ESP LTD MH-1000ET EverTune Electric Guitar Issue

[Ericlingus]

I recently bought the MH1000 with the Evertune bridge and has noticed something that I thought is not supposed to happen: When I tune up and have it in zone 2 the guitar still goes slightly out of tune when I turn the tuning posts to change the tension to make it more/less responsive to bends. It is in zone 2 the entire time yet when I turn the tuners on the headstock, the guitar goes slightly sharp or flat up to about 10cents depending how much I turn the tuners. I thought it was not supposed to make any difference. If I leave the guitar as is after tuning it stays in tune fine just like it's supposed to though. I also noticed that when I rest my palm on the bridge for palm mutes it makes the guitar go slightly off pitch depending on how hard I press on the bridge for palm mutes. I guess that is normal though? Could anyone help me out here that owns an Evertune guitar? I wonder if it is just a faulty installation on the bridge and needs to be returned?

 

[BearOnGuitar]

The detuning issue in zone 2 is install related and can be solved by varying the height of the footplate, since our system is geometry based and that footplate is one point in the geometry. You would need to have a professional tech or one of our verified installers slightly modify the EverTune install by moving the footplate into it's correct position or return the guitar.

I'm not sure about the strings detuning when you rest your palm on it. I can change the pitch of a single saddle module if I press down on it with a finger or two, which requires quite a bit of force, but I wouldn't be able to detune any modules using my palm even if I would apply force to it. It's possible that it might have something to do with the footplate position in your guitar. I'll be sure to check with our inventor Cosmos and see if he has anything to add to my reply.

Best regards,
Herbert

 

[Ericlingus]

for me it just takes slight pressure from one finger to make it go out of tune.

 

[BearOnGuitar]

I checked with our inventor on the strings detuning within zone 2. For mass marketed guitars there is production tolerance. And 10 cents throughout all of Zone 2 (which is 3-6 turns using the tuning peg) is still within the production tolerance. A guitar string at most detunes about 1/8th of a turn during a day of hard play. You should test how much the tone changes with 1/8th of a turn even a quarter turn, which is all that you will ever see in real life. Like you said the guitar stays in tune like it's supposed to after it has been set up. Be sure to use a reliable and accurate tuner when checking, as it might have just been the tuning needle jumping from the tuning peg being turned fast and then resettling. As I said in my earlier post this can be perfected by varying the height of the footplate by moving the footplate deeper into the guitar if the note is trending down as the saddle is falling back away from the nut, and less deep if the note is trending up as the saddle is falling back.

Additionally, when discussing EverTune's ability to hold tune, with new strings the tune can change by 5-10 cents in the first weeks due, it seems to oxidation. Oxidation, also known as rust, is when Iron becomes Iron Oxide, sucking oxygen from the air and increasing it's mass. When it's mass increases by 1% the pitch drops by 5-10 cents. This will happen over days though, so if you check the tune before each session, the guitar is perfectly fine for hours and hours and hours. Also this detuning happens less and more slowly on coated strings because they are coated. It also stops after a while on any string because once the strings surface is fully oxidized, this layer protects the rest of the string from oxidation.

In terms of the palm muting, you're probably pushing down on the back of the saddles somehow. Since the saddles are floating, any force on the back of them will rock them back, stretching the strings tighter and making them go sharp. I just tried it out again myself, it's not possible to pull any strings out of tune even slightly with applying as much force as I can using the palm of my hand while muting the strings, placing my hand at or near the front of the saddles.

I hope the additional info provided clears things up.

 

[DeclanWhite]

I have an mh1000et and an ec1000t with aftermarket evertune and they both do the first thing you said, so I guess you've just gotta tune it to where you want it in the zone

 

[miguelrx10d]

yea my ec1000et does it too

 

[Ericlingus]

Thanks guys. Kind of disappointing since I spent over a grand on thw guitar. That is not as advertised. 10 cents might as well be 50 cents because it is not in tune enough for me to be happy in a recording session.

