Brand New Prospect: G String won't stay in tune (thoughts?)

[Number8]

I bought a brand new Prospect about a month ago and noticed after a few days of playing that the G string was getting stuck in the nut. It was pinging out of tune as I tightened and loosened the string. I brought it back to the local place I bought it from and the guy assured me that it was set-up before selling it to me. He put some nut sauce on there, I played it and I took it home thinking everything was fine.

 

It's two weeks later and the G is once again slipping into flat if I do just one bend on the string. There's no pinging when I tune it but it still won't stay in tune for too long. I'm essentially playing for a few minutes and then retuning it. Obviously I'm going to take it back in again to have him look into it, but does anyone have any suggestions about what the problem could be other than just the nut? I don't want to over-react here but I don't want to overlook anything either. Please advise if you have any thoughts about what it could be besides the obvious (or if I should just relax and keep breaking her in).

 

Thanks,

#8

[schundog]

The G string always seems to be the worst offender on three-tuners-to-a-side headstocks. I've heard it said that it's that the string doesn't have a straight pull from the nut to the tuner, but that would be true of the D string, too. Of course, the G gets bent more often, at least the way I play. I would bet it's STILL the nut that's causing the problem, and may need to be filed a bit. I know you said he applied nut sauce, but I ALWAYS "color" in the nut slots with a pencil when I restring a guitar, so that the graphite from the pencil can allow for free movement of the string through the nut, hopefully limiting tuning problems. Please keep us informed on how this works out, and best of luck!

[H]

Have you restrung it since buying it?

 

If it's not pinging at the nut, I'd suspect slippage at the tuner post or a bad string - both quickly and cheaply eliminated by a correctly loaded, fresh set of strings.

[mars_hall]

Check the winding at the ball to see if it has slipped.

[brentrocks]

lubricate your nut

[TalismanRich]

I had the same thing happen with my Millennium recently. Put strings on but the G just seemed to grab in the nut, which meant that it wouldn't hold tune if you bent. When I tuned it up, you could hear it ping as the pitch rose.

 

I tried lubing it, but it still grabbed. Finally, I changed strings and suddenly it was fine again.

 

Sometimes I think a string might have some oxidation or corrosion which makes the string rough enough to stick when going through the nut. Maybe the wire gauge is just a tick too thick. Try restringing, and use a different brand of string. It might make the difference.

[DetroitBlues]

Nut and saddle may be the issue. Also did you stretch the string? I usually grab new strings halfway between the nut and saddle and lift them up enough to where the guitar starts to lift up with it. Then I lightly bounce the string like a yoyo to get the strings to stretch. Also I use a pencil and rub the lead on the nut and saddle as the "lead" is really graphite...

[Number8]

Thanks everyone; i wouldn't have thought of new strings or checking the winding on the ball, so this has been helpful. I'll probably have him do everything (new strings, file the nut, lube and graphite) and hopefully that fixes it.

[Number8]

So he filed and lubed the nut and that stopped the ping, but the G string still flattened out after a few minutes. Then he filed down a small spur he found on the saddle; but it still went out of tune after a few minutes. We agreed to change the strings and when he went to replace them he noticed that the tailpiece was not locked down with the worm-screws. Not sure if it was the new strings or the tightening of the worm-screws but it's fine now (or so it seems).

[gpuma]

Glad it worked out for the best, 8!