Kudos StewMac!!! For actually showing how to cut the nut slots for a 3 + 3!!! Everyone always says " get a properly cut nut", but no one really shows it!

Changing my intonation to help with open chords was the biggest mind blower in this video!!!

The intonation section was the best I have found on KZfaq! Thank you.

I've seen countless videos about fancy tuning post string wrapping techniques. It's nice to see Stew Mac confirm the method I have been using for 45 years with excellent results. Good info on tempering the intonation. It's indeed a compromise.

Outstanding video! I loved how everything was broken down in a logical and clear manner. More of this, please!!!!

This is great Gene! Clear, concise and explained masterfully. Every guitar player should see this video, it would have saved me a ton of confusion and headache my first few years of playing!

Gosh, thank you. I genuinely appreciate the way you either demonstrated or illustrated each of the variables. I discovered that my technic and understanding was incorrect and I created most of my own hurdles . Again thank you for your time and effort to create and publish this video...!!

Great job with the video - clear and easy to understand!

The simplest explanation on nut height slotting! Thanks again Stewmac!

Probably the best nut cutting explanation I have ever seen…well done my man!!!!

Very good and useful presentation. Best explanation and practical implementation I've watched.

That was brilliant,full of handy tips,thank you.

Best video on staying in tune & how to make sure on your own. Thank u so much. This even confirmed my thoughts on intonation at the 1st 5 frets.

I really like this guy. Just when I think I know everything, I pick something up from him on almost every video. Great stuff.

Nice breakdown. Found that super helpful.

Really good instructional video. Clear and straight talking. 👍👍

Thanks Gene, I really learnt something from the section about nut modifications. Great video, StewMac has such a good channel.

Very well done, and detailed.

Great Video!! You provided a lot of valuable info in a condensed format. I was ready to replace my tuners, but will try all the "other" things that might cause my Guitar needing to be retuned often. You also provided some REALLY good insight on intonation.

Awesome video! Explained well and thoroughly.

Very helpful thanks

Great Article, Thanks for sharing

Great video. Thank you very much.

one of the best videos i've seen. spot on, thanks!

Excellent, quality content. Thanks so much for posting.

Great video! Super helpful

This was perfect. Thank you Stew Mac!

Fantastic Video guys!!! This is so helpful!!! Thank you!!! Now I have to order one of those string stretchers : )

Excellent tutorial, sir!! Thank you!!

I have chased intonation perfection forever and setting it to where an individual plays on the neck makes so much sense. Thank you!

Fantastic lesson!!!

Tuning a half step high is a good way to stretch strings also. Go a half step higher, noodle around and use very exaggerated bends. Then final tune. The stretcher tool is a hook and heel stick that works very well. ALWAYS use lube. Graphite, Vaseline or what I use is Bog Benz Nut Sauce. Also, run some sandpaper over the slots on the bridge saddles. The smoother they are, the easier the string can move freely. The last bonus tip is probably the most important. I see students that think you have to push the string into the fretboard and leave an imprint to fret a note properly. Ease up on fretting and picking. Unless you're Pete Townsend and doing the big windmill strum, don't dig the pick into the string like you're trying to lift it. Just the tip of the pick is all you need. Watch someone like Michael Angelo Batio pick. His picking hand moves just enough to make the string move, no more. That's going to keep your guitar in tune forever.

Great to see Gene again

Thanks for sharing

Very helpful!

The problem with that many wraps around the tuning posts is with a non locking trem. As soon as you use the bar downwards, the strings slack and will unravel slightly at the posts. This is my experience anyway. The over then under technique creates a natural lock with less wraps. This is probably completely fine for your hard tail bridges. Great video in any case! Thanks!

Great video. Some good wisdom here. I especially liked the bit on intonation.

Crazy-cool, concise, fun, vid. Man.

Thank you can't wait for the Trem setup vid!

Great video, theres lots to learn even just watching. Like that slick way to get the blue tape placed under the the strings. Thank you!

Wow! Helpful!

This is VERY HELPFUL!!!!