 

[JeffTD]

That's nutty - Zone 2 should not change with the tuners at all, and the one I had retrofitted on a guitar definitely didn't have that issue.

I'm having another retrofitted later this month (finally...) and expect the same out of it, but it's really disappointing to hear that that's an expected thing on factory-installed units.

Unless you mean that on the way between Zones 1 and 2 and then Zones 2 and 3 it changes pitch? That's totally expected; it sits a bit flat as it moves from 1 into 2, and sits a bit sharp as it goes from 2 into 3. I still never have issues with tuning and set the guitars up to be in-tune just before it moves up into zone 3 (ie my left hand bending the string is what causes it to bump up into zone 3 and bend the pitch as intended).

 

[JeffTD]

Also, you can get those guitars for way less than a grand; dealers sell on eBay (or will take a best offer) for $750-850 pretty regularly. If you ordered new it might be worth returning and going that route.

 

[Trevoire520]

Absolutely zero problems on my retrofitted evertune here. I love that thing. Shame you guys are having issues.

 

[wishtheend]

My guitarist has the MH1000ET bought stock from Sweetwater. Absolutely no issues, the new string thing was an obvious thing to check first week or so but never had an issue like the OP. I'd go for an exchange.

 

[Megin]

I would return it if I was you. You should'nt have to pay more, bringing it to a pro to fix a new guitar that should been faultless.

 

[Ericlingus]

yeah that's crazy. I'm returning it and will see if the next one is better. If not then I'll just get a non Evertune guitar.

 

[FIXXXER]

i have partially experienced the same and to me it seemed to be normal.
i always dial the bridge into zone 2, then push it to zone 3, go back a bit and then fine tune the strings individually...

 

[Megin]

yeah that's crazy. I'm returning it and will see if the next one is better. If not then I'll just get a non Evertune guitar.

No need to desert Evertune. After all when they work properly it's godsend.

 

[Ericlingus]

well I don't think I will have a choice. I think the allowed tolerance for faulty installations is absurd. I agree if they work as advertised they are amazing but it's not really acceptable for me to pay 1000 dollars on a guitar that has lax QC.

 

[wishtheend]

Evertune posted some nice pics of Andy Sneap's LTD with Evertune
https://www.facebook.com/Evertune?fref=ts

 

[Sloan]

Evertune posted some nice pics of Andy Sneap's LTD with Evertune
https://www.facebook.com/Evertune?fref=ts

:danceboy:

 

[BearOnGuitar]

well I don't think I will have a choice. I think the allowed tolerance for faulty installations is absurd. I agree if they work as advertised they are amazing but it's not really acceptable for me to pay 1000 dollars on a guitar that has lax QC.

I want to clarify this further as I think you might have misunderstood my previous response trying to explain. Your guitar would have never went out of tune by 10 cents or an amount close to it, that's if it was still within the production tolerance. Did you test how much your guitar actually went out of tune with a 1/4 turn of the tuning peg? That would have been the max. amount of how much your tuning would have changed, which would have been very minimal. 10 cents would have been from one end of zone 2 to the other which is 3-6 full turns with the tuning peg.

Evertune posted some nice pics of Andy Sneap's LTD with Evertune
https://www.facebook.com/Evertune?fref=ts

We're certainly very excited about Andy using the EverTune and liking how the retrofit sounds on his guitar!

Thanks for the support guys!

 

[Ericlingus]

I guess I'm confused then because I thought as long as you are in zone 2 the tuning will remain the same at any point in zone 2. For example, I am in zone 2 and playing but realize I want to do more bends so I tune the tuning peg up a a full turn while still keeping it in zone 2. The way it is reacting right now is the tuning would be affected by that and be slightly sharp or flat depending on which way I turn the tuners. My understanding of it is as long as it is in zone 2 it will have no affect on the tuning if you turn the tuning pegs at the headstock.