A Daft Question re string tension

[Sprocket]

With the concept of the strings expanding and contracting.... then even these guitars would lose tuning, negating the concept of a a graphite guitar.

Subtle changes in temperature will effect even a carbon fiber guitar...and its not just the strings, its mostly the body and neck(less the strings) that change with the temp and humidity.

Just imagine this black guitar sitting in the shade, in tune...now imagine this black guitar now sitting in the sun for 5 minutes, out of tune.

Try this, tune your guitar indoors...now walk outside and sit on the back porch, within minutes the tuning is out the window, without even playing anything.(unless of course youve got the house/windows open)

[Geir]

My monies on the rock elves!

My money's on your hot playing .....

When the guitar cools down the string tightens.  Coming from a a country with large temerature differences I'v ecperiensed many times that I have to retune my guitar after getting it warmed up .... if I put it down for a while it will be a bit sharp

[Sprocket]

Hey 48, have you reached any conclusions with this?
Topics like this always leave me wondering long after the posting stops.

[OsCKilO]

My monies on the rock elves!

Hey........

They are my rock elves........



I want them back.....

[tony]

I thought I understood this (because I'd never really thought about it) but all my instruments live in the same room but, over time, the Strat copy goes a little bit flat, the acoustic goes very flat, the archtop almost nothing but on the flat side (it is 40 yrs old and has no truss rod - that wood is going nowhere) but the mandolin always goes sharp.

I suppose strings (and string type), truss rod and machine heads, any combination thereof, and then factor in humidity and temperature and probably a few things we haven't thought about.

Guitars are so simple, aren't they?

[launched]

Is it windshield/bug, or elf/santa - take your pick...


I think this whole post is related to "How many weeks can I go without having to tune my guitar" 

[tony]

I think this whole post is related to "How many weeks can I go without having to tune my guitar" 

Weeks!  I have a Republic Parlor Guitar that is goes out of tune if somebody walking by in the street farts.

[launched]

That's funny! Actually, I never tune a guitar hardly unless I'm going to lay a track down.

But I'll tell you what - Sometimes they aren't off by much, except when the strings are new. When the strings are new it takes a while for them to "set in".

[OsCKilO]

Someone once said to me:-

"It is polite to tune....."

[Tony W]

48 once told me to tune, my recordings sound good for the first 30 seconds or so, then go bad. He was even polite enough to tell me that it was the 1st 2nd and 3rd string.

After 10 more recordings where he told me I had a tuning issue, we found out that the chart had the extended blues scale starting on the wrong fret!