Unusual overnight tuning changes for SE Paul's Guitar

[Louie S]

I purchased this guitar online, used from an authorized dealer. I've had this guitar for about a month now. I installed some new D'Addario EXL110 XL 10-46 strings. It initially had string buzzing on the lower frets that I was able to eliminate by adjusting the truss rod to about .008" relief on the 8th fret.

However, every morning when I tune up to practice all the strings are a couple of cents sharp. This is my first electric but none of my acoustics behaved this way. If anything they would go slightly flat if they shifted at all.

This guitar and my acoustic are out on stands all the time. The PRS is on one that holds the body only, not hanging from the head stock.

I live on the coast in southern California so the humidity are pretty consistent and I have never seen any problems with my other instruments.

I do notice that after plucking a string if I push just slightly forward on the neck I can bring it back in tune momentarily. In the same fashion as you can add some vibrato to a chord by pushing and pulling on the neck.

I am curious to hear if anyone else has experienced similar behavior. And/or anyone has any explanation or understanding of what is happening.

thanks,

-louie

 

[aphantomvaper]

Maybe you are tuning "down" to the proper note and not "up"? Its a stop tail guitar so not much should be moving around over night.

 

[Stephen J.]

Sounds normal to me. Play it a little bit and get it all warmed up and then check the tuning.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

If your room cools down a little overnight, the strings will cool and go slightly sharp.

 

[dogrocketp]

Add another thing to that. If you didn't quite get the truss rod adjusted properly, this would happen.

 

[Black-Viper75]

If your room cools down a little overnight, the strings will cool and go slightly sharp.

The culprit in my house has been revealed.

 

[Sybo]

I have one of those culprits, all part of it........

 

[Louie S]

If your room cools down a little overnight, the strings will cool and go slightly sharp.

Ok that makes sense. Thanks

 

[Louie S]

Add another thing to that. If you didn't quite get the truss rod adjusted properly, this would happen.

Hmm, now I'm curious. Can you explain more about this. Adjusting the truss rod seems pretty straight forward but I am definitely interested learn more.

 

[dogrocketp]

This can’t really be explained well in a paragraph. The first thing I would do if it were my guitar, would be to buy a new nut, and take it to a qualified luthier and have it set up properly. Have him/her put the nut on. Watch closely, and talk to them about what they’re doing. There’s a learning curve here. You can’t just walk up to a guitar, turn the truss rod with a wrench and expect it to be right. You need to know what the goal is before you reach for it. Admittedly, I’m as fussy as hell about intonation. Remember Paul’s motto, “Everything affects everything.” It took me 40 years before I was happy with making my adjustments.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Ok that makes sense. Thanks

No problems

 

[vchizzle]

Sounds normal to me. Play it a little bit and get it all warmed up and then check the tuning.

This.
Not uncommon. Usually playing a little bit- some chords, bending notes, some vibrato will bring it back real close.

edit: Better to do this quick first before you even tune. Otherwise you tune everything down, then everything is flat after you play a song. Doesn’t take long. A quick minute is usually enough.

 

[Rider1260]

NORMAL my guitars often go sharp ( but not always ) after hanging unused or on a stand ( all of them regardless of brand ) my acoustics also don't do it very often.
Not really an issue I tune all the time anyway.

 

[CandidPicker]

...I've had this guitar for about a month now. I installed some new D'Addario EXL110 XL 10-46 strings. It initially had string buzzing on the lower frets that I was able to eliminate by adjusting the truss rod to about .008" relief on the 8th fret.

However, every morning when I tune up to practice all the strings are a couple of cents sharp. This is my first electric but none of my acoustics behaved this way. If anything they would go slightly flat if they shifted at all.

am curious to hear if anyone else has experienced similar behavior. And/or anyone has any explanation or understanding of what is happening.

thanks,

-louie

Louie,

Even if you hang the guitars on hangers, or set them out on stands, detuning is normal for many newly strung electrics, including PRS. Strings require some stretching to work out the detune issue. When you change strings next time, be sure to stretch them thoroughly several times by pulling up or bending as much as you think reasonable, then tuning up into correct pitch, not down.

Room temperature or humidity variations overnight will invariably cause a slight detune. If perhaps you've owned Floyd Rose-equipped guitars, I'd say less so. Also, if your guitars don't have locking tuners, this increases the chance of detune slightly. But SE non-locking tuners? Normal.

 

[DISTORT6]

Clearly it’s paranormal activity.

 

[CandidPicker]

Clearly it’s paranormal activity.

You just need another...

 

[Louie S]

Hi all, It's been awhile but I've made some changes and have some new outcomes to report.

I started noticing some intonation issues especially on the low E. Also the string height at the 1st fret was pretty high making the F and Bb particularly difficult to accomplish. Long story short, I got the appropriate tools, fret files. etc. and set about doing my own setup. Thankfully PRS support site has all the necessary specifications for their recommended default settings.

It took me all of 2 hours on the dinning room table to work through all the steps including carefully sanding down the stock nut that the fret files would fit in to the slots. I got a little worried when checking after the initial filing of the nut slots there was a loud buzz on the open high E. Once I determined that it wasn't hitting the 1st fret I figured out that there needed to be more angle cut down towards the back of the nut. That solved the buzzing.

I also replaced the D'Addario EXL110 XL strings with PRS Signature 10-46. One warning here though, be careful when stretching the high E. As I found out it is extremely easy break that string. Luckily I had a spare set which I robbed.

After tuning up I addressed adjusting the intonation. I was concerned that my Korg mini tuner might not be up to the task. However, it worked perfectly. Both the base and treble were a bit sharp and it turned out be easy tune the 12th fret harmonic then check the same fretted and use the allen key to adjust the stop tail bridge while watching the tuner. This took a couple of iterations on each end but when I was done, as stated in the instructions all the other strings had the correct intonation.

So now the results:

Play-ability - very improved especially for 1st fret bar cords.
Intonation - correct, notes and chords that sounded sharp before nom sound correct

Unexpected results:

The new signature strings are really nice. I initially discounted Paul's comments in the video announcement for the signature series. But I immediately could hear what he was talking about. I find that the overtones present with these strings are delightful for my basic style of clean to mild overdrive.

These strings hold tune, period! No more de-tuning every morning. It is nice to have my instrument basically stable. This gives me more confidence in my guitar that it is behaving predictably. Must be something about those D'Addario strings that they are more sensitive to temperature or something. Anyway from here on out I'm sticking with PRS signature strings.

One of my main take always form this is that I will probably always insist on a basic setup when ever purchasing another guitar. And at least start with the factory recommended accessories. That will give me a good baseline for how the guitar was intended to play and sound.

I hope that you find this is useful.

-louie

 

[Draconomics]

Glad to hear these issues are ironed out. As an addendum, you are correct. A basic setup is always recommended and start with factory settings then go from there. It'll be about what you like and what the guitar will allow. PRS is really good about giving you all the specs you need and making them accessible to all.

A word of caution, remember the neck moves most during the first week after purchase, so do a setup after that time. Also recommend a full setup once a season....err, at least a truss rod tweak.

 

[Proteus]

If you ever get a guitar in tune, weld it there.

 

[RC Mike]

Wood and metal react differently to changes in temperature. If where you keep your guitar changes temperature, like most homes, it’ll need to be tuned.