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Original Post By:
unclezac
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Date: 6/2/2016 9:10:05 PM |
I have a 14 fret Martin tenor with worth strings and my tuning problem is after I tune the instrument to 440 GCEA and play for a while it usually stays relatively in tune. The problem occurs after I put it back in the case for a day or two the strangest thing occurs. The UKE has remained in tune to itself approximately 1/2 step or more. I mean all four strings have retuned exactly the same amount. I thought this to be very strange until one of my students said the same thing happens to her Martin 12 fret with Martin strings. In fact we both took our UKES out for a lesson today and we were both in tune to each other but a half step flat.
Both martins have friction tuners and bridge pins.
Any idea what this is all about?! |
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Posted By:
New2Ukuleke
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Date: 6/3/2016 3:21:54 PM |
Tighten the screws on the tuners.
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Posted By:
unclezac
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Date: 6/3/2016 8:41:18 PM |
Tried that. No matter how tight I made them they always detune together in tune. Very strange. And my student with a similar Martin and strings has the same thing happened
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Posted By:
karl
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Date: 6/7/2016 3:38:09 AM |
New strings?
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Posted By:
J Boy Shyne
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Date: 6/8/2016 9:02:03 AM |
Zac, strings go in and out of tune for a variety of reasons, especially nylon strings. First off, make sure you properly wrap them around the tuners and that the knot at the tailpiece is taut. But that aside, we have tuning pegs to tune ukes back to pitch. It ain't like a piano.
On any stringed instrument, it take me about 15 minutes to get new strings to stop stretching in and out of tune. I chuckle when I hear newbies talk about it taking them days or even weeks.
Anyway, my friend, for a fella with a Martin uke (which costs quite a bit of coin), you don't seem to have much experience with the instrument. Learn how to stretch your strings out and how to properly string your instrument and you'll be fine. Oh, as Karl mentioned, your strings could be shot. And in case you're interested, I have a lovely purple Mahalo uke that stays in tune perfectly. I'll trade you it for your Martin?
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Posted By:
uncle kenny
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Date: 6/10/2016 7:50:41 PM |
Two words. Temperature and Humidity.
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Posted By:
unclezac
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Date: 6/18/2016 9:50:46 PM |
I thank you all for your insight but I'm talking about four strings going out of tune together and remaining in tune with each other one whole step down. And not only my Martin but my students Martin as well, seems odd that eight strings on two different Ukes in two different locations would react exactly the same. Maybe it's gremlins just having fun.
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Posted By:
unclezac
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Date: 6/18/2016 9:51:35 PM |
I thank you all for your insight but I'm talking about four strings going out of tune together and remaining in tune with each other one whole step down. And not only my Martin but my students Martin as well, seems odd that eight strings on two different Ukes in two different locations would react exactly the same. Maybe it's gremlins just having fun.
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Posted By:
J Boy Shyne
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Date: 6/19/2016 11:13:29 AM |
Dude, it's called time and pressure. Concentrate on playing. And again, to help you out, I'll trade you my lovely purple Mahalo, which stays in tune perfectly, for your defective Martin.
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Posted By:
Jim Venis
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Date: 7/19/2016 3:57:51 PM |
I know I'm jumping on this late, Zac, but ukulele strings stretch all the time. The remarkable thing in your story is that everything seemed to go flat equally and across two instruments. Yes, that is odd, but the fact that they went flat over a few days is not unusual at all. Even though your Worth strings are fluorocarbon and not nylon, this will remain true. I also use Worth strings, which I appreciate for their feel, tone, and durability, but I still expect to tune each uke each time I pick it up. The amount of tuning required goes up 1.) if it has been more than a day, 2.) If the uke has been bumped, 3.) If the weather changed, 4.) And so on.
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Posted By:
Dave Means
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Date: 7/19/2016 7:28:53 PM |
It's not so remarkable that the strings detune by roughly the same amount when the detuning is due solely to stretching under tension.
String set gauges are calibrated by the manufacturer so that all the strings have roughly the same tension when brought to pitch in standard tuning. Given that they are under the same tension and the length and material composition is identical, the amount of elongation should also be identical... which should, in theory, produce the same change in pitch.
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Posted By:
Chuck Sullivan
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Date: 8/1/2016 9:46:19 PM |
How old are your Martin tenors? My Martin tenor is my first ukulele from the fifties, and its friction tenors simply will not hold GCEA tuning. I usually keep the uke tuned to DGBE, which is my preference, as well as the original tuning for the Martin tenor, and that works fine. At the higher tension tuning of GCEA your problem may simply be old age.
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Posted By:
Robtjm
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Date: 8/3/2016 7:54:00 PM |
It's been my experience that thicker gauge strings stretch less than thinner ones and stay closer to the desired pitch, so I do agree that it's odd that yours stay in tune with themselves. Could it be that all of the tuners are slipping an equal amount, as suggested above. This would make sense if, as Dave stated, they are all under roughly the same amount of tension. Do the two Martins have the same kind of tuners?
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Posted By:
Geoff Rezek
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Date: 10/6/2016 7:27:43 AM
(Updated: 10/6/2016 7:28:21 AM)
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To check if the friction tuners are moving I suggest you take heavy paper, slit holes for each tuner. Place the paper over the tuners, rest the instrument for a time. It should be easy to see by looking at the paper if the tuners moved.
Geoff Rezek
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