Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

Some are better than others. I suspect it has to do with an individual guitars headstock/nut angle, and could be the sensitivity to temp fluctuation. I've noticed that If I put my guitar down "in tune". The next morning it may be a little out at this time of the year with heat coming off and on throughout the evening..possibly due to construction methods...glue in vs. bolt on or neck through...more wood with different finish (not poly/"plastic" like on a Fender).

Who knows?

My Faded is not bad. My Firebird is a rock. My Black Standard was a rock. The Classic I had earlier this year was, meh.

Don't recall on many of my old ones. My heritage wasn't very stable. Hamer is pretty good.

I play hard though...and that certainly takes a toll.
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

One thing often overlooked is that you never tune DOWN to the pitch or you end up with slack that will pull the string flat on the next bend or next hard hit chord.

If the string is sharp or you tuned it too far sharp, loosen it down well BELOW the pitch and then tune back UP to the pitch. This pulls out any slack.

Also -- there isn't any tuning problem that's "par for the course" for Les Pauls or Strats or Teles or Danelectros or any model of guitar. It's all about the set-up of the individual guitar.
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

Zhangliqun said:
Also -- there isn't any tuning problem that's "par for the course" for Les Pauls or Strats or Teles or Danelectros or any model of guitar. It's all about the set-up of the individual guitar.
Click to expand...

Ditto. What's amazing to me is that you can tell people the problem, and it's like the info just flew over their head. Then, it comes back to the "I need new tuners" solution. The solution is to get the guitar setup perfectly.

I'm not familiar with the Leo Quan Badass bridge for Juniors. Are all the saddles adjustable, or only a couple, or is it fixed like a PRS bridge? Anytime, the nut is filed perfectly and the guitar still has tuning problems, I get downright anal with the intonation tweaks, and the problem is usually solved. Also, when the action is too high or low, sometimes it makes the temperment of the neck drift off, meaning it's nearly impossible to get all the notes on the fretboard to read dead center on a tuner. It's an art and a science, but I guarantee that Joe Perry's LP's and LP Juniors rarely have tuning issues.....he's got a tech that makes a few thousand a week though!
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

Gearjoneser said:
Ditto. What's amazing to me is that you can tell people the problem, and it's like the info just flew over their head. Then, it comes back to the "I need new tuners" solution. The solution is to get the guitar setup perfectly.

I'm not familiar with the Leo Quan Badass bridge for Juniors. Are all the saddles adjustable, or only a couple, or is it fixed like a PRS bridge? Anytime, the nut is filed perfectly and the guitar still has tuning problems, I get downright anal with the intonation tweaks, and the problem is usually solved. Also, when the action is too high or low, sometimes it makes the temperment of the neck drift off, meaning it's nearly impossible to get all the notes on the fretboard to read dead center on a tuner. It's an art and a science, but I guarantee that Joe Perry's LP's and LP Juniors rarely have tuning issues.....he's got a tech that makes a few thousand a week though!
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The Leo Quan is a very nice bridge with fully adjustable saddles. I have had the guitar professionally setup by a luthier in this area who has always done a great job with my other instruments. In the process of his setup, he tweaked some of the slots, adjusted the relief in the neck, and set the intonation. Unless he did something wrong, which is possible, I don't think my setup is to blame. The guitar hasn't been here too long and I do think it needs some time to get used to Canada.

I don't understand what you're saying about fixing tuning issues with intonation tweaks. How does tweaking the intonation help open strings stay in tune better? Just to clarify, this guitar intonates perfectly, when the strings themselves are in tune.
 
