Ever had a guitar that needs to “settle in” after a re-string?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mctallica1
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mctallica1
mctallica1
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I rarely like the way my guitars sound immediately after re-stringing, but after a short while of stretching, jamming, stretching, the strings settle to where I want them.

However, I have one guitar that takes, literally days, to settle in. It is a weird phenomenon specific to this particular guitar. Once it does settle in, it is by far my most stable guitar from a tuning perspective, I can go weeks without needing to tweak anything, even the G.

At this point, I think I’ve owned over 100 guitars in my lifetime and never had another guitar with this quirk.

The guitar is a bolt on, while the vast majority of the other guitars I’ve owned were set or neck through.

I wonder if anyone else has experienced similar.
 
mctallica1 said:
I rarely like the way my guitars sound immediately after re-stringing, but after a short while of stretching, jamming, stretching, the strings settle to where I want them.

However, I have one guitar that takes, literally days, to settle in. It is a weird phenomenon specific to this particular guitar. Once it does settle in, it is by far my most stable guitar from a tuning perspective, I can go weeks without needing to tweak anything, even the G.

At this point, I think I’ve owned over 100 guitars in my lifetime and never had another guitar with this quirk.

The guitar is a bolt on, while the vast majority of the other guitars I’ve owned were set or neck through.

I wonder if anyone else has experienced similar.
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Yes. Out of 30 guitars I can restringing 28 and they will settle almost immediately. There are 2 that take alot of time to settle.
 
Yes and spring n fall i usually have to tweak truss rods regardless. And its fall.
I just restrung 7 guitars, 5 with Floyds and its monotonous. And i went to a lighter gauge.
Last 10 years ive played DAddario medium .011 to .050.
Now im back with my old brand GHS Custom Light Nickel Rockers 009.5 to .048.
Im liking th light top a whole lot. Sound & play really good.
 
Changing strings is one of the few things in life I hate, I hate doing it, I hate that new string feel.. I only change if one breaks or they just don’t stay in tune anymore
 
RaceU4her said:
Changing strings is one of the few things in life I hate, I hate doing it, I hate that new string feel.. I only change if one breaks or they just don’t stay in tune anymore
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I poked my rt index finger on the high E while winding strings.
Im a meat cutter and process beef for a living. Never get cut.
Bled all over lol.
 
Stretching your strings before final tuning is very helpful.

Tune, stretch, tune, stretch. I use two hands, two sets of fingers and use "medium" pressure to pull up and down up and down 5 or 6 times. You can feel how much pressure you need without snapping the high E. Then do a final wind up/tuning.
 
I think my original post wasn’t very clear.

This is a one guitar thing.

I have 40 plus years experience re-stringing guitars and have developed a full routine of installation, stretching/adjusting that is very effective to be up and running pretty quickly.

This specific guitar requires several days, at the minimum, to settle in with much stretching and adjusting during the settling in period. However, once it is settled, the tuning is solid as a rock for a LONG time. No adjustments needed no matter how long it is between playing it.

BTW, I haven’t owned a guitar with a whammy bar for a couple decades. Hate the things😜
 
mctallica1 said:
I think my original post wasn’t very clear.

This is a one guitar thing.

I have 40 plus years experience re-stringing guitars and have developed a full routine of installation, stretching/adjusting that is very effective to be up and running pretty quickly.

This specific guitar requires several days, at the minimum, to settle in with much stretching and adjusting during the settling in period. However, once it is settled, the tuning is solid as a rock for a LONG time. No adjustments needed no matter how long it is between playing it.

BTW, I haven’t owned a guitar with a whammy bar for a couple decades. Hate the things😜
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Maybe some truss rod shenanigans
 
Have you tried removing and replacing one string at a time starting with highest tension string, tuning it up a step and then tuning it back down?
 
Not guitars settling in, just the strings losing that horrible new string sound. 🤣 I hate that sound so much that I rarely change strings. I tried boiling strings, using alcohol or acetone to remove any coating, etc. They always still sound jangling for a few hours of playing.

No joke, got my white Charvel in 2016, and I’m likely less than 10 string changes on it. I play it everyday.
 
psychodave said:
Not guitars settling in, just the strings losing that horrible new string sound. 🤣 I hate that sound so much that I rarely change strings. I tried boiling strings, using alcohol or acetone to remove any coating, etc. They always still sound jangling for a few hours of playing.

No joke, got my white Charvel in 2016, and I’m likely less than 10 string changes on it. I play it everyday.
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I was going to start a thread asking if y'all recycle or make something out of your old strings, but now I'm just going to send them to you :ROFLMAO:
 
I let all my guitars hang on the wall for a few hours, sometimes 24 hours, after first tune up.
Then I play, stretch, re-tune. Lock the Nut and fine tune.
All of them have floating trems
 
psychodave said:
Not guitars settling in, just the strings losing that horrible new string sound. 🤣 I hate that sound so much that I rarely change strings. I tried boiling strings, using alcohol or acetone to remove any coating, etc. They always still sound jangling for a few hours of playing.

No joke, got my white Charvel in 2016, and I’m likely less than 10 string changes on it. I play it everyday.
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This exactly...I only change strings once every year or more because of this!!! Edit: actually thinking about it...I bet it's more like once every 1.5-2 years I change strings...LOL!
 
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I hate the sound of new strings also. I change strings when they break.

My hands are dry and don't produce whatever chemicals some people produce that kills strings. I do clean the strings every time I play.

I have a Les Paul that obviously takes longer to settle. I thought it might be the tunning pegs.
 
psychodave said:
Not guitars settling in, just the strings losing that horrible new string sound. 🤣 I hate that sound so much that I rarely change strings. I tried boiling strings, using alcohol or acetone to remove any coating, etc. They always still sound jangling for a few hours of playing.

No joke, got my white Charvel in 2016, and I’m likely less than 10 string changes on it. I play it everyday.
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That is me too. I want that dull, non squeaking string sound and feel, lol. My playing style has been light, based on new string hate....lol
 
I love the new string feel, broken in for a day or two
 
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