Gibson Les Paul Setup:

Inspector #20

Inspector #20

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Hey, Guys...student has a new Les Paul and the high e keeps going flat after a bend. New Ernie Ball .010's. No sign of bridge movement, nut slot looks clean and about 3 winds on the keys. No pinking when tuning up or down.

All other strings are stable.

More winds??? Half Hitch??? Thoughts???
 
If it is loose winds on the peg, eventually it will stabilise. I recently had a string going flat and it was untwisting at the ball end. Most likely though it is the nut, even if it is apparently OK.
 
DonP said:
If it is loose winds on the peg, eventually it will stabilise. I recently had a string going flat and it was untwisting at the ball end. Most likely though it is the nut, even if it is apparently OK.
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DonP nails it. Stretch it a bit and retune, if it keeps going flat run a pencil through the nut slot. Keeps going flat after that its binding and the slot needs to be dressed.
 
gball said:
DonP nails it. Stretch it a bit and retune, if it keeps going flat run a pencil through the nut slot. Keeps going flat after that its binding and the slot needs to be dressed.
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Cool. I have Stewie-Mac nut saws and rounded profile rasps in all the size ranges....
 
You should be able to gently dress the slot without changing the depth.
I have had a couple give way at the ball as well, with those symptoms when all else was in order.

You can also check for binding by doing bends, then behind the nut bends and see how it reacts on the tuner.
 
kevinpaul said:
That has been my goal, I'm trying to put locking tuners on every guitar l play. Some stuff I don't want to touch and some are not worth it. Don I agree with you completely.
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I never had an issue with vintage tuners on my SG or my Double Neck...I put locking tuners on my Von Herndon prototypes only because I thought it would make them more popular, not because I think they arr needed.
 
jtcnj said:
You should be able to gently dress the slot without changing the depth.
I have had a couple give way at the ball as well, with those symptoms when all else was in order.

You can also check for binding by doing bends, then behind the nut bends and see how it reacts on the tuner.
Click to expand...

I personally think its binding in the nut. More to follow.
 
I have drilled some head stocks and that was ok. On my Fenders I used an ice pick for pilot holes.
I don't want to mess with my Martin. It seems I put it off a long time and now that I have it I can't bring myself to mess with it. Every thing is so perfect and I'm not so I leave it as is.
 
Could be green wood I have the same issue with my 2015 SG unplayable. I pulled out my 2001 Custom Shop Les Paul it's been in the case since 2002 still in tune and stayed in tune.
After Gibson got raided who knows what wood they are using.

2015 SG 002.JPG
 
I have not played much because I was building that retarded Jazzmaster. However last night I had a me night and played for a couple hours. I think my Les Paul Standard sat on a stand all that time and it was in turn. My Great White Strat also was good to go. All locking tuners and very light gauge strings. I can kill a set of strings in two nights of playing.
 
67plexi said:
Could be green wood I have the same issue with my 2015 SG unplayable. I pulled out my 2001 Custom Shop Les Paul it's been in the case since 2002 still in tune and stayed in tune.
After Gibson got raided who knows what wood they are using.

View attachment 13049
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This one was a mystery for a while. Push on the string behind the nut and no change in pitch. Zero. Push on the string between the tailpiece and stopbar and it would go flat every time.

Started looking for bridge and/or saddle movement and found nothing...the noticed the mark on the string from the saddles's knife edge was moving toward the nut and the wrap on the high 'e' was scooting toward the stopbar....

I think this is just a string problem.
 
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