Question JP related

[PaoloGilberto]

I will put some graphite on the nut slots when I will change the strings - soon...will see then

I thought maybe the knives edges are to blame for this...

I did not understood what you are referring to by "There's also the possibility the string is sticking in the bridge, which you'll get taken care of with the lip balm or other lubrication method."

where it sticks and where to lube re the bridge?

I know that with regular tuners when re-stringing you have to make sure the string is wrapped round the post at least 3 times to prevent slippage, which wrecks your tuning.

but at the JP with his locking tuners I don't do that...do you?

thanks a lot.

That's exactly right. 20 cents is 1/5 of a semitone.

4 week old strings may or may not be the culprit. They're a little bit old, but as long as they're in good condition you should be ok.

I would use lube on the nut slots first, and not the bridge at first. If you notice a difference, but it's still not quite right, you might have a luthier check that the nut slot is cut properly for the gauge of strings you use. The bridge shouldn't be an issue as it floats on "knife edges" which have very little contact surface.

You could also use a device to stabilize the tremolo. I don't have much experience with these, though, so I couldn't tell you a good one to use.

 

[bkrumme]

I did not understood what you are referring to by "There's also the possibility the string is sticking in the bridge, which you'll get taken care of with the lip balm or other lubrication method."

where it sticks and where to lube re the bridge?

I know that with regular tuners when re-stringing you have to make sure the string is wrapped round the post at least 3 times to prevent slippage, which wrecks your tuning.

but at the JP with his locking tuners I don't do that...do you?

thanks a lot.

Sorry! I meant sticking at the NUT.

I do NOT wrap the strings at all on my JP guitars. Just make sure they're locked in the tuner well and you should be all set.

 

[PaoloGilberto]

I thought so , that you were thinking about the NUT

checked all those steps all the time...let's see with the graphite.

so you say only 1-2 cent goes out of tune...hmmmm

Sorry! I meant sticking at the NUT.

I do NOT wrap the strings at all on my JP guitars. Just make sure they're locked in the tuner well and you should be all set.

 

[bkrumme]

so you say only 1-2 cent goes out of tune...hmmmm

Yes, if set up properly, even when you bend it should only go out of tune by a small amount. I've never actually tested this, but I'd think up to 5 or 6 cents would be common. Even on guitars without a tremolo. 1-2 cents is likely too low of an estimate.

 

[DR5Guy]

You've got a guitar with a floating tremolo. It will NEVER go exactly where it was before you bent the string.

I am wondering were you talking about floating tremolos in general or JP's tremolo in particular? I have a couple of FloydRose-equipped guitars which return EXACTLY to the same pitch not only after bends but also after deep dives too. I also have another guitar with a Wilkinson tremolo which behaves exactly the way you described. It doesn't have locking tuners. I was under the impression JPs locking tuners should eliminate any tuning instability even with a non-locking tremolo.

 

[bkrumme]

I am wondering were you talking about floating tremolos in general or JP's tremolo in particular? I have a couple of FloydRose-equipped guitars which return EXACTLY to the same pitch not only after bends but also after deep dives too. I also have another guitar with a Wilkinson tremolo which behaves exactly the way you described.

Floating trems in general. This is simple physics and I guarantee you if you plug a good strobe tuner into those guitars you would find they're not going back to exactly the same pitch. I'm sure they are close enough that you can't tell by ear, but not with a *good* tuner. A real FR tremolo will be much more stable than others due to the locking nut as well. You rely solely on the tension of the springs once you lock it down and take the tuning keys out of the picture. Also, like I said before, even guitars with hard-tail bridges will be slightly off after a bend.

Paolo's problem seems a little bigger than this, though. It's going out of tune by 20 cents, which is very noticeable both by ear and with a tuner. 1/5 of a semitone will produce the "doppler effect" when you play that string with the others. This is the same thing that happens when the intonation is not set properly but your guitar is in tune.

I still say take the guitar to a luthier or tech and have them check it out. If you took it to one in the first place, take it to a different one. Get a "second opinion" if you know what I mean.

 

[PaoloGilberto]

That's my opinion too, even with a FR and locking nut as far as I've seen on other guitars, after bending if you check with a tuner it is slightly off.

back to my JP, I changed strings on Sunday, put some graphite on the nut slots (that is not very easy if you want clean fretboard after ) and I will wait to see in the next days (I only played 2 hours).

the big problem is we don't have professional luthiers here (Romania), there is no such a school , and those so called luthiers are people who learned alone , away from any formal training in this.

Floating trems in general. This is simple physics and I guarantee you if you plug a good strobe tuner into those guitars you would find they're not going back to exactly the same pitch. I'm sure they are close enough that you can't tell by ear, but not with a *good* tuner. A real FR tremolo will be much more stable than others due to the locking nut as well. You rely solely on the tension of the springs once you lock it down and take the tuning keys out of the picture. Also, like I said before, even guitars with hard-tail bridges will be slightly off after a bend.

Paolo's problem seems a little bigger than this, though. It's going out of tune by 20 cents, which is very noticeable both by ear and with a tuner. 1/5 of a semitone will produce the "doppler effect" when you play that string with the others. This is the same thing that happens when the intonation is not set properly but your guitar is in tune.

I still say take the guitar to a luthier or tech and have them check it out. If you took it to one in the first place, take it to a different one. Get a "second opinion" if you know what I mean.