High E String Won't Tune to Pitch

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Wucan
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High E String Won't Tune to Pitch

Post by Wucan » Fri Jul 30, 2021 8:24 pm

I recently bought a Pawn Shop Mustang Special, which needed a bit of TLC - some cleaning, conditioning, polishing, taking out sharp fret edges and topping it off with some fresh strings. All went fine until I strung the high E string...

When I got the guitar it was tuned to standard just fine with 9's, but despite using the same gauge the string won't get up to pitch. It gets stuck at around C# and eventually snaps as the windings go nowhere. At first I thought it was I cut the string too short, so I bought a standalone 9 and made sure to leave some extra length. Still ran into the same issue - the string just looped around the tuner up until the same pitch, and the issue repeated itself.

I've never ran into this issue before and the guitar was tuned fine before the string change... any offseter might know what's going on?

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HarlowTheFish
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Re: High E String Won't Tune to Pitch

Post by HarlowTheFish » Sat Jul 31, 2021 12:41 am

I've seen this twice -- the first time, the tuner had a rough edge, so the string would get up to a certain pitch (Bb in my case), then the bit that went through the tuner would snap and it would just kinda stay there before eventually just coming off. The second time, there was a burr in the bridge that would cause the string to start unwinding at the ball end. Same as the other case, it would get up to a certain amount of tension before it crapped itself completely.

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Wucan
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Re: High E String Won't Tune to Pitch

Post by Wucan » Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:29 pm

HarlowTheFish wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 12:41 am
I've seen this twice -- the first time, the tuner had a rough edge, so the string would get up to a certain pitch (Bb in my case), then the bit that went through the tuner would snap and it would just kinda stay there before eventually just coming off. The second time, there was a burr in the bridge that would cause the string to start unwinding at the ball end. Same as the other case, it would get up to a certain amount of tension before it crapped itself completely.
Huh, I knew it probably had to do with the tuning peg because of where the string was snapping but didn't know what to look for.

I'll try smoothening it out and see whether that helps.

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echobaseone
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Re: High E String Won't Tune to Pitch

Post by echobaseone » Tue Aug 03, 2021 7:41 am

Assuming these are the Kluson style tuners...You might try sticking the end of a toothpick into the hole after inserting the string. I generally break the toothpick off even with the top of the peg and leave it (extracting with needlenose pliers at string change). I use 11s but I imagine it's even worse with 9s. Good luck!

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ChrisDesign
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Re: High E String Won't Tune to Pitch

Post by ChrisDesign » Wed Aug 04, 2021 9:29 pm

If you’re string is breaking always look for a burr.

My MIM jazzmaster kept breaking at the high e balm end. I looked and the tailpiece’s holes were tougher than hell’s mouth. Maybe the drill but broke while drilling out the holes and the factory just kept drilling anyway. Seriously, they are a disgrace to Fender.

I bought MIJ tremolo replacement with awesome QC, and the problem was solved.
"I own a '66 Jaguar. That's the guitar I polish, and baby - I refuse to let anyone touch it when I jump into the crowd." - Kurt Cobain

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Horsefeather
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Re: High E String Won't Tune to Pitch

Post by Horsefeather » Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:41 pm

Sometimes light strings will slip out of those safety tuners. You can prevent this by doing one of your wraps around only one of the two sides of the split post followed by another full wrap.

https://youtu.be/HdJSSQ9S7Ag

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DeathJag
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Re: High E String Won't Tune to Pitch

Post by DeathJag » Fri Aug 06, 2021 7:34 am

Horsefeather wrote:
Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:41 pm
Sometimes light strings will slip out of those safety tuners. You can prevent this by doing one of your wraps around only one of the two sides of the split post followed by another full wrap.

https://youtu.be/HdJSSQ9S7Ag
Dang I love that! I do not have a problem with breaking strings but I still love that.

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Wucan
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Re: High E String Won't Tune to Pitch

Post by Wucan » Fri Aug 06, 2021 9:44 pm

I ended up just polishing the tuning peg from low to high grit, then looped around as usual... now it's tuning up fine. Although next time around, the method Horsefeather posted seems foolproof so I'll just do that.

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