Instable tuning even with locking tuners - '82 Westone Concord III
- Thread starter Francois
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Francois
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Re: Instable tuning even with locking tuners - '82 Westone Concord III
I was silly to forget mentioning this experiment last month with a extended nut (for slide) that lead me to spend 70 euros on locking tuners (as the same problem happened with another nut with large slots). But I do not regret buying the locking tuners I like them !
So here is what I finally found in the tremolo bridge :
Apart from the long piece of string going throught the tremolo block I already mentioned, the edge of the holes i the brass on the upper side are too sharp and I soften them with a file. Here is a pic before :
And also here is a picture showing on the left a saddle form that Concord III and on the right a saddle from a 78 Fender. The inner slope is quite gentle on the US one and steep on the japanese one which is also narrower:
I soften the saddles a little with a file and after lubing all those thing with René Martinez graphite mixture the tuning of the guitar is now stable after 1 - 2 or 3 half tones bends... But after a 5 half tone bend (that you can perform on this guitar due to the unusual wide neck) you still get a half tone tuning drop.
But most of my bends are 2 or 3 half tones so it is more or less alright... Just not what I expected... But I must not use the trem !!!
I was silly to forget mentioning this experiment last month with a extended nut (for slide) that lead me to spend 70 euros on locking tuners (as the same problem happened with another nut with large slots). But I do not regret buying the locking tuners I like them !
So here is what I finally found in the tremolo bridge :
Apart from the long piece of string going throught the tremolo block I already mentioned, the edge of the holes i the brass on the upper side are too sharp and I soften them with a file. Here is a pic before :
And also here is a picture showing on the left a saddle form that Concord III and on the right a saddle from a 78 Fender. The inner slope is quite gentle on the US one and steep on the japanese one which is also narrower:
I soften the saddles a little with a file and after lubing all those thing with René Martinez graphite mixture the tuning of the guitar is now stable after 1 - 2 or 3 half tones bends... But after a 5 half tone bend (that you can perform on this guitar due to the unusual wide neck) you still get a half tone tuning drop.
But most of my bends are 2 or 3 half tones so it is more or less alright... Just not what I expected... But I must not use the trem !!!
Francois
New member
Re: Instable tuning even with locking tuners - '82 Westone Concord III
So thanks everyone for advice and here's a pic of the whole beast.
This guitar makes me play space psychedelic improvised solo while another Westone, the Spectrum MX on the contrary make me play funk rythms.
Each guitar has a different personality and interract with you
So thanks everyone for advice and here's a pic of the whole beast.
This guitar makes me play space psychedelic improvised solo while another Westone, the Spectrum MX on the contrary make me play funk rythms.
Each guitar has a different personality and interract with you
Re: Instable tuning even with locking tuners - '82 Westone Concord III
No, that won't have anything to do with your tuning stability.
No, that won't have anything to do with your tuning stability.
Re: Instable tuning even with locking tuners - '82 Westone Concord III
The saddles CAN contribute to tuning instability, but only very, very, very slightly.
The big culprit is the nut. Just making the slots bigger is not the solution.
And there is no problem with bone as a nut material (as others have implied), even comparing it to a TUSQ nut. Yes graphite nuts are nice, but I use bone on 95% of my guitars (over 50) and don't have the slightest tuning stability issue. It's all about how the nut is slotted. It's not easy or quick to do it correctly and that's why a good tech will charge a lot for doing it. But it is a skill that can be learned. There is a lot of instructional info on stewmac.com to help you learn about slot size, slot relief angle, slot shape ("V" or "U"), depth, etc.
If you have tuning stability issues, at least 90-95% of it is due to the nut.
The saddles CAN contribute to tuning instability, but only very, very, very slightly.
The big culprit is the nut. Just making the slots bigger is not the solution.
And there is no problem with bone as a nut material (as others have implied), even comparing it to a TUSQ nut. Yes graphite nuts are nice, but I use bone on 95% of my guitars (over 50) and don't have the slightest tuning stability issue. It's all about how the nut is slotted. It's not easy or quick to do it correctly and that's why a good tech will charge a lot for doing it. But it is a skill that can be learned. There is a lot of instructional info on stewmac.com to help you learn about slot size, slot relief angle, slot shape ("V" or "U"), depth, etc.
If you have tuning stability issues, at least 90-95% of it is due to the nut.
