ESP Viper with Sperzal tuners question

[TREC]

Hi there, I have an ESP Viper with Sperzal tuners, sounds and feels great except the bloody thing goes out of tune all the time. I can tune it up and a little something and then it goes out of tune usually sharp.

Any ideas what could be the problem? It is frustrating me.

Thanks in advance

 

[Don]

Are they locking tuners?

If they are locking, they should only have about 1/2-3/4 of a wrap on them.

As long as the tuners are not broken and are mounted to the guitar securely the tuning problem is probably at the nut.

Does it make pinging noises when you're tuning the guitar?

Does the guitar have a vibrato? They can be tricky to set up correctly to stay in tune.

I have a guitar with Sperzel locking tuners and a graphite nut and it stays in tune very well.

 

[TREC]

Cheers Don, yeah they are locking tuners with no trem. Yeah I have heard about the pinging thing, might put some graphite. Its a new guitar and everything is on right. How tight should I do up the screws on the machine heads?

Cheers

Are they locking tuners?

If they are locking, they should only have about 1/2-3/4 of a wrap on them.

As long as the tuners are not broken and are mounted to the guitar securely the tuning problem is probably at the nut.

Does it make pinging noises when you're tuning the guitar?

Does the guitar have a vibrato? They can be tricky to set up correctly to stay in tune.

I have a guitar with Sperzel locking tuners and a graphite nut and it stays in tune very well.

 

[Don]

As long as the tuner's mounting nut is snug and the button mounting screw is snug enough to make the button feel good while tuning (not loose, not binding), there's no other adjustment to the Sperzels.

You can try graphite or a dedicated lube like Nut Sauce on the nut. Unfortunately, new guitar's nuts are not often cut very well.

Have you tried a new set of strings? Are you using the same gage that the guitar came with? Larger strings can bind in the nut. Sometimes strings themselves can be a problem.

 

[TREC]

Yeah I have chnged the strings a few times, when I said new I have had it for nearly a year that I bought new. I think the graphite on the nut thing might work as the intonation is all good so it really leaves the nut.

Thanks again Don

As long as the tuner's mounting nut is snug and the button mounting screw is snug enough to make the button feel good while tuning (not loose, not binding), there's no other adjustment to the Sperzels.

You can try graphite or a dedicated lube like Nut Sauce on the nut. Unfortunately, new guitar's nuts are not often cut very well.

Have you tried a new set of strings? Are you using the same gage that the guitar came with? Larger strings can bind in the nut. Sometimes strings themselves can be a problem.

 

[sean106alcon]

If they are locking, they should only have about 1/2-3/4 of a wrap on them.

This.

I read somewhere to stretch the string all the way.....the back the string back a fret or fret and a half..........then tighten. You for sure are not to over wrap them. See if that helps. But sounds like the nut is the issue.

 

[iceman]

I have sprezels on my ESP fx. I wasn't impressed with them at all, my strings don't stay in tune that great. My ec1000 has ESP locking tuners with an earvana nut and it stays in tune perfectly, plus the ESP tuners seem more solid than the sprezels. It also seems like
I can't make very fine adjustments. The situation has improved a bit with use, but I'm actually considering swapping them out.

 

[gonzald1]

I would like to suggest to do the following:

1. Most of the time the manufacturer will recommend the string gauge to use. If the original string came with the guitar is 9 and if you use 10 then sometimes it will cause it to go out of tune. Why is that? because the string slot on the nut is accommodated for 9 if you put a 10 in that slut sometimes the nut spacing is a little narrow and it pinches the string (this is notorious - problems on G ). I had this problem before and I ended it up filing the string nut space to make it wider. Be careful when doing this. you don't want to file it down.

2. If you have a locking tuner then i suggest making the string turn about a little over half or so. that's what the locking tuner is for to hold it down to keep it from going out of tune.

3. Check your intonation. Always do this when replacing your guitar strings.

4. Check the bridge make sure it's set right.

5. Check the guitar neck make sure it's not bowing. Sometimes it will do this when you put heavier string gauge.