String Retainer on MIM Fender an Issue?

[selowitch]

Something seems amiss with the D string on my new MIM Jazz. It's tune seems to slip on occasion and I wonder if that means I need either to adjust the string retainer (raise it a bit) or even possibly replace it with something better, like this. Or is this likely to be an incorrect diagnosis?

[202dy]

You are correct. The only way the string retainer could have an effect on tuning is if there is a large burr where the string is in contact with the surface. If that is true there would be slack storage.

Tuning problems are usually attributed to the tuners. Slack storage is a condition caused by string slots in the nut that are not large enough to accommodate the full diameter of the string. The difference may only be a thousandth or two. It is usually observed on tremolo equipped guitars that are not equipped with a locking nut. The trem is dumped and slack is stored between the nut an the tuners. Guitar players usually fault the tremolo but the reason is that the nut slots that are too tight.

The same is true on guitars with fixed bridges. But here the culprit is tuning technique. The rule is that a string should only be tuned up to pitch, never down. If the string is tuned too sharp and then lowered to the target pitch some slack can get stored between nut and tuner. If you must tune down, tune below the target pitch and bring it back up. Better yet, tune back below the target pitch, give the string a tug with your plucking/picking/slapping hand and then tune back up to pitch. It will insure removing the slack.

[selowitch]

I have been aware of the "always tune up to the correct pitch, not down" rule but I was not aware of the tugging tip prior to that. I'll try it. Is it also important to bend the string at about a 90-degree angle just as it emerges from the tuning peg?

The stock strings the bass came with are Super Bass 7250ML: .045, .065, .080, .100. The D'addario Chromes I just put on the bass are .045, .065, .080, .100 -- the same gauges. Perhaps I need to stretch out the new strings some more and then retune them after a few minutes of playing before the tuning straightens itself out.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by selowitch

I have been aware of the "always tune up to the correct pitch, not down" rule but I was not aware of the tugging tip prior to that. I'll try it. Is it also important to bend the string at about a 90-degree angle just as it emerges from the tuning peg?

The stock strings the bass came with are Super Bass 7250ML: .045, .065, .080, .100. The D'addario Chromes I just put on the bass are .045, .065, .080, .100 -- the same gauges. Perhaps I need to stretch out the new strings some more and then retune them after a few minutes of playing before the tuning straightens itself out.

Ninety degree bend at about 3/4" is the start of a good wrap on the peg. Wind the string down toward the face of the headstock so as to give the string a good down angle from the nut to the tuner. After installing the strings and tuning to pitch, give one string a tug. The pitch will go flat. Retune and repeat. After two or three cycles the string will hold pitch after the tug. There is no more slack stored at the peg wraps or between nut and peg. Move to the next string and repeat. It's a good idea to do this every time you tune a string. It will prevent the strings from changing pitch as you play.

[selowitch]

Originally Posted by 202dy

Ninety degree bend at about 3/4" is the start of a good wrap on the peg. Wind the string down toward the face of the headstock so as to give the string a good down angle from the nut to the tuner. After installing the strings and tuning to pitch, give one string a tug. The pitch will go flat. Retune and repeat. After two or three cycles the string will hold pitch after the tug. There is no more slack stored at the peg wraps or between nut and peg. Move to the next string and repeat. It's a good idea to do this every time you tune a string. It will prevent the strings from changing pitch as you play.

So that bend at 3/4" sort of creates a cap for the stack of windings around the tuning peg? I've always wrapped them starting at the top and proceeding downward toward the face of the headstock. And I lately have started using a winding tool because that makes that whole process easier. OK, so to recap:

1. Insert new string into the groove in the tuning peg;
2. Rotate the tuning pegs so that when you bend the string 90 degrees at the 3/4" point it will be pointing toward the nut and, ultimately, the bridge;
3. Wrap the string around the peg and underneath that first bend wind we created in the previous step;
4. Tune down below the pitch then back up to pitch;
5. Tug the individual string to flatten the pitch and remove slack;
6. Retune and repeat for remaining strings.

[Phalex]

Get some nut sauce and lube the nut and saddles. It made a very big differerence on my P.

[selowitch]

Originally Posted by Phalex

Get some nut sauce and lube the nut and saddles. It made a very big differerence on my P.

What the heck is "nut sauce"? Oh, wow -- this stuff? Never heard of it before now.