coincidently heard a strange buzz in the neck playing it unplugged.

Originally Posted by: hunter.kane[br] After this my tuning stability was extended to about 2 songs if I did NOT use the whammy bar, and 1 if I did. Before this the guitar would make it maybe 35-60 seconds before going out of tune without the whammy, and as soon as I even touched the whammy, it was out.

This seems a bit unusual. I'm assuming the luthier you had work on it would have checked for physical defects in the neck, bridge, vibrato, nut, etc. Sometimes the nut slots can grab strings & cause tuning problems. Sometimes the neck shifts in the pocket & can cause tuning problems.

Does the whole guitar go sharp or flat? Individual strings go up or down?

Is it possible that it's a simple as you aren't stretching the strings after putting them on to get the slack out of the windings? How much string bending do you do? How hard do you play? Does this happened to other guitars you've played?

Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel

Originally Posted by: hunter.kane[br] After this my tuning stability was extended to about 2 songs if I did NOT use the whammy bar, and 1 if I did. Before this the guitar would make it maybe 35-60 seconds before going out of tune without the whammy, and as soon as I even touched the whammy, it was out.

This seems a bit unusual. I'm assuming the luthier you had work on it would have checked for physical defects in the neck, bridge, vibrato, nut, etc. Sometimes the nut slots can grab strings & cause tuning problems. Sometimes the neck shifts in the pocket & can cause tuning problems.

Does the whole guitar go sharp or flat? Individual strings go up or down?

Is it possible that it's a simple as you aren't stretching the strings after putting them on to get the slack out of the windings? How much string bending do you do? How hard do you play? Does this happened to other guitars you've played?

Picking up from Chris; if you boil down the possibilities of what could be causing tuning issues it breaks down to the tuners, nut and the bridge. Simplify troubleshooting.

Chris mentioned tuner winds; when I started out, I'd wind that who string around the tuning peg. No need for that. However, I find that with the newer locking tuners, people also believe that you only need barely but one turn of the tuner on the peg. I do prefer a couple of turn.

After that, what the the luthier do?

For the PRS SE's, they use a synthetic/bronze blend and the given that I started on a true bone nut way back when, for my newer guitars using these nut alternative materials, I'm going back to bone nuts. My Gibson ES and Gibson Les Paul do not have bone nuts but soon will. Bone is also, in my opinion, more resonant too.

Chris did metnion neck shifting, and that could be an issue but it's worth looking at it all.

Adding to Chris' questions, do you ever hear a 'ping' when you tune or are playing/bending?

Big Bends Nut Sauce my friend. That's all you need.

My custom 24 prs and every other one of my 30 guitars keep perfect tuning because of Big bends Nut Sauce. A Little dab will do ya.

i'd get the nut re-cut, if it's losing tuning when the whammy bar is used it's more than likely the strings are getting pinched at the nut.

I agree, using something like Big Bends should help. I have also rubbed a pencil into the grooves to keep the strings from sticking.

-Carl.