Ham fisted idiot with a new guitar needs advice

[Peet]

Great first post. I laughed!

I still had tuning issues with 9’s despite fixing everything else. Changing to 10’s was the best thing I ever did. And shouldn’t be hard for you coming from an acoustic.

Based on the information in this thread, I have a pretty good idea that I'll be having a setup done, change the nut and change to 10's. I will give it some time as is, just so I'm sure about what I need and want.

 

[Herr Squid]

I play 9s on my custom 24 and 10s on my 594s. After hanging on the wall for a week, they are all always sharp. This normal.

Heh!

I play 10s on all my electrics. After hanging on the wall for a week, they are all always flat. This for me is normal.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Slightly obvious comment -

If there’s any slack string between the nut and the tuner, this may be part of your problem. Apologies if it’s too simple an answer.

Like you, I always stretch my strings several times, even when they’ve been on the guitar for a few days.

I play acoustic quite a lot and the transition between that and electric takes a bit of time. I try to think of them as completely different instruments. A bit like swapping between 25.5 inch scale 22 fret and 25 inch scale 24 fret, your hand/arm have to get used to being in totally different places.

Enjoy the journey

 

[owickerman]

I play 9 on all my guitars (I do not have any acoustic). After hanging on the wall for several days, they are in tune.
However, I set up my PRS's very carefuly following the advices of this guy :

Hope it helps

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I think it depends on the country you live in, weather conditions, humidity and even where the guitar is stored (wall mounted/guitar stand) etc.

Cold = sharp (metal contracts)
Warm = flat (metal expands)

I can take my electric (wall mounted) cold, playing sharp. After 5 minutes of playing it has warmed in my hands and is in tune!

A long way of saying, don’t worry, be happy!

 

[shinksma]

I use 10s on all my electrics. I used to use 9s, but after playing a lot of acoustic, I found 10s were a much better feel.

Yes, you will grip your notes/chords too much for 9s, and send everything sharp.

Get some 10s on there, get some nut lubricant in the nut slots, and you should have a much better experience! You might need to so a slight setup adjustment (usually just a slight tightening the trem springs in the cavity underneath).

 

[owickerman]

You mean some https://crimsonguitars.com/store/slippery-slots-nut-sauce/