PRS Tremonti won't stay in tune

[Pepperpotty]

Hi guys,

The other day I bought a Tremonti SE custom. It plays beautifully and I'm instantly in love with it. However, it has real tuning issues. If I re-tune it then it is out of key before I have even struck a note. Mostly it goes sharp but occasionally it will go flat. The 3 bottom strings seem to be worse effected although they all go out to some extent.

Usually I would take it back but I got this as an open box deal and it's the only one they have so if I return it then I'll have to buy it from somewhere else for considerably more.

I've played it for about 8 or 9 hours over the past 4 days so the strings should be well and truly broken in although I haven't tried changing them. That would be my next step but again I'm wary of doing that in case I have to return it.

I guess my main concern is the floating bridge and if perhaps that is causing the guitar to go out of tune. (I don't use the tremolo).

Any help here would be greatly appreciated as I really don't want to have to part with this baby.

Thanks in advance,

Emma

 

[DoctorLad7]

Could be string binding, have a good look at the nut, they are often cut quite narrow on SEs, causing the strings to catch.

 

[flimbo]

+1 to that. Also put some pencil graphite in the slots.

 

[Res]

I've started abusing my SE Tremonti Custom's trem recently and it stays in tune fine. Great guitar.

In the beginning, I had problems with it staying in tune too. Get it set up with 0.09 strings and lube the nut. That should do it.

 

[Michael B]

sounds like a setup issue, like intonation or the way the bridge is set. That with string binding at the nut will give you issues. Check your truss rod as well, could be a combination of all these things...good luck

 

[Pepperpotty]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm definitely going to take a look at the nuts. I've fallen in love with this guitar so I'll be doing whatever I can to get it fixed.

Emma

 

[vchizzle]

Emma, the store you bought it from should set it up for you for free. I mean, you bought a guitar from them...it should be in proper working order when you buy it. I set all my guitars up myself, but if I bought something new and it didn't play right out of the box, I'd make the store take care of it. Sounds like a nut issue to me too, the strings need to move freely and not bind at the nut for the guitar to stay in tune. Could have intonation issues as well. I'd ask the shop for a full set up on the guitar since it doesn't stay in tune.

 

[Pepperpotty]

Emma, the store you bought it from should set it up for you for free. I mean, you bought a guitar from them...it should be in proper working order when you buy it. I set all my guitars up myself, but if I bought something new and it didn't play right out of the box, I'd make the store take care of it. Sounds like a nut issue to me too, the strings need to move freely and not bind at the nut for the guitar to stay in tune. Could have intonation issues as well. I'd ask the shop for a full set up on the guitar since it doesn't stay in tune.

Ideally yes I would take it back and get them to fix it. However, I purchased it on the internet and the store is 200 miles away from me. I think I'll email the store though before I go ahead and start tinkering with it and see if there is anything they can do.

 

[alantig]

Emma - had to go back to read the OP again because I wasn't sure how long you'd had the guitar, but you said 4 or 5 days, which should be enough for any adjustments from environmental changes.


Forgive me if sounds insulting - it's truly not meant to be - but when you tune the guitar, do you make one pass over the strings or multiple passes? You said you wondered if it's the bridge and that you don't use the bar - it's not all that uncommon to need a second or even third pass with a trem because of how the bridge and strings adjust as you change the tuning. You can hear this if you play a fretted note and an open string together and bend the note.


Otherwise, the advice in this thread is spot on - it's likely to be the nut or the intonation.


Good luck with it! And congrats!

 

[dogrocketp]

Replace the nut, I have 6 SE's, and have replaced the nut on all of them. Make sure you use a good luthier. He/she will set up the guitar when the nut is installed, with new strings of your choice. I use the bar on my Tremonti SE and it stays well in tune, but not before the nut replacement. I prefer either the graph tech Tusq nut, or a PRS USA nut, personally.

 

[HANGAR18]

You need new strings before you do anything else.

 

[Coldvisions34]

New nut asap... SE nuts are only cut for 9's and will bind anything else. Some will even bind the 9's. Like dogrocket said Graphtech TUSQ XL or a PRS USA one. If you don't wanna mess with that then try putting some nut sauce on it and a fresh set of strings on it and see if it helps first.

 

[Pepperpotty]

alantig - I'm not insulted at all. I'm tuning each string and then going back over it around 2 or 3 times before it stays in tune but I'm not using the trem at all so it shouldn't be that.

dogrocketp - I'm not going to replace the nuts just yet as it's a new guitar and that should be fixed under warranty.

I'm definitely going to change the strings on it and try a little graphite and see if that helps.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Emma

 

[flimbo]

Let us know how you get on.

 

[shinksma]

If the guitar was an "open box", then quite possibly someone else bought it, put higher gauge strings on it, found it didn't stay in tune because they didn't lube the nut or perhaps it is just a poorly cut nut (they seem to occur, since other folks report it, although in my personal experience all of my SEs have been fine - YMMV, obviously).

It is also possible that higher gauge strings, even just up one from 9s to 10s, would cause the trem bridge to get a little too sensitive - so a bridge set up by adjusting the spring tension might be needed.

When the guitar was returned it had the same strings on it, perhaps 10s or 11s, and the tuning instability remains.

If you can measure the string gauge, that would be one place to start. Swap out to 9s if 10s or 11s are installed.

Otherwise, even with 9s installed, maybe the term bridge needs a bit of adjustment via the spring tension.

I dunno, just tossing ideas out there.

EDIT: One more thing: if you never changed the strings from the ones that came on the guitar, it is possible they are just bad/old strings. If the guitar sat for a while in the store after being returned then it might just need a new set.

 

[Pepperpotty]

EDIT: One more thing: if you never changed the strings from the ones that came on the guitar, it is possible they are just bad/old strings. If the guitar sat for a while in the store after being returned then it might just need a new set.

That's what I was thinking. I asked the guitar shop and they said the strings were done about a month ago but I don't know what guage they are. I'm going to try switching them this afternoon for a set of 10's. Not ideal I know but at the mo I'm playing a lot of Alter Bridge and Creed and they do love to drop those notes!

 

[MotorPro]

My se245 would not stay in tune. I took off the 10s that Guitar Center assured me was what it should have and put on 9s. Never had a nother problem. I suggest change the nut, file the nut or stick to the 9s.

 

[swede71]

I'm with alantig.....it takes time to tune a floating trem.

 

[wdpowel]

SE's are made for 009's not 10's so the strings need to change for sure. Most likely that is all you would need. I also changed the nut on my SE for a regular PRS nut and changed the trem springs for regular PRS trem strings. Teflon lube on the string path - anywhere the string touches metal. There also is a right way, or at least a best way to string standard tuners. wrap and loop back and under once so string tension holds it down and don't have more than 2 or at most three winds around the tuning peg. The string wrap can also be a cause for not staying in tune with a trem so as little as possible with standard tuners is a good thing.

 

[flimbo]

Yeah, try and put 009's on it and make sure it's strung properly on the pegs. The less winds the better.