Charvel DK tuning issue persists. What else can I try to fix it? ********SOLVED*************

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Tito83

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I'm on the verge of giving up on the guitar. Got a DK22 SSS and it just won't stay in tune. Anything with more than slight bend or trem action will knock it out of tune.

What I've done so far:

Staggered tuners out of place - fixed
locking studs not locked - fixed
bad nut - fixed
checked every screw/bolt if they were tight - ok
used graphite in every point of contact of the string
removed string tree

Last couple of things I haven't tried are checking the bridge edges and changing the tuners. I don't think it's the bridge, it's a gotoh, right? Has anyone had any success changing the tuners?

Also, have I missed anything?

:columbo
 
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Locking saddles - there are 2 choices, now: Wilkinson and the new ones from Gotoh.

These are the things I did on my MIM DK-24 that helped a lot:

Installed staggered locking tuners
Installed Wilkinson locking saddles
Removed the string trees
Lube nut slots and trem knife edges

(Posts were already locked)

I'm assuming your strings are well stretched?
 
Can confirm, locking saddles are awesome. I've got a Gotoh 510 on my guitar and the Wilkinson locking saddles helped immensely with tuning stability when doing big bends. I put the stock bent-steel saddles back on my guitar for a while, but I'll probably install the Wilkinsons again soon. :bonk
 
unix-guy said:
Locking saddles - there are 2 choices, now: Wilkinson and the new ones from Gotoh.

These are the things I did on my MIM DK-24 that helped a lot:

Installed staggered locking tuners
Installed Wilkinson locking saddles
Removed the string trees
Lube nut slots and trem knife edges

(Posts were already locked)

I'm assuming your strings are well stretched?
Click to expand...
I'm not too keen on the idea of having locking saddles. Just put Fender bent saddles which made the tone a bit more straty which I like.

The tuners are locking and staggered on mine. Would something like hipshots be an improvement? I've never had tuning problems to this extent even on really cheap guitars because of tuners.

Yes.

hemmelight said:
Can confirm, locking saddles are awesome. I've got a Gotoh 510 on my guitar and the Wilkinson locking saddles helped immensely with tuning stability when doing big bends. I put the stock bent-steel saddles back on my guitar for a while, but I'll probably install the Wilkinsons again soon. :bonk
Click to expand...
Were the tuning issues completely solved with the locking saddles?

With locking tuners and saddles I think the stability should be comparable with a floyd equipd guitar. No?

I'm confused and frustrated. I've read everything and seen everything I could find on it, nothing seems to help. What bugs me the most is that I've had many strats I could abuse the trem quite a bit without issues. Standard bridge, standard tuners. WTH is going on with this guitar🤦‍♂️
 
I have 2 Charvel DKs and they are as solid as any of my other guitars when it comes to tuning stability.

Hope you get it sorted out. :beer
 
I had one of the more expensive DK USA select units on my bench. The wiring was terrible from the factory as was the nut. This should never come from the factory without quality control. The mini toggle switch was not working correctly and you could clearly see where they over heated the pins for soldering. Looked like amateur hour.

Anyways, replaced the switch, fixed the soldering on the pots and recut a new nut for the customer under warranty. It works nicely now.
I won't buy a thing from them as I have had a couple of bad custom shop units I have owned in the past.

Again, others as La Szum have had great experiences. I was just unlucky with mine but I have had many on my bench for repairs.
 
Tito83 said:
Were the tuning issues completely solved with the locking saddles?
Click to expand...
For my guitar, yes. It's a Suhr Classic S with the Gotoh 510 bridge, standard graphtech nut, staggered locking tuners and no string trees.

I like to bend strings quite a lot and things were pretty consistently getting knocked out of tune for me with the stock saddles. I've learned to help "fix" this by giving the whammy bar a little dip down in pitch after I do a big bend. It does help but it's not a perfect solution.

With the locking saddles installed (instead of the stock bent-steel saddles) I can bend strings and use the whammy bar pretty aggressively without much issue. If the tuning does change then it certainly isn't enough for me to hear when playing normally. A strobe tuner might say otherwise. 🤷🏻

Also, I couldn't really detect a noticeable change in sound between the two saddles. I didn't record an A/B test, I just wanted the tuning problems fixed.
 
PBGas said:
I had one of the more expensive DK USA select units on my bench. The wiring was terrible from the factory as was the nut. This should never come from the factory without quality control. The mini toggle switch was not working correctly and you could clearly see where they over heated the pins for soldering. Looked like amateur hour.

Anyways, replaced the switch, fixed the soldering on the pots and recut a new nut for the customer under warranty. It works nicely now.
I won't buy a thing from them as I have had a couple of bad custom shop units I have owned in the past.

Again, others as La Szum have had great experiences. I was just unlucky with mine but I have had many on my bench for repairs.
Click to expand...

Ouch!! :brick

I should add I also sent 3 different Charvels back for quality control. If I buy another it is going to be Made in Japan.
 
Stone said:
You could always do what I did sell it and get an Ibanez AZ, for the same price or about you get much better Gotoh Hardware, SS frets and from my experience a much better neck, no fret sprouts !!
problem solved

:guiness
Click to expand...
Wish it was that simple. Where I live stuff is hard to come buy and very expensive. Wish one day I'll be able to enter a big boutique retailer and pick one guitar.

