Balladeer Posted December 13, 2012 Posted December 13, 2012 Last August I bought my first Heritage, a 1999 H535. When tuning the guitar I have to remove my hand from the tuning key because the pitch seems to be affected by the slight pressure of my hand. Is this normal?
Hfan Posted December 13, 2012 Posted December 13, 2012 Is the nut on the tuner loose? Or the screw on the knob? Or maybe the wood screws holding it on? If it occurs on all of them the odds would be long they would all have any of these issues but I guess it's possible.
DetroitBlues Posted December 13, 2012 Posted December 13, 2012 Sounds like a tuner is slipping... Being 13 years old, its very possible...
Hfan Posted December 13, 2012 Posted December 13, 2012 Had a tuner start to slip on my old Martin with Grovers, the screw in the middle of the knob was loose.
mars_hall Posted December 13, 2012 Posted December 13, 2012 If you are torquing the neck forward or backward, up or down while twisting the peg, you can change the pitch. Some players use this for a vibrato effect. It is more pronounced with thinner necks. I tune my guitar while in the playing position and barely touching. Chime at the 12th, let rest, then come into the desired pitch from the flatted side of string tension.
Balladeer Posted December 13, 2012 Author Posted December 13, 2012 It is not the tuners. I replaced the tuners with Gotoh Delta 510 tuners as I like the 21:1 gear ratio. This happens on every string. While looking at my Turbo-Tuner I drop the string's pitch below the desired frequency and turn the tuning key until the Turbo-Tuner indicates the pitch has reached the desired frequency. Then I simply release my fingers from the tuning key and the Turbo-Tuner shows that the string is no longer at the desired frequency. This does not happen on my other guitars. Mars-Hall: Yes, that is what I am talking about. The neck seems to torque too easily.
mars_hall Posted December 13, 2012 Posted December 13, 2012 How long are you waiting after the pluck? Strings will initially be sharp (high frequency overtones) at first pluck before settling at the fundamental. Are you using open strings in tuning? Try chiming at the 12th since this will tend to damp the overtones, while giving the frequency counter a more accurate range within to work. A 2 Hz error in a 60 Hz note is a much greater percent difference in error than a 2 Hz error in tuning a 120 Hz note. In other words, the Turbo-Tuner should have greater accuracy away from the lowest note. Does the guitar have a Bigsby? Springs can do funny things. Like I said or should have, some guitars are more susceptible to the torquing, I have 21 at the moment, and you have to tune the guitar to the middle at its normal playing position, taking into account any tendencies to hang on the neck or push/pull or otherwise strongarm it. The subtle change in pitch usually becomes imperceptible in the dynamics of the piece. This also assumes you have correctly intonated the guitar.
GuitArtMan Posted December 13, 2012 Posted December 13, 2012 I want to say I've noticed this on every guitar I've owned, but I might be exagerating. I also will note that any experinced luthier when setting the intonation will do so in the playing position, as laying the guitar on it's back will flex the neck ever so slight causing tuning/intonation issues.
HanknotFrank Posted December 14, 2012 Posted December 14, 2012 I had a Gibson 61 SG reissue and it did something similar, but not exactly the same. Had a similar tuning problem and took the SG to a very qualified guitar builder, technician etc. He hooked it up to an old fashioned analog strobe tuner (I guess that is what it was) and it turned out the 61 SG was notorious for having a weak neck where it was attached to the body and just applying any pressure on the neck when tuning would make the tuner move sharp or flat depending on how the pressure was applied. This may or may not have any thing in common with your problem but it might be useful information in general.........
plexirocker 68 Posted December 14, 2012 Posted December 14, 2012 Last August I bought my first Heritage, a 1999 H535. When tuning the guitar I have to remove my hand from the tuning key because the pitch seems to be affected by the slight pressure of my hand. Is this normal? Mine does the same thing. Thinner type necks on 335's-SG's where they join the body differently will do this. Don't let it drive you nuts Like I said or should have, some guitars are more susceptible to the torquing, I have 21 at the moment, and you have to tune the guitar to the middle at its normal playing position, taking into account any tendencies to hang on the neck or push/pull or otherwise strongarm it. The subtle change in pitch usually becomes imperceptible in the dynamics of the piece. This also assumes you have correctly intonated the guitar. Yep what he said plexi
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