Guitar with hip shot trem: bend the B and high E goes out of tune... thoughts?

[BluesGuyJ]

Hey all. I just got my guitar back from a local tech whodid an entirely new setup on it after i knocked it off my bed and a post snapped

This guitar has a hip shot trem and a trem setter installed. However, every damn time I bend the B, the high E goes out of tune. I dont recall having this issue before I funked up the guitar. Could it be how the guy restrung the high E? Is it something else that is off? It does come back into tune when I wiggle the whammy bar, but that gets pretty damn annoying, and again, this thing also has a tremsetter installed, it should be acting flawlessly.

I think all my axes from here on out are gonna have fixed bridges, this is getting old.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Guitar with hip shot trem: bend the B and high E goes out of tune... thoughts?

Try checking the fit of the high E in the nut slot, and reslotting and/or lubricating as necessary. Also check that if you have a string tree, the underside of it is clean and polished; you can also put a tiny drop of graphite and oil lock lubricant, or even powdered graphite suspended in some Vaseline or rubbing alcohol there. Also, make sure that the high E is wrapped in a self-locking manner (back under itself) around the tuner posts, and uses a minimum of wraps. Too many wraps are one of the main reasons floating vibratos go out of tune IME.

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: Guitar with hip shot trem: bend the B and high E goes out of tune... thoughts?

I do hear a soft "ping" when I use the whammy bar to return the guitar to pitch after bending the B string. Perhaps the nut slot for the high E is the issue? I am going to restring tomorrow and will will stop at the locall music shop to buy some graphite or lube.... this thing has a tusk nut and locking tuners as well

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Guitar with hip shot trem: bend the B and high E goes out of tune... thoughts?

That is the sound of a string unbinding from being stuck its nut slot. Even Tusq ad Tusq XL nuts need to be slotted right to prevent binding. Try getting a sheet of fine grained sandpaper and folding it in half. Carefully rub the folded area back and forth through the nut slot, taking care not to deepen the slot. (Focus the pressure on the sides of the slot, not downward.)

 

[Bludave]

Re: Guitar with hip shot trem: bend the B and high E goes out of tune... thoughts?

A simple fix would be to remove all the strings from the nut slots & using a piece of sand paper brush a pencil against the sand paper right over the nut slot allowing the shavings of the pencil lead to fall into the nut slots. Pencil lead is graphite & it should allow the strings to move freely. Nutsause also works, but I would imagine a pencil & sandpaper are pretty handy in most homes.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Guitar with hip shot trem: bend the B and high E goes out of tune... thoughts?

Sounds like there´s binding in the high E slot of the nut.

Seeing as there was

a local tech whodid an entirely new setup on it

, that guitar needs to be on his workbench for a FREE OF CHARGE rework ASA****ingP.


Setting up the nut is one of the most basic steps in ANY setup of ANY stringed instrument, and if the tech is incapable of doing this properly you need to take your guitars somewhere else.

Hacks like this that cause more damage than good just piss me off to no end, partially because their regularly displayed gross incompetence also ****s up my reputation as well as that of every other good tech that´s out there.

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: Guitar with hip shot trem: bend the B and high E goes out of tune... thoughts?

he's been nothing but great, wonderful work and a solid luthier. This sounds like something I can easily adjust, life happens.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Guitar with hip shot trem: bend the B and high E goes out of tune... thoughts?

get him to re-cut the nut, and buy a tube of chap stick.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Guitar with hip shot trem: bend the B and high E goes out of tune... thoughts?

I may have overreacted a bit, hadn´t had my coffee yet and I hear horror stories of wannabe techs 2-3 times weekly....

he's been nothing but great, wonderful work and a solid luthier. This sounds like something I can easily adjust, life happens.

I see it as: you paid money for him to set up your guitar. He screwed up 90% of what you paid him to do (The ONLY thing in a setup that requires any actual skill is cutting the freaking nut, everything else a 10 year old can find out by trial and error). It is his moral and legal obligation to rectify the situation free of charge.

I would feel like an idiot if I paid someone to do something and ended up doing it better myself afterwards. That´s why I became a luthier in the first place. For me this is the exact same as buying a PRS online , getting one with finish bubbles, rust, and a warp in the neck, and saying "it´s ok, it only cost 4000$, I can fix it myself". Money is money, service is service, **** ups are **** ups, and warranty is warranty.

And without wanting to step on your toes but my memory fades, you´re the blind one, right? If I`m right, with all due respect you are the last person that should be working on parts that ideally need to fit to a hundredth of an inch. Should I be mistaken, forget I said anything. :friday:

 

[Grenade]

Re: Guitar with hip shot trem: bend the B and high E goes out of tune... thoughts?

You said a post broke. What post are you talking about? I have hardtail guitars now but when I used trems I always installed a tremsetter.