How the fuck do strings stray sharp ?

[Panamark]

This has been buggin me forever,

OK, I understand a guitar with a fixed bridge
going out of tune (flat) with the strings slacking
off.. (The physics and mechanics are obvious)
But how the hell do guitar strings go sharp
when left laying around ??

Im gonna take a guess that its thermal related..

Or theres been some pesky ghost tweakin my
machine heads slightly tighter my whole life !!

I've had guitars that have been tuned to a
chromatic tuner, then rechecked 2 days later
and some of the strings are slightly sharper !!

WTF ??

Ghost or Thermal ???

How do strings go tighter ? I'm sure I've had
em almost half a step up at times..

(Panamark awaiting lots of Drug references
to come his way now )


or.... ??????

[Panamark]

Ok, I just thought neck movement could come
into this...


Hmmmmm

[Coyote]

Could be the intonation, the weather, or you having too many beers in the evening...

[DrMaddVibe]

Humidity

[Matt White]

or lack thereof............

[Panamark]

I kinda figured it might be thermal, the northern half of
Australia is known for its humidity, and Sydney is
in that belt...
Its a weird thing to tune a guitar, play with it for a
while, put it on its stand and then find notes gone
sharp next time you pick it up.. lol..

Hey I didnt rule out the Beer factor Coyote !
Thats why I double checked it on the old
manual chromatic... (Just in case my ears
were letting me down)

[Coyote]

Originally posted by Panamark
Hey I didnt rule out the Beer factor Coyote!

Neither did I... :D

[DrMaddVibe]

Originally posted by Panamark
I kinda figured it might be thermal, the northern half of
Australia is known for its humidity, and Sydney is
in that belt...
Its a weird thing to tune a guitar, play with it for a
while, put it on its stand and then find notes gone
sharp next time you pick it up.. lol..

Hey I didnt rule out the Beer factor Coyote !
Thats why I double checked it on the old
manual chromatic... (Just in case my ears
were letting me down)

We get that a LOT here in Florida. Tune a guitar, play 4-5 songs with it. Put it down for the night. Pick it up in the morning and you're like "WTF????"

Live and learn I guess.

[Panamark]

Thats mad !!

I wonder how many hot and humid gigs cause this
to happen during a show...

Maybe I should boil my strings ! (nice try Eddie !!)

I guess the neck slighty warps in the humidity..

Unless theres a more scientific explanation than
that, I reckon thats the culprit ....

[Hardrock69]

Temperature can make the strings shrink just a bit if they get cooler...are they near an A/C vent or something?

Strings shrink, dey be get sharp!
Better sharp than dull, eh?
:D

[Panamark]

Not near any A/C that I know of, its a peculiarity that I
have noticed with all guitars since I was 15..
You kinda expect them to slacken over time,
but tighten is fookin weird..
I didnt know they tightened when colder, thats
interesting HR69..

Our Eskimo mates must buy a shitload of
Korg Chromatic Tuners.. lol...

I guess they could also Tuna Fish !