I've often wondered why some guitars go out of tune while cased between uses.
Do the strings slip where they attach to the tuning machine? Is is a function of temperature changes, or humidity?
Does the tension on the tuner actual move the gears?
My brother's Norma dreadnought seems like it always detunes itself a dozen cents between plays, pretty much all go a bit flat, I notice it more with the lower frequency strings. This guitar has a Taylor-style paddlehead with exposed gear machines.
On the other hand, my Taylor (with Schaller M6's) seems to stay in tune for weeks!
Both are kept in the same room, under the same conditions, so my guess is it's something to do with the machines on the Norma, but I'm not certain.
-K
The "engineering" part of my pea brain says I seriously doubt tuners are slipping simply because the gear ratio is too low (numerically high) for a string to "yank" the peg enough to rotate it, even if a fraction. I am assuming decent tuners that are in proper working order, however, and I don't make any claims on the crummy pop-metal junk coming from china etc ...those are pure crap. But for any halfway -decent machine head, lack of tuning stability is likely
elsewhere. BTW, the Ping tuners Taylor uses are far better than "halfway decent," IMHO. I've never had any issue whatsoever with Taylor's tuners, ever, on every Taylor I've owned, and simply replaced with the Gotohs only because "I could"
Most typical tuning maladies that I've personally seen (again, barring crap machines) are due to poor string-wrap technique. Now I claim no expertise here, but I will say after decades of playing, my guitars simply don't slip, and those that waver (friends/acquaintences' guits) that have come across my path are corrected as soon as I show the guy how to wrap his strings. Only once have I actually gone as far as change tuners because they were truly junk (as per my reference to the crap machines typical on many a low-cost import).
FWIW, my guitars have been hanging on a wall for over a decade now, RH always kept typically in the low 40s up to maybe 50% (any odd swings I correct for so never out of said range for more than a day). And all the electrics clearly stay in tune, close to if not perfect, and if not 100% will deviate only a tad, but oh so little. The acoustics, OTOH, despite the RH stability of the room, just seem to "breathe" as they
will go sharp or flat, but only
very little, and said changes seem to
correspond exactly to weather changes. So despite all the guitars being in the room same env't, and that they all stay really close to in tune, the acoustics clearly drift more than the infinitessimal amount the electrics do. Not terribly so, but noticible, to be sure. The informal conclusion one can draw is pretty clear: acoustics' tops rise and fall, thus changing the guitar's geometry, hence state of tune. Electrics: nada ...too "solid" for the minor RH changes to even register a discernible difference (I suppose extreme changes would alter an electric, but I ain't experimenting with that!). Also worth mentioning is that they all get played, some more than others, but they all get regular play so I do keep tabs on em.
Hey K,
I've long heard/read of folks with tuning instability on their LPs, but my current two and past others have
never exhibited tuning instability. Perhaps you've got another issue going on there?
So to the OP, my opinion on this is given a stable environment, if the tuning drifts a little, that's part and parcel of the wood swelling/drying as one would expect. But any more than " a little" drift" and I'd say one would do well to check string wrap technique, then perhaps crud tuners.
...food for thought from my humble experience, anyway
Edward