The bonus tips are pure gold. And as a formally trained and experienced musician all my life, born again musician on guitar three and a half years ago, he's really hit the most essential mark here. Something I never heard any instructor mention for guitar beginners which I think is essential, the key to playing in tune and faster has nothing to do with gear at all. It's about technique. And the greatest general tip about that is to minimize your movement. The string doesn't need to and shouldn't be pressed down to the wood. You just need the string to touch the fret. And by the way, about frets, they should be polished. When you have frets with actual grooves in them from wear and tear, that's a problem. It's very easy to learn to clean your fretboard, polish the frets, and oil the fretboard. You only need to do it about twice a year. I typically do it Spring and Autumn. Cheap guitars have cheap frets, and they wear and tear faster.

One of the best guitar maintenance videos I have seen! Thank you!

2 wraps on the wound strings, 3 wraps on the thinner strings + proper stretching of the strings. Stays in tune well. Great tips! Thanks Stewmac.

This video is great, y’all! Love it.

Oh, finally somebody who gibes the right importance to the right setup rather than to (generally) useless locking tuners! Once you wind the string a couple of times around the peghead, it is reeeeally difficult that tuning issues will be related to the supposed lack of friction of the string, which once again supposedly runs freely in the peghead hole. Nut, bridge and correct intonation are what really matters.

Great video! Very clear and honest about how you can fix your guitar concerns yourself... without the guitar snobbery that comes from many people who would just tell you to buy a better guitar!

Just excellent. All the little tricks I have heard over the years and then some in one neat video. Winding techniques differ for sure with different types of machine heads or pegs, but that really was very spot on concerning modern tuners. Love that I subbed to this channel. Thanks.

Also off of problem 4, check your frets. If they have visible wear (like dents), the point of contact will be shifted forward, causing notes to be sharp. This happened to me-my unwrapped strings likes to dig into the first few frets over time. A refret fixed my first position intonation issues.

This dude was really good at explaining stuff. Thanks.

this guy is super good on explaining things! i look forward for the strat bridge setup!!

The only advantage of locking tuners is quick string changes. A proper set up and an expertly cut nut are worth their weight in gold.

Great advice ❤

Just Excellent

I've been playing for many years and can change strings as demonstrated, but I have always been weary of doing any set-up adjustments. I bring mine to experts like you. Great video!

Great great video!!

Nut work is something that makes me anxious, even after reading Dan's guitar guide. Thanks for making it really easy to understand Gene!

Great video and great presentation. I'd definitely like to see more from this presenter.

Great and informative video! You guys should definitely do a video about settting up and adjusting a Fender style vibrato (6-screw + 2-point) that would be extremely helpful! Too many misconceptions out there! Thanks.

WOW, best home luthier tips ever. Already noticed a few areas that can be easily worked without advanced rocket science. Thx StewMac!!

Great vid!

Very interesting. Thanks for share. Would you make a similar video but in the case of acoustic and electroacoustic guitars.? Thanks so much!! 😃

Lots of good tips in there.

Freakin whammy bars

Idk what I’d do without you Stew Mac Crucial Thanks

great educational video, agreed with everything except when you said "stretching" the strings instead of " setting" the strings

I have started using Tusq (Graph Tech) for nuts. It is like bone but consistent in all directions

Re: nut slot clearance. Amen on the 'flossing' trick. A great hack. I use a dot of polishing compound and think of this as a flexible round file. Yes, be careful and don't overdo it, just like the dentist says. Refreshing yo see a StewMac video that's not trying to sell a tuner upgrade. Great tips. Thanks!

Wow excellent video ~

Great video, with all due respect to the outro, SRV was ultra aggressive and still stayed in tune.

Gracias 👌

If you have a tune o matic bridge with loose posts in the bridge or tailpiece, you can use some plumber's thread sealing tape. Put a little on the threads and screw the posts back in and it'll be rock solid.

This guy is cool. Super helpful vid.

great tips good work kudos be safe, be happy, work hard peace \m/

Dont forget temperature. Tune the guitar in the environment you intend to play i.e. careful of temperature changes from constant contact with your skin or change due to stage lighting. If playing on stage, tune at the end of a set while everything is still warm.

