I keep my guitars in my basement and maintain the temperature and humidity. I never have issues with my G, even my cheap guitars. Strings don't rust as fast.
Kudos StewMac!!! For actually showing how to cut the nut slots for a 3 + 3!!! Everyone always says " get a properly cut nut", but no one really shows it!
I've seen countless videos about fancy tuning post string wrapping techniques. It's nice to see Stew Mac confirm the method I have been using for 45 years with excellent results. Good info on tempering the intonation. It's indeed a compromise.
This is great Gene! Clear, concise and explained masterfully. Every guitar player should see this video, it would have saved me a ton of confusion and headache my first few years of playing!
The problem with that many wraps around the tuning posts is with a non locking trem. As soon as you use the bar downwards, the strings slack and will unravel slightly at the posts. This is my experience anyway. The over then under technique creates a natural lock with less wraps. This is probably completely fine for your hard tail bridges. Great video in any case! Thanks!
Yea bro I had intonation issues for god knows how long now I finally fixed it when I first got my guitar I kinda messed with the intonation and didn’t realize I messed up I thought it wouldn’t change boy was I wrong
Dont forget temperature. Tune the guitar in the environment you intend to play i.e. careful of temperature changes from constant contact with your skin or change due to stage lighting. If playing on stage, tune at the end of a set while everything is still warm.
Also off of problem 4, check your frets. If they have visible wear (like dents), the point of contact will be shifted forward, causing notes to be sharp. This happened to me-my unwrapped strings likes to dig into the first few frets over time. A refret fixed my first position intonation issues.
There are only 3 intervals that are tunable on a guitar- 4ths, 5ths and octaves- all the rest are out of tune- if you hear something off, just after you've tuned, it's not your ear, and it's not your guitar. A flat 7th interval, for example is radically out of tune, and you hear it every time you play a dominant chord. It cannot be tuned.
Tuning a half step high is a good way to stretch strings also. Go a half step higher, noodle around and use very exaggerated bends. Then final tune. The stretcher tool is a hook and heel stick that works very well. ALWAYS use lube. Graphite, Vaseline or what I use is Bog Benz Nut Sauce. Also, run some sandpaper over the slots on the bridge saddles. The smoother they are, the easier the string can move freely. The last bonus tip is probably the most important. I see students that think you have to push the string into the fretboard and leave an imprint to fret a note properly. Ease up on fretting and picking. Unless you're Pete Townsend and doing the big windmill strum, don't dig the pick into the string like you're trying to lift it. Just the tip of the pick is all you need. Watch someone like Michael Angelo Batio pick. His picking hand moves just enough to make the string move, no more. That's going to keep your guitar in tune forever.
sir could you tell me when play open strings all 6 of them they are tuned fine but once i play AM or the G i can hear its not tuned good and when i tune it good on the AM or the G then the open strings are tuned bad why is this?? am frustrated about this i just can get it good it wont stay good
Oh, finally somebody who gibes the right importance to the right setup rather than to (generally) useless locking tuners! Once you wind the string a couple of times around the peghead, it is reeeeally difficult that tuning issues will be related to the supposed lack of friction of the string, which once again supposedly runs freely in the peghead hole. Nut, bridge and correct intonation are what really matters.
Hi! I just installed an after-market 22 frets guitar neck on my strat. The issue I'm having is the tune of the strings is not on point to its note. Example, the lower E becomes an A when I tune it using the tuner. Then, the A becomes a B and so on. What could be the issue? Im thinking that maybe I bought a knock off strings at amazon or its the neck or how I installed it. I'd appreciate all the tips and help I can get. Thank you
Hi! If the 12th fret is entirely different than the open note, then the scale length of the neck may not match the guitar. You might need a repair shop to take a look for you, or you can check with our technical support staff through our website or by emailing: service@stewmac.com. They may be able to help you sort it out. Thanks!
over under wrap gaurntees the strings wont slip and it also means less winds are also needed to lock the strings, as for locking tuners great for faster string changes but other wise anything elese about them is a joke and false as it can get..
