[rickzedd]

I just bought this guitar and i've had it only a week, i love the guitar but the damn thing won't stay in tune? Has anyone had this experience? I'm thinking I'm gonna take it back and get something else that stays in tune properly.

 

[ChrisReedSmith]

Well you could try replacing the nut with a well-cut graphite one. Or installing locking tuners. But both would void your ability of returning it.

Are the strings the ones they came with the guitar? If so I wouldn't trust them. Anytime I buy a guitar I ALWAYS take it home and set it up myself with my own strings.

If it means anything, I had an SZ520 which held tune just find. But then again
I installed locking tuners on it the afternoon I brought it home!

 

[Guitslinger]

I just bought this guitar and i've had it only a week, i love the guitar but the damn thing won't stay in tune? Has anyone had this experience? I'm thinking I'm gonna take it back and get something else that stays in tune properly.

The setup from the factory on the SZ2020 kind of sucks, and contributes to tuning problems. Mine came with the adjustable tuning pegs on the plain strings lowered as low as possible, which adds tension and causes the strings to bind in the nut slots. Likewise for the tailpiece, mine was as low as possible. With the setup as it was from the factory the action was so stiff I could hardly play it strung with 9's. Everytime I'd bend a note the string would go out of tune. I raised the height of the tuner shafts on the plain strings, and raised the tailpiece two full turns on each screw. The action is much slinkier now. I also opened the slots on the nut up with files and sandpaper. See if your dealer will give it the once over and do some fine tuning on it.

 

[Vinco]

I had tuning stability problems with my rga121.

This is what I did to solve that:
1) Use an old string as a filler gauge to round the edge of the nut (on the side of the tuner). USe the string gauge corresponding to the nut slot.
2) Use a pencil put some carbon in the nut slot to reduce friction.
3) Make a correct knot on the string to avoid its slipage from the tuner.
4) Strech strings properly

Locking nuts and tremolos give very bad habits! Using non-locking nut and bridge requires to come back to basics.

Here is a good tutorial from the PRS camp on how to properly install your strings. Very efficient! See "vintage tuner section"

http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/tuners.html

Hope this will help!

 

[Vinco]

Major point!

If you can hear the string "pinging" when tuning it, the slot might be to tight for the string. Your dealer should be able to deal with that kind of issue.

Ciao!

 

[stealthgerm]

fortunate enough not to have problems with my SZ2020, just that the guitar was set with very low action out of th box, it's the first guitar which actually had the action raised when i brought it home.

if you think that the machine heads were set down too low into the headstock to an extent that they cause problems at the nut, be informed that they are height adjustable.

 

[Guitslinger]

fortunate enough not to have problems with my SZ2020, just that the guitar was set with very low action out of th box, it's the first guitar which actually had the action raised when i brought it home.

if you think that the machine heads were set down too low into the headstock to an extent that they cause problems at the nut, be informed that they are height adjustable.

Did yours come with the tailpiece lowered all the way?

 

[stealthgerm]

no, there's still allowance to slip through a credit card underneath. ok maybe 2 credit cards...