I have to say that I love Les Pauls. I love the way they look, feel, and sound. Plus, the historical aspect of this iconic guitar design is undeniable. However, there is one issue that plagues Les Pauls that I just got fed up with… Tuning.
No matter what you do, Les Pauls just don’t stay in tune as good as many other brands or designs. I tried replacing the original nut, switching out the bridge, replacing the tuning machines, and lubricating the nut and saddle pieces. It helped with about 60% of the tuning instability, but there was still an issue.
This isn’t the first time this has happened to me either. I’ve had two Les Pauls and two Nighthawks, and they all had the same issue to some degree.
I’m in a position where I shoot videos by myself and have to take care of the video, lighting, audio, performance, and editing. The last thing I need when doing all of this is to worry about tuning my guitar for every take or after every few notes. So… I did it. I sold my last Les Paul. Sorry to rant, but it’s so frustrating when you love the vibe of a guitar so much, but the functionality just isn’t there. As you can see from the video, I’ve kind of converted over to PRS guitars. They just stay in tune so much better, and the quality control is better too.
So I have a couple of questions for you:
What is your favorite brand of guitar?
What tips do you have for helping keep your guitar in tune?
Will you tolerate tuning issues like this for the tone and vibe of a guitar?
I’d love to own a Les Paul again someday, but until they fix the inherent issue, I just can’t do it anymore.
Thanks for listening to me vent, ;)
Nate
I’m a fender guy for some reason Probably bc it’s the first thing I ever owned. is it just me or when drop tuning you have to tune it down more than once. De-tune, Play a little. Then tune it down again bc the first tuning didn’t stick. Lol.
Yep your right about the tuning on the Les Paul. hubby has tuned the recent acquisitions ie last week to open E so it seems to it doesn’t seem get out of tune as often…. Except that G string I‘m always messing with on Any guitar, what would we do without our snark tuners…. But the PRS is an outstanding instrument….also just ask Carlos. 😃
Hi Nate, I am sorry about you selling your Les Paul, here my tip from Guitar Tech I went from 10 -46 gauge strings , and I play lot and they start feel like Rubber bands in 1997 so my Guitar tech told me to move up to 11-49 daddario Jazz Rock blues gauge and my action on my Les Paul set at medium,because I am heavy handed with left handed and heavy hand picker on my right hand?, That solve problem and using pencil at nut and then chapstick at nut,I am think about going to Light Top and Heavy Bottom 10-52 and change out 17 gauge string to 18 or 19 gauge string and that solve problem with…
I'm not qualified to comment on Electric since I never play one.
In terms of Acoustic Guitar Brands, I think Yamaha doesn't get the credit it deserves. I know it doesn't have the cache of Martin and Taylor among others, but the quality is consistent, and the value is better.
Ha! And I thought it was just me!