my F***ing LP

[bste328]

point is...i LOVE my lp custom...it has the Tone for me...and it fits my playing well...but with years i have refined my ear and i notice in a heartbeat if a string's out of tune...and this mtfk goes out of tune over and over again...

i'm over anal about my gear and i've done everything with it...i always stretch strings to death when i change them, put graphite in the nut AND on saddles...i enlarged the slots at the nut either to have more room to make them slide better...but NOTHING worked properly. there's always some tension AT THE NUT which keeps doing some kind of "bling" when i bend a note...maybe i have to change the ugly plastic nut it has?

PS: it's a 2005 Gibson Les Paul Custom from the Custom Shop. Non historic model.

what can i do? i don't want to put into a graphite nut since it will change too much his tone, nor a bone nut which wouldn't solve the problem completely...

i know a lot of people who has LP has this problem and others not, but with my lp it's gone beyond the point i can't even play it anymore. i swear. it becomes frustrating.

 

[Stratboy151]

i totally understand, i have a silverburst standard that i love to death, but i usually leave it home cause it goes out too much. im looking into a set of sperzels for it.

 

[bste328]

i totally understand, i have a silverburst standard that i love to death, but i usually leave it home cause it goes out too much. im looking into a set of sperzels for it.

i tought out this as well...but if the problem is the nut you won't solve this by changing tuners (which are grover not some shitty ones....) in fact tension will rest there end when you'll bend a note and pull it will do the same bling it was doing before...and you have already drilled some holes on your LP headstock

in fact sperzel tuners in-line tuners for strat type guitars are compensated and allow to pull off the string retainer on the headstoch which is another cause of bad tuning stability.

but with gibson which has already a inclined headstock doesn't need this...and all the tension is...AT the nut...

i'm going NUTS

 

[King Guitar]

Had that issue for ever and it was frustrating, Love me my Les Pauls so I had to do something. This is the "something"...Big Bends Nut Sauce, do yourself a favor and get this and put it on your nut slots and tune a matic saddle slots and you will be good to go... Took me about 15 years to figure it out as well.

http://www.bigbends.com

 

[bste328]

http://www.bigbends.com

cool! but do you guys think that a tusq nut will work too and mantain the tone? or go first with the big bends nut sauce??

'cause i would have go through a definitive solution...and have it done FOREVER

 

[Motorpud]

I had this same problem with a Gibson I just got rid of and I know a lot of other people do too. A buddy of mine that works at guitar center told me the majority of them that pass through there have a problem with the stock nut that makes the G string constantly go out of tune . I didn't want to deal with getting the nut changed out so I got rid of it. Is it you G string?

 

[bste328]

g and b..and slightly the high e......................why go cheap with a few cent nut in a 3000$+ guitar????

damn...

 

[luxxtone]

Had that issue for ever and it was frustrating, Love me my Les Pauls so I had to do something. This is the "something"...Big Bends Nut Sauce, do yourself a favor and get this and put it on your nut slots and tune a matic saddle slots and you will be good to go... Took me about 15 years to figure it out as well.

http://www.bigbends.com

+1000 on the Big Bends Nut Sauce. That's the stuff I use on all the guitars that come into the shop. But, if you have a crappy plastic nut on there...change it! Tusq is my favorite nut material, sounds as good as bone and wears very well. The nut will make a huge difference, and the Big Bends stuff will make it even better. Regardless what material you use, get rid of the plastic!

Also, if you're hearing a "ping" sound when you tune, your nut is still jacked up. Even though you widened the slots, they may be v-shaped and sticking or something else wrong with it. And by the way, Les Pauls are notorious for tuning issues...but a new nut and the sauce will help a lot.

 

[bste328]

i u-shaped the slots too! i don't even hear any ping when i pull of the strings or put them on...is there only when i bend them playing... i think this is the crappiest and most dry piece of plastic put in a guitar as a nut....ever.

do you ever changed nut in a LP custom? a friend of mine said to me it that gibson's nut is taller than it appears and that it goes well under the finish...so if i change it i will also damage the finish....

 

[Motorpud]

g and b..and slightly the high e......................why go cheap with a few cent nut in a 3000$+ guitar????

damn...

