Tuning problem with my B string, can you help?

[Eluit]

Hi, I recently bought a standard mexican telecaster and in the few months since the B string just won't stay in tune, especially if I hit the strings hard. I've changed the strings more than once to no avail. The other strings seem fine whatever I do to them. I'm fairly new to guitars so I've no idea if its set up wrong or if there's a more fundamental problem. I'm hoping I'm missing something that'll be really obvious to someone here. Thanks for reading!

[spicolli]

check your nut

[spicolli]

and welcome to forum

[BroadMaster]

WELCOME and the first place I'd check is the nut. If you are not versed in that, ask the store where you bought it to give it a look. If you want to learn this, use the search function on this site. There have been threads about your issue.

[marc sosnoff]

after the nut it could be the tuner is slipping

[jazztele]

before you cut anything, loosen that string and get some pencil lead in the nut slot...a little lubrication goes a long way...

also, out of curiousity, did you put on new strings when you got it?

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by marc sosnoff

after the nut it could be the tuner is slipping

+1.

Welcome, Eluit. Take that B string off, and have a look for some debris in or a defect in that B nut slot. If it looks good, swap the tuner machine of the low E with the B, and see if the slippage is solved. Do not over-wrap that post on the B; your string way simply be settling in on that post. If nothing else works try tying off that string, literally, and see if that gets the slippage to stop.

You might want to consider retro-fitting to Gotoh 'kluson' tuners and conversion bushes. I've done that, no slippage for me.

[jefrs]

Welcome.

It's the nut.

It's always the nut.

You bend, it pulls through the nut and sticks there. So it's the nut, unless:-

If your mex is from new, it's not likely to be the tuner.
Are they still the original strings? - or have you re-strung and have a mile wrapped around the post: there are destructions here in TDPRI Resources.

IMO all guitar nuts are too high from new (1st fret pinches sharp?) and the slots can stand dressing with a fret file. This will fix it. Not for the unititiated, unless you have several spare nuts and the right tools £££.
Take it to a luthier. Ask at your local shoppe.

[Eluit]

Thanks everyone, great advice, I shall check out the nut to start off with. It's good to know a new guitar nut can be too high to start off with jefrs - it is a new guitar. Jazztele I did put new strings on it but not for a couple of weeks so it had a chance to settle down in the new environment. I replaced them one by one too so I shouldn't have weakened the neck at all. Thanks for the warm welcome!

[PJ]

If you get that "creaking" sound while you're tuning you B-string, it's most assuredly the nut. If the slot's not cut quite wide enough (they should be
a few thousandths larger than the string gauge you're using), it will bind.
And when you think its tuned, it's binding in the nut. As soon as you play that string, it's out of tune. One of the things I do with the small slots (E, B & G) is run an xacto blade through the slot, to chase out any debris. But, if you're string gauge is too close to the slot width, it'll be either buying a nut file or a trip to the luthier. The suggestion to use pencil lead is a good one.
Some guys use a little chapstick. Both lube the slot, so as to not bind the string. A minor fix, either way.

[jefrs]

I don't think you can weaken the neck on a tele.



The local luthier actually cuts the strings off when he works on any guitar, a bit brutal but it works. When you take all the strings off you can clean the fretboard etc. :-)

A good nut makes a huge difference to the guitar both in terms of tone, playability and enjoyment. So it is wothwhile doing it properly, or having it done so. It takes a little practice, a steady hand and a great deal of patience. You can always take a bit more off, you can't ...

Vaseline (petroleum jelly) is a good lubricant for plastics, works for bone too, and I've just successfully used a little on a graphite nut. What's the lube in chapstick? - pet.jelly? Mineral oil is a bad lubricant for plastic. Graphite is a mediocre lubricant, and unfortunately the stuff in pencils is not all graphite. Dental floss cleans nut slots as well as teeth. :-)

IMO a cheap 'swiss' or 'needle' file is too big for the B slot, even the thin spear shaped one. A nut dressing file is the correct tool and does a really good job but they are over 60 quid a set. They are thin knife-edges files, they have teeth on the edge and both sides. (Unlike the actual slotting files, which are for, um, cutting slots in a blank nut and only have teeth on the edge like some micro-thin hacksaw blade). They all get called 'slotting' files, so I mean these:-

Attachment 10351

The slot should be a narrow Vee with a rounded bottom where the string rests. As PJ says, a little wider than the string, that would be 0.013 to 0.017-in. diameter depending on your actual B string gauge, it must not get wedged in the Vee nor wander about. Even if you buy a new nut, it will still want dressing to fit.

I don't know what gauge you re-strung with but I'll hazard that most here run on 10's or bigger. New teles seem to be equiped with 9's, so your nut is likely slotted narrow. It will also be glued in with the varnish. Murphy's law dictates that it will break if you try to prise it out.

[PJ]

JefRS....having lived in the Uk for 5 years, I love the dialogue, especially the expressions - like a string "wadnering about." Love it. We just don't hear those great expressions here in the US. You're right, you don't want it to be too big like an "Edna Bucket."

[jefrs]

That would be "Bouquet"?