To release or not to release?

D-Dawn · #1 November 6th, 2006

I have aquired yet another acoustic guitar (on sale $79.00 nothing special/ JJ Heart/ J Turser..baby blue.. cute and sounds good for what it is) this time for my 7 year old for Christmas.
Did not want to buy her something expensive to bang around on but it will be ok for starting out...I'll see how she does and if she sticks with it, maybe in a year buy her a decent guitar.
I changed out the extremely crappy strings it came with, with some nice Martin Marquis lights and it sounds so much better!

I need to store this til Christmas and want to know if it is better to keep it in tune stored...or to release the tension.

I have been told that to keep the tension is best, but I am really curious as to WHY when you get some of these guitars right out of the box, they are not near tuned? Very loose to no tension on the strings...???

I know this is a low end guitar, and I am finding it difficult to tune (no big surprise there), but once it is there it stays in tune pretty well. Is there a way to adjust the tuning machines to help tune it easier...or do I just deal with it?

I'm asking now because I am sure I will be the one tuning this as soon as she gets it

Thanks!

allthumbs · #2 November 6th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by D-Dawn

I have aquired yet another acoustic guitar (on sale $79.00 nothing special/ JJ Heart/ J Turser..baby blue.. cute and sounds good for what it is) this time for my 7 year old for Christmas.
Did not want to buy her something expensive to bang around on but it will be ok for starting out...I'll see how she does and if she sticks with it, maybe in a year buy her a decent guitar.
I changed out the extremely crappy strings it came with, with some nice Martin Marquis lights and it sounds so much better!

I need to store this til Christmas and want to know if it is better to keep it in tune stored...or to release the tension.

I have been told that to keep the tension is best, but I am really curious as to WHY when you get some of these guitars right out of the box, they are not near tuned? Very loose to no tension on the strings...???

I know this is a low end guitar, and I am finding it difficult to tune (no big surprise there), but once it is there it stays in tune pretty well. Is there a way to adjust the tuning machines to help tune it easier...or do I just deal with it?

I'm asking now because I am sure I will be the one tuning this as soon as she gets it

Thanks!

It is always best to detune a guitar that is going to sit unplayed for a while. The structural strength of ubber cheap guitars is questionable so even more reason to slack the strings. Part of the price you pay for a cheap guitar is cheap hardware. You will have to live with it.

fly135 · #3 November 6th, 2006

I would go ahead and tune it. In shipping they get tossed around and subjected to heat, cold, and humidity variations. Perhaps it's best to loosen the strings under that situation. I have guitars hanging here and there that are tuned up all the time and they don't seem to suffer one iota as a result. I wouldn't think twice about tuning it now. And even playing it a bit when she's not around.

As far as not staying in tune. It's hard to say. How many wraps around the pegs are the strings. Sometimes a lot of wraps will slip, plus the strings are new. Bring it up to tune and retune it a few times and it may settle in.

D-Dawn · #4 November 6th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by fly135

I would go ahead and tune it. In shipping they get tossed around and subjected to heat, cold, and humidity variations. Perhaps it's best to loosen the strings under that situation. I have guitars hanging here and there that are tuned up all the time and they don't seem to suffer one iota as a result. I wouldn't think twice about tuning it now. And even playing it a bit when she's not around.

As far as not staying in tune. It's hard to say. How many wraps around the pegs are the strings. Sometimes a lot of wraps will slip, plus the strings are new. Bring it up to tune and retune it a few times and it may settle in.

Once I get it in tune it stays there, but getting there is the hard part...thats why I was wondering about the tuning machines.

fly135 · #5 November 6th, 2006

Yeah, they are cheap so not too precise. The nut is a potential tuning problem as well. I don't know what everyone else does, but I tune up and then bend the string to make sure it pulls through the nut. Rinse and repeat until it's dialed in.

D-Dawn · #6 November 6th, 2006

Thanks fly and AT!
As before, I know this is a cheap guitar, but did not want to buy her something that I would worry she'd ruin by lugging it from room to room...only 7 afterall. We'll upgrad to a decent guitar once we see if her interest lasts. It is at least playable

Ultimate Garage Band · #7 November 7th, 2006

I'd keep it in tune and replace the tuners asap.

D-Dawn · #8 November 7th, 2006

It doesn't sound completely awful! LoL

I am wondering if I should let her bang on this one just for fun and get another for learning...I checked out your site UGB and for what I paid for this, you have an Oscar Schmidt OG1 3/4 Dreadnought that looks nice...would that be ok for her to learn on? (I know nothing of that particular brand..) She's got nice long fingers for a kid her age...thats why we thought she;d always go for piano!