Is there any hope?

fronobulax

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#2 son picked up a Lauren student halfsize guitar at a yard sale for $5. Darn thing won't stay in tune. The strings seem pretty stable at the bridge and I just presume on a yard sale instrument that they are old enough that they are not stretching. Tuners aren't obviously cheesy but then I'm used to bass tuners that cost more per set than this guitar does. When I tune, say, the E and A using the 5th fret on the E things sound fine but then the octave E (7th fret on A) is bad. This makes me suspect something as fundamental as the placement of the frets.

If getting the thing in tune is impossible then it ought to be a criminal offense to sell this as a starter instrument but there may be some tricks I don't know or just have bad finger placement going from a bass to a halfsize guitar.

Any suggestions besides sending it back to a yard sale?

Thanks.
 

fronobulax

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#2 son picked up a Lauren student halfsize guitar at a yard sale for $5. Darn thing won't stay in tune. The strings seem pretty stable at the bridge and I just presume on a yard sale instrument that they are old enough that they are not stretching. Tuners aren't obviously cheesy but then I'm used to bass tuners that cost more per set than this guitar does. When I tune, say, the E and A using the 5th fret on the E things sound fine but then the octave E (7th fret on A) is bad. This makes me suspect something as fundamental as the placement of the frets.

If getting the thing in tune is impossible then it ought to be a criminal offense to sell this as a starter instrument but there may be some tricks I don't know or just have bad finger placement going from a bass to a halfsize guitar.

Any suggestions besides sending it back to a yard sale?

Thanks.
 

dklsplace

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fronobulax said:
This makes me suspect something as fundamental as the placement of the frets.

Yep


If getting the thing in tune is impossible then it ought to be a criminal offense to sell this as a starter instrument but there may be some tricks I don't know or just have bad finger placement going from a bass to a halfsize guitar.

I try to tell that very thing to parents of prospective students. Don't buy them the cheapest thing you can find. They'll get discouraged quickly because they think they're doing something wrong. These things are nothing more than noisy toys as far as I'm concerned.
 

dklsplace

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fronobulax said:
This makes me suspect something as fundamental as the placement of the frets.

Yep


If getting the thing in tune is impossible then it ought to be a criminal offense to sell this as a starter instrument but there may be some tricks I don't know or just have bad finger placement going from a bass to a halfsize guitar.

I try to tell that very thing to parents of prospective students. Don't buy them the cheapest thing you can find. They'll get discouraged quickly because they think they're doing something wrong. These things are nothing more than noisy toys as far as I'm concerned.
 

fronobulax

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gilded said:
Do you have a fireplace??

Actually what inspired the purchase is #2 works as a camp counselor during the summers at a place in the Blue Ridge Mountains. One of his colleagues has a beater guitar that lives under a rock overhang at a mountain top. They hike, the guitarist whips out the cached guitar, they sing and all the kids are impressed. Some because of the music and some because someone's crazy enough to leave a guitar outside what amounts to 24/7/365. So for $5, if it were playable... Maybe he can be Pete Townsend or Jimi Hendrix for Halloween...
 

fronobulax

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gilded said:
Do you have a fireplace??

Actually what inspired the purchase is #2 works as a camp counselor during the summers at a place in the Blue Ridge Mountains. One of his colleagues has a beater guitar that lives under a rock overhang at a mountain top. They hike, the guitarist whips out the cached guitar, they sing and all the kids are impressed. Some because of the music and some because someone's crazy enough to leave a guitar outside what amounts to 24/7/365. So for $5, if it were playable... Maybe he can be Pete Townsend or Jimi Hendrix for Halloween...
 

taabru45

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Duane Allman........slide! :) If it has a movable bridge, it needs moving. :? :wink: :wink: Steffan
( or smash the damn thing and go as PeteTownsend!)
 

taabru45

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Duane Allman........slide! :) If it has a movable bridge, it needs moving. :? :wink: :wink: Steffan
( or smash the damn thing and go as PeteTownsend!)
 

GardMan

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I wonder if you could pull the bridge off, and move it to the correct position (cheap guitar... no loss if it gets trashed in the process).

Try measuring from the nut to the 12th fret, and from the 12th fret to the saddle. If I am not mistaken, those measurements should be exactly the same. If they're not, then try moving the bridge to make them equal (of course... this then presumes that the other frets are place in the correct distances relative to the nut/saddle... I am sure there must be formulas for calculating all those somewhere on the web).
 

Tony Burns

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Im not expert but from past experiences - it might be alot of things - tuners that slip badly, bad intonation , really crummy strings can sound off , poor bridge placement and sometimes the bracing ( guitar moves as its being tuned ) usually the fretting is ok on most starters- a machine cuts them in - but i wouldnt bet my life on a 5 dollar guitar - just look at it this way - next year you can dress up your kid like Esteban for Holloween- and he will have a better guitar than a Esteban !
 
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