5 Reasons Your Guitar Won't Stay in Tune

Do you have problems keeping your guitar in tune? Before you think about swapping out your tuners, check out this video. StewMac guitar tech Gene Imbody shows you five of the most common tuning issues - and how to fix them.

0:00 Intro
00:28 Problem #1: The Strings
02:03 Problem #2: The Tuners
03:12 Problem #3: The Bridge
04:49 Problem #4: Intonation
06:42 Problem #5: The Nut

Products used in this video include:

The String Stretcha

Gauged Nut Slotting Files

Nut and Saddle Shaping Files

4" Radius Blocks

Snark ST-2 Super Tight Instrument Tuner

Digital Nut Slotting Gauge

StewMac Safe Slot Nut Guard
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Instagram: @StewMac_Guitar

[WeyounSix]

Changing my intonation to help with open chords was the biggest mind blower in this video!!!

[brianmckenzie]

Kudos StewMac!!! For actually showing how to cut the nut slots for a 3 + 3!!! Everyone always says " get a properly cut nut", but no one really shows it!

[eddiejr]

Probably the best nut cutting explanation I have ever seen…well done my man!!!!

[permit]

The intonation section was the best I have found on YouTube! Thank you.

[peteralerich]

I've seen countless videos about fancy tuning post string wrapping techniques. It's nice to see Stew Mac confirm the method I have been using for 45 years with excellent results. Good info on tempering the intonation. It's indeed a compromise.

[kaskas]

2 wraps on the wound strings, 3 wraps on the thinner strings + proper stretching of the strings. Stays in tune well.

Great tips! Thanks Stewmac.

[kaskas]

The simplest explanation on nut height slotting! Thanks again Stewmac!

[crobilly]

Gosh, thank you. I genuinely appreciate the way you either demonstrated or illustrated each of the variables. I discovered that my technic and understanding was incorrect and I created most of my own hurdles . Again thank you for your time and effort to create and publish this video...!!

[PipeCat]

I really like this guy. Just when I think I know everything, I pick something up from him on almost every video. Great stuff.

[Florida_Living]

This is great Gene! Clear, concise and explained masterfully. Every guitar player should see this video, it would have saved me a ton of confusion and headache my first few years of playing!

[peatmarshnotfound]

I have chased intonation perfection forever and setting it to where an individual plays on the neck makes so much sense. Thank you!

[PhoenixGuitars]

The problem with that many wraps around the tuning posts is with a non locking trem. As soon as you use the bar downwards, the strings slack and will unravel slightly at the posts. This is my experience anyway. The over then under technique creates a natural lock with less wraps. This is probably completely fine for your hard tail bridges. Great video in any case! Thanks!

[jo-umyf]

Outstanding video! I loved how everything was broken down in a logical and clear manner. More of this, please!!!!

[valuedhumanoid]

Tuning a half step high is a good way to stretch strings also. Go a half step higher, noodle around and use very exaggerated bends. Then final tune. The stretcher tool is a hook and heel stick that works very well. ALWAYS use lube. Graphite, Vaseline or what I use is Bog Benz Nut Sauce. Also, run some sandpaper over the slots on the bridge saddles. The smoother they are, the easier the string can move freely. The last bonus tip is probably the most important. I see students that think you have to push the string into the fretboard and leave an imprint to fret a note properly. Ease up on fretting and picking. Unless you're Pete Townsend and doing the big windmill strum, don't dig the pick into the string like you're trying to lift it. Just the tip of the pick is all you need. Watch someone like Michael Angelo Batio pick. His picking hand moves just enough to make the string move, no more. That's going to keep your guitar in tune forever.

[JohnOhkumaThiel]

The bonus tips are pure gold. And as a formally trained and experienced musician all my life, born again musician on guitar three and a half years ago, he's really hit the most essential mark here.

Something I never heard any instructor mention for guitar beginners which I think is essential, the key to playing in tune and faster has nothing to do with gear at all. It's about technique. And the greatest general tip about that is to minimize your movement. The string doesn't need to and shouldn't be pressed down to the wood. You just need the string to touch the fret.

And by the way, about frets, they should be polished. When you have frets with actual grooves in them from wear and tear, that's a problem. It's very easy to learn to clean your fretboard, polish the frets, and oil the fretboard. You only need to do it about twice a year. I typically do it Spring and Autumn. Cheap guitars have cheap frets, and they wear and tear faster.

[DolfMuccillo]

One of the best guitar maintenance videos I have seen! Thank you!

[enrobsot]

Great job with the video - clear and easy to understand!

[RyanChenMusic]

Also off of problem 4, check your frets. If they have visible wear (like dents), the point of contact will be shifted forward, causing notes to be sharp. This happened to me—my unwrapped strings likes to dig into the first few frets over time. A refret fixed my first position intonation issues.

[psofoss]

this guy is super good on explaining things! i look forward for the strat bridge setup!!

[Sledr]

Oh, finally somebody who gibes the right importance to the right setup rather than to (generally) useless locking tuners! Once you wind the string a couple of times around the peghead, it is reeeeally difficult that tuning issues will be related to the supposed lack of friction of the string, which once again supposedly runs freely in the peghead hole.
Nut, bridge and correct intonation are what really matters.