Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
@lucas303 It's definitely possible to do, but at a minimum it takes a new nut and a new bridge.
I ended up not liking how mine turned out (the neck was a lot wider than was comfortable), so I stripped it for parts after doing the modifications, but it was a fun project!
I ended up not liking how mine turned out (the neck was a lot wider than was comfortable), so I stripped it for parts after doing the modifications, but it was a fun project!
The tuners are not the best, so that could be part of it. Do you still have the factory strings on it?
No, Roto Flats. They've been on there since mid-December
Yeah, it might be the tuners... what gauge you using for E?
90. It's really only the E and A strings. Especially the E. I'm thinking the tuners are definitely part of the problem.
i have a new set of roundwounds coming soon. I'll throw them on and see if that changes anything.
Thanks.
I would agree, if you were rocking some heavier gauge strings it might be understandable with the stock tuners but that's not that heavy...
Hmm - do you mean it slips out of tune during a song? Or over a set? Or overnight? Any consistency in whether it is moving flat or sharp?
Also, it might be helpful to share a pic of the E tuning post with the string tuned to pitch if you have a chance.
In my experience, tuners are rarely to blame if you’re having issues with *holding* pitch. It’s practically impossible for a worm gear to ‘slip’.
The culprit is usually either 1) the string isn’t setup correctly on the tuning post, or 2) the nut is binding
When setting up a new string, I always give it a couple pretty hard tugs, re-tune and repeat, until tugs no longer make it go flat. The E string especially, due to its thickness and low tension when at pitch, won’t ever fully settle around the post under regular tension alone.
I feel like there's some good advice here. I try to give my strings a couple solid "tugs" when I put a brand new set on. And I also try to accept that they will need some time to "settle in" after being strung up. You can help that along by using the "tug" method, but ultimately Tuba is right, the heavier gauge strings just seem to need more time to settle in.
That being said, I too have heard plenty of talk about Mikro tuners being of slightly lesser grade quality and people have had issues with strings holding tune with the stock tuners. Those claims have been shown to be fixed by replacing said stock tuners with higher quality aftermarket tuners such as Gotohs or the like. So......YMMV?
Personally I haven't had a problem with my Mikro not holding tune. So maybe I'm lucky, maybe I got a good one, who knows. I just know what I've heard and what I've experienced.
It’s really just the E string. It seems to go from being flat to sharp with very small adjustments and after I play for a few minutes it seems to need tuning again.
Some other people on here have suggested I check the intonation which I will do.
if the nut is binding how do I solve that? Lube? Just loosen it and give it a good tug?
I’ve had tuners slip a few times.
The only thing holding that worm gear from spinning freely is a tiny plastic brake washer. I’ve had the adjustment screw at the end of the tuner panel needing tightening and also had a damaged brake washer that wouldn’t hold and needed replacement.
That almost sounds like the spot where your string is coming off your peg is directly over an overlap (lock wrap).
when it comes off the peg at an overlap, tuning gets a bit touchy.
I see. So if I rewrap the string (correctly) that may help.
ok. Thanks everyone. I’ll play around with it and see if I can’t get this e string to be more consistent.
Oh yeah how you wrap the string can make a big difference!
So I took the string off and trimmed it a bit. Thinking about it now it did have a lot of wrappings. More than was necessary and I think some of them may have been a little loose you know?
so I trimmed a couple more inches off and rewound the string. So far it seems to be an improvement.
I also noticed that the saddle on the e string wasn’t level so I adjusted that too.
I’ll try it again later.
thanks for the help everyone!
I will enter soon (covid lock permitting...)in this club but I am thinking about from three options is the better....Ibanez Mikro but here in Italy is commonly black and I have another black bass, or a Jacson Minion (in poor colors also...) or a beautiful surf green J&D JB minibass....Which one? Mikro for reliability, Jakson if Mikro is out of stock or the JB for lilliput fenderistic reminescence (But the sound?)?
