Help! Luke iii Tuning Issues (Bridge Posts)

[Xander]

Hi

Hope everyone is staying healthy and sane in these weird times.

I'm having issues with my Luke iii's tuning.

Whenever I bend, the guitar goes out of tune. A good ol whammy dive usually brings it back.

My guitar tech thinks that it could be the bridge posts that are worn.

The nut has been cleaned, lubed etc. I've also installed a trem stabilzer to see if it isn't just because the bridge doesn't return to its zero point, but the problem still persists.

Any input would be much appreciated.

What makes it tricky is that I live in South Africa, so replacing the posts isn't as simple as it would have been if I was in the States. Unless there are aftermarket posts that would fit. But I'm not finding info about this anywhere.

 

[DrKev]

Unlikely to be the posts. Perhaps the knife edges on the trem plate itself (some flaking of the plating on the edges is not abnormal and won't affect tuning stability), but have a read of this first...

Tuning Stability Checklist – DrKevGuitar.com

 

[Xander]

Thanks for the feedback, and the checklist.

The bridge has been set up with a trem stabiliser, which doesn't to move when bending. So I don't think that it's the bridge not returning to their zero point.

The nut has also been lubed, but it is a bit worn according to the guitar tech, so that might be a possibility. But in my mind (I'm just spitballing here), if the nut is the problem, then bending with the whammy should also take the guitar out of tune, which isn't happening.

Do you perhaps have any guidelines that can be used to figure out of the knife edges are worn to a point where they will likely affect the stability?

I need to try to narrow the problem down as much as possible before ordering anything, since being in South Africa would mean that parts are crazy expensive, so I can't just order everything that could possible be causing the problem.

 

[fbecir]

Hello

How old is your guitar ?
Really, in order to wear the knife edges you need to play a lot ...

 

[Xander]

The guitar is about 5 years old. But the previous owner is a session guitarist, so it's definitely been played a lot.

That being said, although the bridge is set up to float, he never used the whammy, played without the bar in most of the time. So in my mind (again, just an assumption), wearing of the knife edges, and the posts for that matter, would mostly be from using the whammy. So they shouldn't be worn.

I think I'll ask my guitar tech, who has the guitar at the moment, to send photos of the posts and the knife edges. I'm assuming that you should be able to see on a good photo if there's enough ware to cause tuning issues.