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Guitar Sounds Dull and Lifeless

Guitar sounds dull, like the treble has been sucked out of the sound.

Dead Strings

The cause of this issue is dead strings. Guitar strings must be changed at least once a month or once every 30 hours of play time. Many players choose to change strings more often than this to ensure their guitars sound their best at all times.

Guitar Not Staying In Tune

Guitar goes out of tune shortly after tuning.

Dead Strings

When strings get old, they begin to go more and more slack. This happens on a downward slope; the older they get, the more they stretch, the quicker they go out of tune. Changing your strings should alleviate the problem.

No sound when plugging into a sound board or amplifier

Guitar doesn't make sound when plugged in.

Dead Pickup Battery

The most probable cause of this is a dead pickup battery. Using a coin like a quarter, or even a guitar pick, twist off the black, circular cover found under the strap pin at the end of the body of the guitar. Replace the battery, which may be a 9V or two AA's, depending on the year your guitar was made.

Frets Feel Gummy or Rough

While playing, the frets feel gummy or rough under your fingers instead of smooth.

Dirty Fretboard

This is caused by a dirty fingerboard. Human fingers are naturally oily, and this oil combined with sweat, dirt, and dust builds up over time on the fretboard. This can require an intensive deep clean and conditioning of the fretboard with specialized instrument cleaning solvents to restore optimal playability.

Fret Buzz

While playing, some frets buzz and don't ring clear.

Misaligned Action

The cause of fret buzz is that your action, the distance between the strings and the frets, is too low. There are multiple causes of this, but the most likely is that the wood has slightly warped. This happens naturally over time to all wooden instruments, especially in particularly dry or humid environments. The solution is to adjust the truss rod, a metal rod that runs through the center of the neck. It can be accessed by removing the truss rod cover, the decorative wood piece with screws found in between the strings on the headstock.

Strings Are Abnormally Difficult To Press Down

It is difficult to press down the strings or fretting hand fatigue sets in quickly.

Misaligned Action

This issue is caused by the action, the distance between the strings and the frets, being too high. There are multiple causes of this, but the most likely is that the wood has slightly warped. This happens naturally over time to all wooden instruments, especially in particularly dry or humid environments. The solution is to adjust the truss rod, a metal rod that runs through the center of the neck. It can be accessed by removing the truss rod cover, the decorative wood piece with screws found in between the strings on the headstock.