I put locking tuners on most of my guitars, Im just lazy :p. Thanks for info. :) Dan Erlewine's guitar book is a great way to learn to setup your guitar.....thanks guys!
no perfect intonation? The ESP I am playing sounds amazing. I haven't checked it with a tuner, but the notes are in the right places all over the fretboard. I think perfection is dependant on the neck, fret job, nut and saddle positions, as well as the person intonating the guitar. When I do intonate instruments I use a much more accurate tuner than the guy in this video. I am extremely picky about intonation. Settling for flat notes is a poor poor choice.
Awesome! I do recommend a strobe tuner for pro set-ups, but this is a beginner's guide and you can definitely get reasonably accurate results with a good clip-on tuner. Always let your ear be the deciding factor, I would never recommend setting a instrument flat unless it actually helps the intonation where you play. I guarantee if you check every note on your fret board you'll find notes that are slightly flat and some that are slightly sharp. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
You want very low action with the nut take feeler gadge for E&A 0.22 D&G 0.20 and B&E 0.18 trust me a do that with all my guitar and man is amazing low action you can't ever haved with much fun to playing smooth touch
Fantastic tutorial video. Every question I had, answered. I was ready to throw my Greysch hollow body across rhe roon. Thank you for sharing your insight. Well done mate!!
Many guitarists recommend a minimal number of wraps on the Tuners to improve tuning stability. A comparison of how the number of wraps affects tuning stability would be useful. The low E, and G string are particularly susceptible to tuning instability, so might be the best ones to test.
Ever had problems with the strings being stuck in the nut in the tuning...I'll try just now and see if my old and cheap (but the first) acoustic guitar could have some kind of "rebirth"! Thank you by the way for this clip...clear and useful instructions
I'm so sick of so called guitar experts claiming the #1 upgrade is to install locking tuners my MIM telecaster probably has fenders cheapest tuners on it and it is ROCK solid when it comes to tuning stability
Gosh, thank you. I genuinely appreciate the way you either demonstrated or illustrated each of the variables. I discovered that my technic and understanding was incorrect and I created most of my own hurdles . Again thank you for your time and effort to create and publish this video...!!
My easy method for lowering the string height at the nut is to take the nut out and sand it down from the bottom rather than messing with the slots themselves. Note that the slot for the nut may be either flat or curved; if it's curved, then to match the curve of the fretboard, simply place the sandpaper on the fretboard closest to the nut, and sand it down there. A new, pre-slotted, top of the line nut only costs about eight dollars, but it will definitely need some work to fit the width, length, and height of the nut for your guitar, but all it takes is sandpaper and elbow grease. And if you have to do it again, all you've lost is about eight dollars. Personally, I've only been playing guitar three and a half years but been a musician all my life, built my Stratocaster myself, did all the setup work myself except the first couple of times. It is far better and cheaper to learn how to DIY these things, and there are plenty of videos on RU-vid about how to do it. I do it this way because I'm cheap. Slot files in the gauges you personally use are very expensive. I don't know why, but they are. That's why for the wound strings I simply take an old string and floss the slot with it.
I do the setup myself, too. I’ve never seen a luthier and I’m too lazy to look for one, drive there, wait for the repair etc. And with cheap guitars even a perfect setup will not last forever. Especially when temperature and humidity changes.
True, but that's not the problem he was referring to. When you fret a string, you both modify the length of the string and modify its tension. Ideally, you'd want to just modify the length. Also, even if you were able to alter only the length, strings that have thickness (so all strings that exist in the real world) don't change their pitch at the ideal theoretical ratio.
The bonus tips are pure gold. And as a formally trained and experienced musician all my life, born again musician on guitar three and a half years ago, he's really hit the most essential mark here. Something I never heard any instructor mention for guitar beginners which I think is essential, the key to playing in tune and faster has nothing to do with gear at all. It's about technique. And the greatest general tip about that is to minimize your movement. The string doesn't need to and shouldn't be pressed down to the wood. You just need the string to touch the fret. And by the way, about frets, they should be polished. When you have frets with actual grooves in them from wear and tear, that's a problem. It's very easy to learn to clean your fretboard, polish the frets, and oil the fretboard. You only need to do it about twice a year. I typically do it Spring and Autumn. Cheap guitars have cheap frets, and they wear and tear faster.
