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I picked up a VG condition g-400 deluxe. I've had trouble getting the thing to intonate so I used a small file to clean up the groves in the saddles. (Has anyone been able to put the gotoh tune-o-matic bridge on these guitars? It looks like it might fit...) The intonation improved with the filing of the saddle grooves. The A amp; D just don't want to quite intonate as close as the others.

Now I'm still having trouble with the strings flattening, especially the G string. I used some very fine sand paper and expanded the slot in the nut for the G slightly to remove the noticeable ping of the string catching while tuning. That part worked but it still wants to go flat as do a couple other strings at times. Perhaps it's still the nut or its the tuners. These seem to be the 18:1 romantics and I wouldn't expect them to have tuning troubles over several strings. Perhaps Epi has contract for tuners that look like romantics but the guts are sub par to keep the cost down? Or else I got a bad set. The G amp; B strings stay flat after a large bend which leads me to think that the strings are catching just enough in the nut to be trouble. It's the basic black plastic looking nut that came on the guitar.

Earlier today just sitting for a few minutes the A amp; D had gone flat and nothing had been done to it besides justings sitting in the environment of the apartment. I don't think it's that quot;coolquot; in here to have 2 day old strings do that in just a 15 minute period...but maybe. I'm puzzled.

Has anyone else had troubles with the grovers that have come on an epiphone guitar?
thanks,
matt

ps- the original pickups spec at ~14.5k (bridge), ~8.7k (neck)
I know someone has tried a '59 then a Alinco Pro II in the bridge of an sg, what did you think? I'm leaning towards finding a Pro II, I have '59 bridge to try (8.7k) that is a little stronger than normal. For now I've tried a covered 59 neck p/u in the bridge position. I don't play too loud so perhaps I really won't notice much difference between all 3 of the pickups I've mentioned.

With SG's and Pauls, they require a really good nut to keep in tune becasue of the very angled string pull. I really doubt it is your tuners!!!

BTW, the main culprit is always the G-string!!!

To remedy this, I usually will use a peice of folded sand paper and run it into the slot to open it up and to clean it up. Depending, I may even use a nut file or some graphite in the slot to help the string slide. I can get it done with the paper though! If you have not done this kind of thing before, you should consult a good tech!

BTW, Cant help you out with the intonation on it that much. I would have to see it. Also, what method are you using to intonate it? What kind of tuner?

When I intonate I tune the string to pitch then fret at 12 and see if it's sharp or flat then adjust the saddle to try and compensate. I'm using a little electronic tuner hooked up to a 10' cable. I move the saddle towards the nut if its sharp to shorten the scale slightly or away from the nut if the 12th fret note reads on the flat side.
I've just tried lightly sanding the nut and it helped out the higher strings so I'll do a bit more and see if the bending issue resolves itself. (perhaps a tusq nut would be the better fix??? but then it's gotta be set up...more money....)

You dont really need a different nut material, you just need yours set up correctly to start with! If a new material is not done properly, it will do the exact same thing!

BTW, if the note is flat, move the saddle closer to the nut, and if it is sharp, move it further away!

The nut on my SG was driving me nuts, so this weekend I went at it with some nut files. Besides opening the slot up a little bit, I also angled them so that they went in the direction the string travels to the tuning machine. That, and a big dollop of Stewmac graphite Guitar Grease in the slots seems to have done the trick.

I think it's the angling that did the trick, as this is the second time I've filed the nut. The first time I just lowered the slots a bit (and packed them with Guitrar Grease).

So I'm intonating a little backwards well...figures. It's been a while since I've done this to an electric.
I still get strings flattening themselves between the times I put it down and pick it up again to mess around. Nothing touching the tuners to accidentally turning them, etc... Other strings too, not just the G.

I'll try a little more adjusting of the nut slots and maybe a little lube in there as well. It's a shame you need to set up the nut of a guitar just to get it to play right. This is something that should be part of deal when you get a guitar. My other epiphone purchases have also had poorly cut nuts that bound up atleast on atleast one string. Their dedication to mediocrity is admirable. I've got to remember all the little things you have quot;fixquot; on these epi's before I get another one. What are the odds I end up spending enuff to get a gibson faded sg....oh well. It's the little things that drive you nuts.

Didn't we go to the moon some 30 years ago on the power of what today is a hand held calculator? How many millions of little things are there on a pentium processor?
Yet the guitar nut is still too complicated to cut correctly at the factory to some standard- such as slots meant to handle a set of 10's.


Originally Posted by 7turnsSo I'm intonating a little backwards well...figures. It's been a while since I've done this to an electric.
I still get strings flattening themselves between the times I put it down and pick it up again to mess around. Nothing touching the tuners to accidentally turning them, etc... Other strings too, not just the G.

I'll try a little more adjusting of the nut slots and maybe a little lube in there as well. It's a shame you need to set up the nut of a guitar just to get it to play right. This is something that should be part of deal when you get a guitar. My other epiphone purchases have also had poorly cut nuts that bound up atleast on atleast one string. Their dedication to mediocrity is admirable. I've got to remember all the little things you have quot;fixquot; on these epi's before I get another one. What are the odds I end up spending enuff to get a gibson faded sg....oh well. It's the little things that drive you nuts.

Didn't we go to the moon some 30 years ago on the power of what today is a hand held calculator? How many millions of little things are there on a pentium processor?
Yet the guitar nut is still too complicated to cut correctly at the factory to some standard- such as slots meant to handle a set of 10's.

Here is the deal,
I am a luthier/tech myself and I can tell you that a certain amout of time goes into the initial build of something, twice the amout of time goes into making it special (details, refinements, etc.). For instance, I can cut a nut and slot it in around a half hour, and it will look really good to the eye but, it will take me another hour to make it sweeter than hell. Its takes alot more time to fine tune the slots, polish it, etc. That is the way guitar work is. Considering the price point of an Epi, one is not paying for tons of details and refinement. Same with Gibson, you are just paying for their name in my opinion . There are a number of brands out there where you do get what you pay for though! There are brands where you do get alot of bang for the buck also! I will say, Epiphones can be made to be SWEET guitars though! You can take an EPI to a good luthier and spend a bit more money and it will be a professional quality axe! They are a good platform! Usually, they require Top quality electronics (pickups, pots, switch, jack,), fret and nut work (usually a good leveling and a good nut made for it), and a killer setup! It will run circles around an off the shelf Gibson at that point in terms of playability and you are still under the Gibson price that you will have to do alot of the same things to anyway!!


Originally Posted by theodieBTW, the main culprit is always the G-string!!!

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I can never even get the G INTO tune for some reason. It's easily the worst string on the guitar. Ack!