Best advice given 'Learn to Tune by Ear'! Thanks' Gene.

thx! stuck with a cheapo guitar for a sec and this will help big time... I think my issue is plastic nut...

The people at Petereson Tuners have a different process they suggest for intonation. I believe they suggesting tuning the open strings to pitch but using the 5th and 17th fret notes and making sure they're as close to intonated as possible with the guitar's open strings tuned to pitch. I must admit I haven't explored this more thoroughly yet.

Lots of good stuff. BONUS...some people have acoustic guitars. It would have nice to least include the bridge, bridge pins and saddle on an acoustic. Thanks for the video....great voice!

Fantastic tutorial video. Every question I had, answered. I was ready to throw my Greysch hollow body across rhe roon. Thank you for sharing your insight. Well done mate!!

This guy is great!

If you're having tuning issues with your Les Paul like I was, the Tusq XL is a simple, very effective solution. One big reason I recommend it is the fact that the slots are perfectly pre-cut and radiused, so all you have to do is sand the bottom to get the strings to the appropriate height. Made a huge difference for me.

Great tips but with the newer true temperament fret-boards you really can get perfect intonation on all frets now! If you have lots of money..... and have a guitar that the necks work on.... ok you're right.

I always wrap under-over. It works well.

My easy method for lowering the string height at the nut is to take the nut out and sand it down from the bottom rather than messing with the slots themselves. Note that the slot for the nut may be either flat or curved; if it's curved, then to match the curve of the fretboard, simply place the sandpaper on the fretboard closest to the nut, and sand it down there. A new, pre-slotted, top of the line nut only costs about eight dollars, but it will definitely need some work to fit the width, length, and height of the nut for your guitar, but all it takes is sandpaper and elbow grease. And if you have to do it again, all you've lost is about eight dollars. Personally, I've only been playing guitar three and a half years but been a musician all my life, built my Stratocaster myself, did all the setup work myself except the first couple of times. It is far better and cheaper to learn how to DIY these things, and there are plenty of videos on KZfaq about how to do it. I do it this way because I'm cheap. Slot files in the gauges you personally use are very expensive. I don't know why, but they are. That's why for the wound strings I simply take an old string and floss the slot with it.

I put locking tuners on most of my guitars, Im just lazy :p. Thanks for info. :) Dan Erlewine's guitar book is a great way to learn to setup your guitar.....thanks guys!

solid!

Many guitarists recommend a minimal number of wraps on the Tuners to improve tuning stability. A comparison of how the number of wraps affects tuning stability would be useful. The low E, and G string are particularly susceptible to tuning instability, so might be the best ones to test.

Sound advice!

Stew Mac , the best

Sound advice ☺

6:30 is a 10/10 tip ty

Don’t forget to floss your slots! 😂. Solid video!

I loved the last bonus tip...so true...the biggest thing you can do is to learn to play slow and low...and focus on efficiency...and precision...the more tension you have in your playing...the worse your tecnique...if you are fighting you instrument..you are not truly enjoying your playing...and your guitar probably will not welcome you to play it

Awesome : )

At the 7 minute mark; a scenario (common) open string rings "In Tune" followed by;12th fret rings In Tune. Strum a cowboy "C" cord and yuk? a cowboy G even D may be yuk too. WHY; if the First fret is fretted and pulls sharp then no matter how close the open sound is to the 12th fretted sound, it will be yuk. The nut cut depth needs to allow a 1st fret fretted note to be In Tune. for example the Bass E string open rings Perfect in tune E. The 1st fret (on that same string must ring a perfect F (not F sharp of perish the thought E a bit flat = shim or new nut. 1.tune all 6 to concert perfect. 2. fret the 1st fret (on all 6) and see if the fretted note is In Tune, Sharp of (hopefully not) Flat. If sharp dress out nut to gradually lower the action @ the 1st fret. 3. when all 6 show In Tune at the 1st fet then do the 12th. I can tune my LP custom / LP Standard / Fender Strat and Tele against any and all frets

what if im trying to fix my stratocaster tremolo for better tuning? how do i set it up?

No Jell-O, just good filler thanks dude really good and informative

Gene do you still do repairs and stuff in the Jacksonville area?