Help! I can't seem to tune my electric guitar properly (I hate being a noob). I've got a Yamaha Pacifica with trem and ages ago I replaced the strings myself and it never really played very well afterwards so last time I got the local guitar shop to do it. The problem is that now it won't hold it's tune and the only way to get it anything like in tune has pulled the trem "up". What am I doing wrong?

 

Could be the springs that contol the tremolo tension. These are located on the back of the body, usually under a plate. Could be too taught but these shouldn't really be affecting the tuning.......

Most likely the strings are slipping on tuning pegs or pegs slowly unwinding themselves. Do keep in mind that new strings will de-tune themselves until they settle.

Hope this helps.

James Lock

 

take it into a guitar shop and get them to change the strings for you and check out the trem plate springs as suggested. and then keep the new strings clean (give them a wipe after use)

if you want some strings, pm me your work addy and i'll post you a set. (got loads here)

oh and buy yourself a digital guitar tuner or multifx box with a built in tuner, like a zoom.

 

Elixr are good strings for lasting quite a long time even if unplayed, they are coated which helps protect them

Also get some fast fret too

As suggested get the trem checked out and get the guitar shop to re string it for you, isnt there a special way of re-stringing certain trems like floating ones on Gem's ?

 

Also Rev the big shop in Runcorn is supposed to be very good and comes highly recommended but for the life of me I cant remember their name

 

It was them that restrung it last time. It was supposedly tuned before I picked it up, but I think it was drop Q tuned it was that far out

The current strings are only a couple of months old and it hasn't been played because I can't get it to stay in tune. Literally, by the time I'm tuning the 6th string, the first string is out by miles. I'm sure it's me doing something stupid but I just want to start playing the guitar properly

I'll have a mess around with it tomorrow and see what happens.

 

ok, what you need to do is give them all a good tug before you try tune, then tune them all to pitch, then give them all another good tug, keep doing this until all the slack is out of it, once you have done this a few times it should settle down, just make sure it is acclimatised to where it is or it will take a while to adjust to the temp change.

 

What Power junkie said. Pull the strings a good couple of inches out from the pickups, release them, then tune back up to pitch. Repeat until they hold a steady pitch. Make sure the strings are anchored well around the posts of the tuning head, too - there needs to be several turns of string around the post.

 

I've added some tension to the trem springs. The screws that hold the plate that the springs attach to were a bit lose so that seems to have stopped the trem pulling up as I add tension to the strings, so maybe that's the problem. When I've found a 9v battery for the tuner I'll tune it up properly and see how it goes.

Hopefully I'll be playing House of Rising Sun by Sunday teatime

 

Arrghhh! Tried tuning it up this morning and it's doing it again: tune top e perfectly. By the time I've got to bottom e the trem has pulled up and only bottom e is in tune. Go back the other way and it's the same problem.

Should I be locking the trem? How do I do that? Should I just buy a drum kit?

 

Neck or Head is not about to break off is it?

I just say this as my mates old Fender accoustic kept going out of tune, so he kept winding up the tension to get it in tune again, then one day....snap, off came the headstock!!

In true pauper student style: He kind of fixed it by holding it together with a large jubilee clip....seemed to hold tune afterwards PMSL

 

Can't you lock the trem - I think they are a waste of time, especially for a noob

 

If I knew how, I would

 

what model of Pacifica do you have ?

This site is for Ibanez trems - but some of the principles of setting up a trem will apply to your guitar.

MEGATRON'S FLOATING TREM GUIDE - Technical Support - Ibanez Forum

 

Aha! That's the stuff I need. Thanks for the link. It's the Pacifica 112 (not the newer 112V)

 

Buy an acoustic or get a bass