The people at Petereson Tuners have a different process they suggest for intonation. I believe they suggesting tuning the open strings to pitch but using the 5th and 17th fret notes and making sure they're as close to intonated as possible with the guitar's open strings tuned to pitch. I must admit I haven't explored this more thoroughly yet.
At the 7 minute mark; a scenario (common) open string rings "In Tune" followed by;12th fret rings In Tune. Strum a cowboy "C" cord and yuk? a cowboy G even D may be yuk too. WHY; if the First fret is fretted and pulls sharp then no matter how close the open sound is to the 12th fretted sound, it will be yuk. The nut cut depth needs to allow a 1st fret fretted note to be In Tune. for example the Bass E string open rings Perfect in tune E. The 1st fret (on that same string must ring a perfect F (not F sharp of perish the thought E a bit flat = shim or new nut. 1.tune all 6 to concert perfect. 2. fret the 1st fret (on all 6) and see if the fretted note is In Tune, Sharp of (hopefully not) Flat. If sharp dress out nut to gradually lower the action @ the 1st fret. 3. when all 6 show In Tune at the 1st fet then do the 12th. I can tune my LP custom / LP Standard / Fender Strat and Tele against any and all frets
Wow, that was legit! I'm having some trouble tuning the D string on a stratocaster. I move the saddles, but the octaves don't match. The nut is new, it's a plastic one. I'm getting crazy. Any help?
don't use a tight capo like he did right behind the fret, it causes the string to jut up higher than it would normally. It's best to just have enough pressure on top of the fret...that's the proper way to check, I've never seen anyone use a capo for that.
Plastic and bone nuts are ALWAYS cut too high and they ALWAYS bind .Roller trees and a zero fret. My Strat says in perfect tune no matter what I do on the floating whammy bar.
If you have a tune o matic bridge with loose posts in the bridge or tailpiece, you can use some plumber's thread sealing tape. Put a little on the threads and screw the posts back in and it'll be rock solid.
Great tips but with the newer true temperament fret-boards you really can get perfect intonation on all frets now! If you have lots of money..... and have a guitar that the necks work on.... ok you're right.
I bought a Guitar for 100 once with a brand new nut and made the mistake of cutting the strings before removing tension. That sucker split into two piece all the way down to the wood at the 6th string. I was bummed out for sure
No, stop struggling. Learn to do four or five things right. I got lots of cheap guitars, but as long as I REPAIR (or replace) damaged or horrible parts, I almost never get in trouble keeping the tuning okay. For real, that locking tuners hype, I really don't see any reasons. Have you ever seen a tuner turning, all by itself? It never happens that way! No! It must be something else going wrong.
Nah! Knots and one wind is the way to go. This is the Martin method invented when they started using steel strings. It’s still in the Martin owners manual. I only use more winds if I need to increase the downward angle on certain strings,mostly the G. Winds are not your friends! Love the rest of the video though. Also you already have a string stretcher attached to your arm, it’s called a hand.
Chasing that 12th fret perfect intonation can be an annoying rabbit hole. I’m pretty sure a lot of hit songs were made where the 12 fret intonation was a little off. I don’t think anyone wrote letters of complaints
I've been playing for many years and can change strings as demonstrated, but I have always been weary of doing any set-up adjustments. I bring mine to experts like you. Great video!
I wish I had a luthier nearby but my closest one is an hour away and if he is backed up I have to drive another hour. I've decided I'm investing in some tools to learn. I already know a few things but I need the right tools. I'm tired of all the waiting and driving. I could just do it myself and if I mess something up I'll pay to get a new one ! I'm already paying gas, parts, and a service fee!
