How to Keep a Guitar in Tune
Tuning problems are a fact of life for guitarists of all levels. No matter how long you practice, an out-of-tune guitar can make tasteful and skillful playing sound distinctly amateurish.The good news is that most tuning problems can be solved fairly easily. Here are a few steps to solving the most common causes of guitar tuning problems.
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Instructions
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Take off old and worn strings and replace them with a new set. Old strings that are dirty and oxidized are one of the main factors that cause guitars to go out of tune, so changing them regularly is a great place to start.
How often should strings be changed? This depends upon how often the guitar is played and how corrosive your sweat is. If you're playing gigs regularly and you tend to sweat a lot while playing, you'll probably want to change strings at least once a month, possibly before every engagement. A casual player who just plays for fun at home can get away with waiting several months before restringing his instrument. -
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Stretch those strings! Whenever you put on new strings, make sure that you stretch them out by lifting each string away from the fretboard and give it a couple of pulls. If you fret a stretched string, it will likely play flat, so retune it and repeat the process until pulling the string no longer makes it go out of tune. Do this for all of the strings one by one, making sure that you pull the strings away from the fretboard and not across it, which can damage the nut.
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Clean those strings. Natural oils in your fingers are routinely transferred to your guitar strings and fretboard every time you play, so get into the habit of wiping down the strings with a soft, dry cotton cloth after each use. This will go a long way toward extending their life, preserving their tone and helping them stay in tune longer.
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If you've stretched the strings and they continue to go flat, you may need to pay more attention to the way you wind the strings onto the tuners. When feeding a string through the tuner, try to leave enough string for three or four windings (more than that can make stretching the string difficult) and then bring back the string under itself so that it ends up locked beneath the windings.
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Make sure that the nut on your guitar is in good shape. Often, a string gets caught on a rough part of the nut and consequently gets pulled out of tune. There are several lube products on the market (see link below) that can help keep your strings sliding smoothly over the guitar's nut and stay in tune better.
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Properly intonate the guitar so it can play and stay in tune. If the intonation is accurate, notes played higher up the neck shouldn't sound increasingly out of tune the higher you go. If you've tried all of the previous steps and you still have a tuning problem, it might be time for a visit to a luthier, who can make necessary adjustments.
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Tips & Warnings
If you play an electric guitar with a tremelo bar, it might be wise to go easy on its use. Tremelo bars put considerable stress on the strings and can cause considerable tuning problems. If you simply have to use one, consider getting a double locking system in which the strings are secured at the bridge and the nut. Consider using a heavier gauge string. They tend to stay in tune longer than lighter strings, and what you lose in playability you'll likely make up for with a fuller tone.
Don't assume that the new guitar you just purchased has new strings on it. It might be a new guitar, but if it's been in a showroom for a while, it's probably been played by any number of people, and the strings will have dulled considerably since they were put on the guitar.
