# Les Paul's always going out of tune



## gibsonguitarguy (Feb 17, 2010)

I have an expensive LP access and it goes out of tune a lot, especially when climatizing or the first half hour of playing.
The g string is the biggest offender but they all go out. Would a bone nut solve or at least diminish the issue?
Any help is appreciated


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

gibsonguitarguy said:


> I have an expensive LP access and it goes out of tune a lot, especially when climatizing or the first half hour of playing.
> The g string is the biggest offender but they all go out. Would a bone nut solve or at least diminish the issue?
> Any help is appreciated


If you suspect the nut to be the culprit have you tried to use some grahite on the current nut to make sure its not binding there?


----------



## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

Sometimes the nut slots are also poorly cut (if it pings when you tune it, that's a good clue). If you want to upgrade it then either a Graph Tech or nylon nut would be a good choice (nylon is vintage correct).


----------



## gibsonguitarguy (Feb 17, 2010)

Sounds like good advice. I'll start there


----------



## grumpyoldman (Jan 31, 2010)

I realize it has been a while since an grumpyoldman like me followed the "latest" in Gibson model development, but I thought all Les Paul Axcess models had Floyd Rose bridges and locking nuts....is there a version without the Floyd?

John
thegrumpyoldman


----------



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I was under the same impression John.

After googling the guitar, it did show a few without a FR.
You learn something every day here. 8)

That must be a rare unit? I didn't see them on the Gibby site available.


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

If you have the tools you can widen the nut slot for the G string and see if that does it. It may be slightly tight for the string. You might put a bit of graphite in the slots from a graphite pencil. That may also do it without cutting the nut any further.


----------



## lchender (Dec 6, 2011)

I had the same problem with my Lester. Lipsyl in the nut slots did the trick. Cheapy and easy fix.


----------



## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

Our guitar player had a Les Paul back in the 70's that would not stay in tune. What made it worse was, there were no tuners back then so after every song all your heard was sound of tuning each string coming through his amp. It turned me off to Les Pauls for years to come. It's too bad we didn't have the forum, or the internet for that matter. He could have used these tips to correct this condition.


----------



## Swervin55 (Oct 30, 2009)

Try this. If you depress each string on the headstock side of the nut and they don't come back to exact tune (ie: if they stay sharp), then you definitely have a nut issue. You can use lubricants as suggested but they are a band-aid. Chances are the nut was either poorly cut to start with or you have changed to a heavier string gauge. If the latter, then you need to dress the nut slots to take the larger string, both in width and bottom contour. The best way to do this is with files that are intended for the purpose, but there are other methods that will work in lieu of having the right files. A little googling will render lots of suggestions.


----------



## TubeStack (Jul 16, 2009)

Try Big Bends Nut Sauce, works fantastic for me.


----------



## gibsonguitarguy (Feb 17, 2010)

*stoptail*

Yes its a stop tail version and someone told me they were only made for a short time. Ironically I avoided the Floyd rose cause I thought that would give me going out of tune issues. The graphite helped but doesn't last long so I'll look into some of the options given here


----------



## gibsonguitarguy (Feb 17, 2010)

Had a local Luther work on the nut and bridge and it stays in tune really well now. 
Thanks guys.


----------

