When i started practicing with my two guitars(Rogue RD-80 and Jackson JS-22 Dinky) I found myself having to tune them every time I pick them up to practice with them. I practice with both every day. Which means that I tune them both every day. But today I had some extra time on my hands and I had three different practice sessions with about 20-30 minutes each practice session today. I basically gave myself an hour break between sessions and did some other stuff so my fingers aren't too sore at the end of the day. But EVERY SINGLE TIME, I had to RETUNE my two guitars again. My only explanation for them going out of tune is probably because the more you use guitar strings, the more they stretch. My strings are fairly new so I'm assuming they'll be like that for a bit. Both guitars sound great once they're tuned, and there is nothing structurally wrong with them. Both are in perfect condition. What are ya'all's thoughts on this? Is it normal to have to retune your guitar after putting it down for only an hour?
Comments
Have you checked the tuning when you put the guitars down? You may be a little heavier-handed than you realise.
I usually play some big bends and vibrato and a bit of heavy strumming. You can pinch each string and pull them out away from the body a few timed. That should do the trick.
If it's still way out there's some other problem.
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I have no experience of Rogue acoustic guitars but, being another budget instrument, it is probably plagued by similar Cheepnis issues.
If you're in the habit of tuning in before warming the strings up you could end up in a cycle of constantly tuning your guitar. Imo/e anyway.
People often comment on guitars staying in tune well...so they should!
Like when you get a takeaway and you try to rip the bag open it'll stretch for a bit then stop and won't stretch any further.
I'm assuming the OPs springs have settled after several hours/days of playing?
Sadly the Jackson is a very poor design and tuning trouble is a certainty - it has a pointy headstock but no locking nut, and even worse, also a vibrato bridge. The sharp string angles at the nut guarantee the strings will stick when you either bend one, use the whammy bar, or possibly even just tune it.
The Rogue shouldn't be as bad, but even that has a rather wide headstock and hence sharper string angles than many other guitars. The nut is also the most likely cause of tuning problems on this one.
I would...
First, check the nut heights on both guitars. If they're too high they will cause intonation problems as well as making you bend the strings slightly when fretting, which will contribute to movement and sticking. Fret each string at the third fret while looking at the gap between the string and the first fret - it should be tiny, less than a quarter of the string diameter on any string.
Second, try to string the guitars with the absolute minimum of string winding on the post - if you use the 'half back turn and lock under' method you can usually get less than one complete turn on the post - this will help prevent any slipping or sticking.
Third, set the bridge on the Jackson flat onto the body as if it's a hardtail, and don't use the whammy.
If all that sounds like it's beyond your experience, have a tech look at them - there are a few more potential issues as well, but most of them (apart from the pointy headstock) can probably be sorted out.
If you do want to use the whammy bar, then really you probably need a better guitar, either with a straight headstock or a locking vibrato system like a Floyd Rose - these are *very* tuning-stable.
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