Day dreaming aside, the Charvel would be perfect... If it could just stay in tune properly. I'm almost getting a set of Hipshot tuners, but not knowing if it will solve the problem at all sucks.
 
The vast majority of MIM Charvel guitars are incredibly good value but need a little bit of extra attention. I can make them easily the equal of the USA ones. It’s very rare to find anything that goes beyond minimal attention. I would also check that the strings you are buying are not counterfeit. This is a new common cause for many tuning and intonation issues. I see near perfect packaging and great looking fake strings that won’t stay in tune for shit . It’s a new problem that everyone should be aware of.
 
Eagle said:
The vast majority of MIM Charvel guitars are incredibly good value but need a little bit of extra attention. I can make them easily the equal of the USA ones. It’s very rare to find anything that goes beyond minimal attention. I would also check that the strings you are buying are not counterfeit. This is a new common cause for many tuning and intonation issues. I see near perfect packaging and great looking fake strings that won’t stay in tune for shit . It’s a new problem that everyone should be aware of.
Click to expand...

Honestly I don't remember ever having tuning problems to this extent with any guitar. Is changing the tuners something you usually do to them? Would you have any recommendation that maybe I haven't mentioned in the OP?

I don't think it's the strings. For quite a while now I've bought from the same place the same brand of strings and never had any issues with my other guitar, the Charvel is the only having problems.
 
Tito83 said:
Honestly I don't remember ever having tuning problems to this extent with any guitar. Is changing the tuners something you usually do to them? Would you have any recommendation that maybe I haven't mentioned in the OP?

I don't think it's the strings. For quite a while now I've bought from the same place the same brand of strings and never had any issues with my other guitar, the Charvel is the only having problems.
Click to expand...
The way the strings are on is huge too. It’s very difficult to diagnose this without the guitar in front of you. I guarantee it is a very simple problem though, possibly a few issues working together.
String trees should be bypassed, no overlap in the tuners. The nut should not bind. The bridge should not bind. There should be no burrs on the knife edges. The guitar should be properly stretch tuned and UP to pitch on every string. The springs should not touch anything in the cavity. If it is consistently the low E and G going out get some of the new Gotoh locking saddles. Do all that and it will stay in tune. Sorry I can’t help more without the guitar in my hands.
 
I have a MIM DK24 with the Goto 510 bridge and stock saddles and tuners. It stays in tune relatively well but I can’t go crazy with it without it going slightly out. It also breaks strings at the high e saddle and I have polished the daylights out of that thing, I think it may be hitting the bridge plate. Anyway I have been thinking of trying the locking saddles but they are hard to find in stock anywhere. A few of my customers have asked me about these as well and I am wanting to try them out so I know how they work. Which ones do you guys recommend? I think these have the 510TS so 10.8 mm saddles.
 
Frankencat said:
I have a MIM DK24 with the Goto 510 bridge and stock saddles and tuners. It stays in tune relatively well but I can’t go crazy with it without it going slightly out. It also breaks strings at the high e saddle and I have polished the daylights out of that thing, I think it may be hitting the bridge plate. Anyway I have been thinking of trying the locking saddles but they are hard to find in stock anywhere. A few of my customers have asked me about these as well and I am wanting to try them out so I know how they work. Which ones do you guys recommend? I think these have the 510TS so 10.8 mm saddles.
Click to expand...
The Gotoh locking saddles I think are carried by Guitar Hey!

The Wilkinson are challenging to find in stock. Best bet is to contact them on their Reverb store.
 
Ok, don't know what really did the trick, but after this thread I took the guitar apart, everything, and put it back together - for no other reason other than utter frustration. I ended up changing the saddles to Fender bent ones for a slightly more classic strat tone.

I don't know what changed but now the tuning is just great. I refuse to accept it was the saddles. Something, I don't know what/where was just loose or whatever, I don't know... It just works now. Almost two weeks and the guitar basically remained in tune. No pulling the strings/retuning, nothing. SOLID.

I'm still a bit annoyed I haven't really figured out what really was causing the problem, but I'm relieved.
 
Tito83 said:
Ok, don't know what really did the trick, but after this thread I took the guitar apart, everything, and put it back together - for no other reason other than utter frustration. I ended up changing the saddles to Fender bent ones for a slightly more classic strat tone.

I don't know what changed but now the tuning is just great. I refuse to accept it was the saddles. Something, I don't know what/where was just loose or whatever, I don't know... It just works now. Almost two weeks and the guitar basically remained in tune. No pulling the strings/retuning, nothing. SOLID.

I'm still a bit annoyed I haven't really figured out what really was causing the problem, but I'm relieved.
Click to expand...
Sure, you want to know WHY, but screw it. Some times it's better not to overthink and just be happy!
 
You basically did the IT version of turning it on and off again.

Glad it got solved.

PS - when you put it back together, was it the same strings or a new batch?

I'm very intrigued by Eagle's comment about counterfeit strings; especially as a player who rarely changes them until they break, or my harmonics stop sounding out. (about 6-7 months based on playing time currently. Used to be 1-2 month based on playing time)
 
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