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Recently decided I wanted to learn to play electric guitar, so I bought a japanese tokai.
I was wondering how long the guitar should stay in tune relative to frequency and intensity of play.
Seem that the g string goes out of tune quite easily, a lot more easily that the other strings, so before I consider sending the guitar back I thought I would get a better idea of the situation from some more experienced guitar owners.
That said this is STW and no one will probably give a shit!
Is it brand new? New strings go out of tune pretty quickly until you've played/retuned them for a little while.
Take each string at the 12th fret and gently pull it away from the fretboard a few times - then push the strings down a few times behind the nut. Then re-tune and all should be well. Also make sure that the strings are not wrapped too many times around the Tuners.
With the G first thing to check is see if it's binding in the nut. Can you do a quick test? Get the G in tune then do a couple of note bends on that string somewhere, is the open G now flat? If it is, try pressing down on the section of string behind the nut and see if it goes back to pitch.
Tokai guitars can be brilliant, you might have a hidden gem on your hands. Chuck it this way if you get fed up.
It's probably the way the string is mounted on the tuner that's causing the problem, so invest in a new set of strings, check the right way of fitting them for your tuners and give it another shot.
Jimification has a good point. If you've got a different gauge string than was on it before it might not be sitting in the grooves just right. Sometimes a bit of light sanding/filing can help followed by the application of graphite lube (rubbing with a pencil lead).
Oh, and on an electric the G string is usually plain, not wound. Unlike an acoustic. Check you've got the right type and gauge.
Every (electric) guitar I've ever had, the G string has been harder to get / keep in tune than the others, never understood why.
Thanks for that, I will play about with the guitar later see what I see.
The guitar is a 2004 Tokai USG90, paid £255 for it and so far I find it a bit like a chicken I don't particularly like, that is to say I can strangle and pluck all kinds of weird and wonderful noises out of it 😉
Do this one string at a time. Loosen string of, sharpen up a nice soft pencil and rub some of the lead into the nut slot, refit string and tune to pitch, then grab the string above the pickups and pull up gently, this will stretch the string, re tune and repeat until string stays in tune even after you've pulled it. Other thing to check is the intonation (how the strings are in tune with each other) Each string when fretted at the 12th fret should be exactly in tune with the same open string note. Loads of info on the net.
My first ever guitar was a Tokai Strat copy, it played really nicely.
G always goes out of tune first on my guitar...
I put it down to the tuner bing the easiest to inadvertantly knock 😳
No idea if this is the real reason
I put it down to the tuner bing the easiest to inadvertantly knock
Makes sense on a Gibson I guess, but I had the same thing on various fender-type headstocks (where they're all in a line and it's no. 4 in a line of 6).
Maybe it's the string most commonly grabbed for a big bend?
Maybe it's the g-string fairy?
don't seem to have the g thing on my strat, which hasn't needed tuning in the last 6 months same with my sons new yamaha sg, never goes out of tune but mine old one does.