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Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

A few folks have said that the tuning problems with Les Pauls might be due to the 3 tuners per side design. I'm no expert on this, but my PRS SE II is of the same design as is my Rickenbacker 330 and those guitars have NO tuning issues. Maybe the extreame angle of the headstock is a factor with the 3 per side design. I'm now under the impression that a Les Paul is a 50/50 proposition. Either you've got a good one or you don't.
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

I use 9-46 gauge strings on my Les Pauls and I have no serious tuning issues. Sure the tuning drifts a little throughout a set, but I check and tweak as I go. It's not like I'm constantly re-tuning. Make sure you install and stretch your strings properly so they don't slip and make sure they're not sticking in the nut (pinging noises when tuning). With my string gauge and technique I don't expect the tuning to be rock solid but even so I am more in tune than Jimmy Page most of the time! :laugh2:
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

No tuning issues here on any of my SGs. You may want to try a new brand of strings or something. Have you lubed the nut?
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

Gearjoneser said:
I'm not familiar with the Leo Quan Badass bridge for Juniors.
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Badass%20Bridge%20-%20Guitar%20-%20Nickel.jpg


The strings mount from the front, and wrap over the top and over the saddles.

This is my Schaller 455, I have this bridge on 2 other guitars. I like that it loads from the top and wraps over, rather than trying to feed the string in between the pickup and the bridge.

3683_p51127.jpg
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

Intonation is very important, because when it's off even a tiny bit, the chords don't ring quite right, then you'll try to compensate for it by tuning the G just a hair flat, but then other chords don't sound perfect. It's a major headache, and sometimes the best solution is to have a good tech just yank the nut and start over with a new bone or Tusq one.

Trust me, I wrestle with these same problems on some guitars, and it always comes down to the nut and intonation. It's very rarely a tuner issue, unless they're really loose. One of my guitars has an annoying ringy undertone on the E string, that's taken awhile to diagnose. It turns out that the nut slot is just a tiny bit too wide, and the undertone is coming from the string vibrating side to side in the slot. This stuff drives a person nuts!
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

mahogany neck, white button Klusons---just like the originals, recipe for discord. If the tuners have the same shaft size as the bigger keystone Klusons (ala LP Standard/335), get a set of the Schaller keystone copies--much better than the Gibson stuff.
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

And prove the tuners are the culprits in tuning problems. You'll be amazed at how many tuning problems are binding nuts.
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

I really didn't read through it but a big issue will be those tuners, in short they suck ass. They basically come apart. Gotoh now makes those tuners for Gibson and they are 1000x better, you could get a new set or go with your Grovers. Trust me they'll make a huge difference.
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

Wattage said:
I really didn't read through it but a big issue will be those tuners, in short they suck ass. They basically come apart. Gotoh now makes those tuners for Gibson and they are 1000x better, you could get a new set or go with your Grovers. Trust me they'll make a huge difference.
Click to expand...
Gotoh was making those tuners back in 01. The only "bad" tuners I've found on stock Gibsons were the Gibson branded Schallers.
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

Slim taper mahogany necks on a thin mahogany body (ala LP Jr/Special/SG) are pretty pliant---just adds to the problem...
 
Re: Tips for keeping a Les Paul in tune?

Yeah, all of the above and a double+ to Aceman for his suggestion that you ditch the naff Klusons in favour of a set of good Grovers or Gotohs.
The material Gibson use for their nuts is RUBBISH; it's abrasive for god's sake; have you seen the track left on it if you rub a string across it? It's also quite soft. Cut it so that the string bears on a single contact point and the string wears it away or crushes it. I have never successfully solved tuning problems on a Les Paul without changing the nut.

Another thing Gibson do is cut a notch in the saddle. it looks for the most part as though they've done it with a hammer and chisel. Get it it smoothed out so that it cradles the string instead of pinching it. Also, raise the tailpiece, or string from the bridge side and wrap the strings over it, reducing the break angle over the saddles. Better still, get a new bridge and DON"T notch the saddles. You don't need to, it's just that Gibson don't know how to build or set up guitars properly, so they get everything wrong.

Here's an idea; get a Strat instead.

Gibson's are just trash. I know of no other manufacturer with such lousy quality control and build standards.
 
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