So sick of tuning up !! Are you ?

[NormanKliman]

Originally Posted by MarkinLA

(...) I know the correct way to change/tie strings. (...) Do you see anything wrong with what I'm doing ?

You’ve already gotten some good responses. I think we’d have to see exactly how you’re stringing the guitar.

After three or four days of playing, new strings should hold their tuning, assuming you’re putting them on correctly, and by that I mean anchoring them well enough at both ends so there’s no slipping. Also, the strings should form as straight a line as possible into the windings. As indicated upthread, things like sun, air conditioning, etc. will make stable strings go out of tune.

I can’t tell from your post if you know all of this already, so at the risk of sounding pedantic or condescending, I’ll repeat that it takes a few days of stretching and retuning before new nylon strings stabilize.

I’ve heard that nylon “wants to go where it was,” meaning that strings will tend to loosen after you tighten them and tighten after you loosen them. Pain in the neck, but I reckon it’s part of what makes a nylon-string guitar sound so nice.

[rmp]

I think any one who spends a lot of time playing a nylon string can relate to your lament. I know I can! Tuning is definitely more work on one of these than a steel string. I don't think there's any way to really get around it for us mere mortals.

Like others are saying, they take a long time to settled down on a restring, some string brands more than others. I switched to Savarez and I've stayed there, they seem to be more stable than other sets I've tried, plus I like the wound G vs a plain G string

One of the other problems that I had with a few of my previous nylons was intonation. As I travel up the neck , the tuning got more and more challenging. It would drive me crazy for sure. Could that be part of your struggles?

A few years ago, I moved over to Taylor's 514 series. This solved a lot of problems.

Intonation is much better (like 10x IME) thanks to their use of compensated saddles, the neck is not as huge as my previous nylons, (a bit easier to manage) and Taylor puts truss rods in they NY series so you've got a way to adjust if the climate starts to change things on you.

[blindboyjimi]

I had a C10 Cedar (just sold it last week). I used D’Addario Pro-Arte regular tension in the red box. I think they are EJ45. Anyway, if I string it, it is unplayable that day. The next morning it’ll be a full step down. About a week out it’ll be 1/4 step down on the wound and a 1/2 step down on the nylon, but once tuned it’ll hold for about an hour. At 2 weeks the wound will be just a touch flat and the trebles will be just a bit more flat, but very playable once tuned. After 2 weeks it just needs a little tune before playing. I do a standard tie of one loop for the wound, 2 on the G/B, and a triple on the E. If the cut ends of the strings are not getting closer to the knot then your knot is holding. I’d set all your tuner buttons parallel to the headstock and look the next morning to make sure the tuners aren’t slipping.

You’re describing one going flat while the other is going sharp. That’s very strange but it’s certainly not the C10 (great guitar - I had to spend 3x the price to get a tonally richer guitar) and certainly not the Cedar top.

[MarkinLA]

Thanks guys (and gals if you're out there, I hope)..
Not by far my first 'gut' guitar; They've been in and out my life since 1963, classical 1965. I've had many but neither as high quality as my C10, purchased about 7 years ago..
Let's leave it at these findings: I took to all the strings and by unwinding them was able to rewind them on the barrels with least winding..I even was able to reverse the D back into place after I'd accidentally unraveled too much of its surface winding. I.E. Only way to get it re-anchored was to reverse it !! Also took up slack at bridge knots..was able to re-twist/re-knot them..
Since doing this the tuning is hanging in much longer..
It looks like this is the culprit for much of it... Of course having a controlled environment of temp and humidity, which most symphony halls strive to achieve and maintain, and which a large % of concert players have in there homes, makes it even more stable a situation.......
One final thought I haven't seen talked about: Truss rod metals/contraction/expansion within the neck....................Oh No! Not another one !! M

[nightflight]

I have a number of classical guitars... and don't have this problem. I might tune before I start a practice session and then make an adjustment about 10 minutes in and then I'm good. I have replaced the tuners on my guitars with higher end tuners.

You might check and make sure your tuners aren't slipping.

