| Quote (DrGuitar @ Jan. 04 2005,19:41) |
| 6. Restring with no more than 3 windings around each post. Also, the string should be wound around the post properly so that it cannot slip. There is a simple method for this... check out a new Martin guitar and see how they wind the strings around the post. |
Even with locking tuners, some instruments won’t stay well in tune, because they change too much with changes in temperature. Anyone ever played a Travis Bean? A cold draft blows on it, and it goes out – and then it comes back in as it warms up! Other instruments just aren’t well made, and seem to shift for no reason at all.
And there are some instruments that even without locking tuners are almost always in tune, no matter what we do. My son’s Aria Pro II bass is like that.
I don’t have any locking tuners, and I don’t have much trouble with my guitars going out of tune. And I’m very picky about tuning. I have a '65 Fender Jazzmaster, which has a whammy bar. Well, I’d always heard whammy bars ruin tuning, so I just didn’t use it. Then, one day about 15 years later, I thought I’d give it a try just for fun. What an idiot I was for waiting so long! It sounds lovely and doesn’t cause tuning problems. Ah well, live & learn.
The locking tuners probably are nice for faster string changes.
Ali’s quick and dirty guide to re-fretting. (Well, Danny Erlewine’s really).
Now, I ain’t no expert, and I’ve only done this four times in my life, but, it worked beautifully each time.
I’ve quoted more or less directly from the book (more or less 
), but I’ve added comments based on my own experience.
(0) Find a great guitar tech who’s work you trust and who’s services you can afford. Get him to do it, and ignore the rest of the following steps. But, if both of those conditions can’t be met, (especially the “who’s work you trust”), then proceed with the steps below.
(1). Remove strings. Obviously; but perhaps the “why” ain’t as obvious as you think!
(2) Loosen truss rod as much as you can. The fact that the truss rod is loose, and the strings are removed , means that the neck can back-bow which makes removing the old frets easier, (see! that’s the other reason for removing them 
).
(3) Leave it lying on it’s back for a coupla days. This lets the back-bow develop.
(4) Heat the frets. (The book said; “use steam”, but as I can never find a bucketful when I need it, I’ve found a soldering iron works just as well, and tin the iron, just as you would when soldering.
(5) Remove frets with a pair of end-nippers. (I don’t got those. 
So I raised one end with a burin, then pulled them out with a pair of ordinary pliers. It done the job.
(6) Have a couple of cans of Special Brew, then relax for the rest of the day.
(7) Next day. Look at your neck. (well, the guitar’s neck really). Does the wood need smoothing? Any bumps, etc.? If so, smooth it.
(8) Clean out the fret slots. The blunt edge of a Stanley knife will remove chunks of resin and other crap.
(9) Re-smooth the fretboard, and gently use a V shaped very fine file to to slightly chamfer the edges of the fret groove.
(10) Get your fret wire. OK, I should have had this as step one. If your fret wire is the exact same as what was in there, there’s no prob. If it’s different, it’s probably best to go back to stage (0).
(11) Clean the neck and fretwire with spirit.
(12) Cut the fretwire to length, (Well, slightly longer obviously). Prebend the frets so that they have slightly more curve than the neck.
(13) Gently, but firmly, tap the ends of the frets home, not completely, but almost. Then starting at the centre and working out, tap the frets fully home. (BTW, a wee dab of superglue in the slot first ain’t really a bad thing, but, it’ll make the next re-fret harder).
(14) File the fret ends to size, but, DON’T OVER BEVEL! ('cos if you do, you’ll be sliding off the ends). So carefully study the bevel on your original frets before you remove them, and copy that.
OK, enough for now. If anyone’s interested, I’ll describe finishing and dressing next time.
| Quote (teryeah @ Jan. 05 2005,17:57) | ||
http://www.gretschpages.com/faq.php#tuninghelp |
I have 2 Alvarez flat tops (not Yairi’s tho) that are extremely affected by weather/humidity changes, at the same time I have a '73 Alvarez that has never been affected by temp/humidity changes. The latter guitbox is used by my daughter now, and am seriously thinking bout swapping the newer dreadnaught for the older. Wonder what causes that? Worms?LOL
The '73 needs refretting badly!
Refretting seems like a total hassel, think I’ll call Snuffy and get the name of good local guitar tech.
| Quote (DrGuitar @ Jan. 05 2005,19:01) | ||||
That's funny Teryeah. That is practically an exact reprint (except shorter) of one of the articles I wrote for Guitar Shop magazine in the mid-late 1980's. The graphic is dead on to the one I used. The funny thing was that about 5 years after I wrote that article, both Martin and Taylor started to string their guitars that way. I see Gretsch is doing it too. Being a columnist for a guitar mag was fun, but paid poo poo. Mike |
I’ve been using that lock-knot technique since 1980, and it makes a big difference. It’s a little tricky at first because you need to learn to keep both ends (“standing” and “bitter” ends, in sailor’s terms) of the string taught when you set the knot, while still leaving enough slack in the standing end to get three wraps when you’re done. (I suppose some folks just use the knot and skip the three wraps. Strangely, I’ve never thought of trying that!)
Ali, nice picture of Salad Fingers!
“I like rusty nails…”
| Quote (Dyers @ Jan. 06 2005,16:52) |
| Ali, nice picture of Salad Fingers! "I like rusty nails..." |
I have an early 60’s Gibson J50 flattop w/Shaler pegs installed that used to stay and play in tune beautifully until…I had the first 7 frets and the nut replaced.
The frets were just too worn so they needed replacing. I had the nut replaced because the old one was set a bit too wide such that the high E string would too easily fall off the side of the fret when fingering any basic position chord low on the neck.
Since then it will not STAY in tune for more than about 10 minutes on a good day. It tends to go significantly sharp now, mostly on the B and high E strings, but sometimes others as well. It does seem to settle down after an hour or so. When it’s in tune, the intonation is decent al the way up the neck.
I have tried using silicone spray at the nut and will try graphite as suggested here. The neck is straight and the action is on the low side but not as low as most electric players.
Any other ideas?
Sounds like it’s still grabbing in the nut a little. When it does that there is more tension on the tuning peg side of the nut. With movement and vibrations (playing) the tension slowly evens out on both sides of the nut - up on one side of the nut and down on the other. That will cause the string to go slightly sharper. It can happen in the other direction as well. It will usually be worse on the unwound strings, but can happen with the unwound strings as well. (That’s exactly what my tele does these days.)
| Quote (YazMiester @ Jan. 04 2005,10:32) |
| Weather is alot of the trouble with tuning, high or low humidity can affect the wood temendously, also change of seasons causes this, with AC running then open windows to The heating system coming on. Necks especially change to adverse temps and humidity. |
I haven’t actually tried refretting yet but this is a great site with lots of pics and other repair/building content. Scroll about half way down to the “Items for Luthiers” section for the info on frets:
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/pagelist.html