Well, in your case it would be worth it but mine was older and beat up a little and plus I always preferred my Edwards LP over it anyway so I never played it. It was easier for me to wash my hands of it then paying to get a new nut installed. Seems like a lot of the guys around here swear by the nut sauce though, I'm going to have to try some out one one of these days

 

[luxxtone]

i u-shaped the slots too! i don't even hear any ping when i pull of the strings or put them on...is there only when i bend them playing... i think this is the crappiest and most dry piece of plastic put in a guitar as a nut....ever.

do you ever changed nut in a LP custom? a friend of mine said to me it that gibson's nut is taller than it appears and that it goes well under the finish...so if i change it i will also damage the finish....

Yes, we fabricate new nuts for LP Customs and other LP's almost daily. Yes, the nut goes under the finish and you first have to score/cut the finish around the nut with a razorblade or something similar. Otherwise it will totally crack off a piece of the finish if you don't. As long as that's done properly, no finish will be damaged. I'd recommend taking it to a qualified tech if you've never done it before, it's a little trickier than it sounds.

 

[jcj]

EXACTLY why I don'r play LP's. Love the sound, hate all the b.s

 

[Motorpud]

i u-shaped the slots too! i don't even hear any ping when i pull of the strings or put them on...is there only when i bend them playing... i think this is the crappiest and most dry piece of plastic put in a guitar as a nut....ever.

do you ever changed nut in a LP custom? a friend of mine said to me it that gibson's nut is taller than it appears and that it goes well under the finish...so if i change it i will also damage the finish....

Yes, we fabricate new nuts for LP Customs and other LP's almost daily. Yes, the nut goes under the finish and you first have to score/cut the finish around the nut with a razorblade or something similar. Otherwise it will totally crack off a piece of the finish if you don't. As long as that's done properly, no finish will be damaged. I'd recommend taking it to a qualified tech if you've never done it before, it's a little trickier than it sounds.

You hit that right on the head, I would never try to do that myself and I wouldn't suggest an average Joe do it. Maybe if it was an old POS you just want to try it out and learn with but not on a high dollar guitar like that. Take it to the pros

 

[Motorpud]

EXACTLY why I don'r play LP's. Love the sound, hate all the b.s

Couldn't agree more bro, I discovered I'm not an LP guy REAL quick

 

[NewWorldMan]

Graphtech TUSQ Nut. I don't even stretch strings anymore and my LP will immediately hold tune with new strings and stay there.

 

[bste328]

Yes, we fabricate new nuts for LP Customs and other LP's almost daily. Yes, the nut goes under the finish and you first have to score/cut the finish around the nut with a razorblade or something similar. Otherwise it will totally crack off a piece of the finish if you don't. As long as that's done properly, no finish will be damaged. I'd recommend taking it to a qualified tech if you've never done it before, it's a little trickier than it sounds.

ouch...but if you cut the finish the guitar would not ever appear the same...or do you cover it with something? sure i will have it done by a luthier! i only set up guitars but other than that i'm not going

this BS got me not buying another LP....i could not sell this one because i don't think i'll ever found another guitar that sounds this amazing...

 

[bste328]

Graphtech TUSQ Nut. I don't even stretch strings anymore and my LP will immediately hold tune with new strings and stay there.

how about the finish? did you do something similar to what luxxtone said?

i'm struggling about that

 

[jasonP]

i u-shaped the slots too! i don't even hear any ping when i pull of the strings or put them on...is there only when i bend them playing... i think this is the crappiest and most dry piece of plastic put in a guitar as a nut....ever.

do you ever changed nut in a LP custom? a friend of mine said to me it that gibson's nut is taller than it appears and that it goes well under the finish...so if i change it i will also damage the finish....

Yes, we fabricate new nuts for LP Customs and other LP's almost daily. Yes, the nut goes under the finish and you first have to score/cut the finish around the nut with a razorblade or something similar. Otherwise it will totally crack off a piece of the finish if you don't. As long as that's done properly, no finish will be damaged. I'd recommend taking it to a qualified tech if you've never done it before, it's a little trickier than it sounds.

Where are you located?

 

[parntz145]

I had a bone nut on my 94 Paul. I changed it to a graphite nut and bought the upgraded Kluson tuners. Took care of any tuning problems.

 

[splawner]

I just put a bone nut in my LP and it helped with going out of tune the only string i have a problem with is the g string can't figure out why that is