[Rapido Eduwardo]

I have 2 classicals and don't have that problem. The strings may be slipping, so I would try putting an extra loop at the bridge. I believe that the high e string has the most tension, so putting an extra loop around it may help. It's worth a try. Or you could buy a carbon fiber guitar for $$$$$$.

[TBman]

I use those string beads. (I'm a suspended classical newbie) It takes a week or so for the strings to stretch out and stop going completely out of tune even with the beads.

[Paultergeist]

I, for one, am NOT sick of tuning!

I do grow a bit weary, however, of playing on an out-of-tune guitar most of the time....

[MarkinLA]

You know !! I have a 1965 Taurus cypress flamenco with a thick ebony board and rosewood tuning pegs.. Once it's in tune it hangs and hangs !!!
I'm starting to really believe that all plastic or plastic on a metal center, whatever, rollers, may be a real factor in holding tuning !!! Maybe we need a sea change for this component of the classical guitar...rollers of solid ebony !!
I'm wondering if Cordoba would/could do that to my C10 and how much that would run me....Somehow I think it'd be too steep..
I put the recommended strings, Hard Sav Corums back on a week ago.. Yes, I know; they're still stretching from newness. OK. We'll see....
But, man, I am so sick of how much I have to tune this guitar !!

[Red_Label]

1) Tuning machines and/or strings have the market nearly cornered in regards to things that would affect your guitar needing to be tuned that often. Top wood would be of far less consequence under normal circumstances.

2) While the Cordoba C10 is a budget instrument that is mass produced in a Chinese factory, it is nevertheless a high quality model. I've owned about 15 Cordobas of Spanish and Chinese origin. All have been excellent instruments, especially the Luthier series (of which the C10 belongs to).

[Cordoba fan]

I have a Cordoba C10 Crossover with light strings. I'm amazed how little adjustment to tuning it needs day to day. It's pretty close day after day. I keep a tuner on my headstock, it stays in tune.

[FrankHS]

One solution to this problem is tedious, and maybe cure is worse than the disease. But some professional touring guitar handlers (well, the one I read about was Willie Nelson's guitar wrangler) will prestretch the strings using an unneeded second guitar, way ahead of the expected string change. Transfer to main guitar.

[Wrighty]

Originally Posted by TBman

I use those string beads. (I'm a suspended classical newbie) It takes a week or so for the strings to stretch out and stop going completely out of tune even with the beads.

Tell me more, what are these?

[Carey]

Not sure if it was already mentioned, but carbon trebles move *a lot less*
than nylons. I think the Knobloch Actives CX trebles are good.

[RichardET]

Originally Posted by MarkinLA

Hi..
It really hit home last night how many times I had to re-tune either within a piece or between pieces....Over say an hour, it must have been 11 times !!
This is the big diff between guitar and nearly every other instrument !! Even violinists, once in tune only deal with the tiny fine-tuners and can be done in a flash while in a piece's rests, non stop.. (Yes, we can too at times !) Even the big harp in the orchestra do we but never see them tuning (a sideways piano with no outer body or keyed hammers; a plucked 'gut' stinger, same as we !)..
This is a Cordoba C10, cedar top..and has a newer set of titanium medium tensions (< make to remain anon for now) and which maybe WHY Cordoba DOES insist on staying Sav HT Corums !! [my instant personal theory as to cedar perhaps needing the HT to make up for its loser than spruce, molecules].

I know the correct way to change/tie strings. The room temp is not climate-controlled but it certainly is not cold or sweltering during my sessions...
Do you see anything wrong with what I'm doing ? Do you go thru the same thing ? Is it the cedar top which perhaps expands and contracts more than say, spruce ?
That G string going sharp !! The D dropping. The B this, the A, that !! Start the tuner. Stop the tuner..Pluck this; compare it to that. Did someone say trussrod ? ! Is it the make and cost of the guitar ?
Does/can a $20,000.00 Hauser do the same thing ?
What is your experience or advice ? Thanks, M

I have a cedar top, Takamine C132S, two spruce tops, Takamine HS88, and a Kremona Romida. I use only Daddario EJ45 or EJ46 strings. Very stable tunings.

I never have to tune but once.

Are you using a lot of alternative tunings?