Tuning/string life issues, new nut for my Les Paul Standard?

[JDavisNJ]

Hello all,

I've had this guitar since around 2002 when I bought it new. I love it to death, but a couple things drive me nuts about it. First, is string life. It doesn't matter how clean my hands are, or how often I wipe the strings down. The string life on my Gibson is much less than my other guitars regardless of string type.

The strings just become "rubber band" sounding much faster than my other guitars. I tried lubricating the nut with a pencil and it seemed to help a tiny bit. Is it possible that the nut is the culprit?

Also, while it stays in tune ok, my other guitars seem to have better tuning stability. Do you think that having my tech change the nut to a higher quality one would help out? I'm not sure what kind of nut material Gibson used then.

Any particular kind I should look for? Do you think this is a valid claim to the problems with the guitar?

Thanks,

-Joe

[Rosewood]

Tunning could be helped if the nut material is poor quality but don't see that helping string life. What kind of strings?

[JDavisNJ]

Thanks for the reply...It's been between DR/D'addario/Ernie Ball..They all seem to have the same effect.

-Joe

[walterw]

i've posted before, and it's pretty well known around these parts, that all gibsons, even the high-dollar ones, come with high and poorly slotted nuts, which kills tuning stability. a proper set-up, with correct nut-slot filing, will make them behave just fine.

as far as string life, the nut won't be a factor unless it's so badly cut that the slots are damaging the string windings (unlikely). it may be that you are just hearing the darker, less twangy sound of a shorter-scale, all-mahogany set neck guitar.

[axepilot]

String life has nothing to do with the guitar - it's your own sweat, blood, beer and cleaning method.

And.....................it's a Gibson - a living, breathing piece of guitar firepower. Gibsons need to breath to stabilize the tuning. They don't suffer climate changes well, unless you let them adapt. I've played Gibsons for over 30 years, so I know. If you're going from your room to a gig, open the case as soon as you get there and let that guitar breath and acclimate for an hour or so. Lots of folks lay the blame on the nut, when that really isn't the case.

[JDavisNJ]

Thanks for the replies guys...I always took care of my gear, but never paid a ton of attention to climatic changes and such. Thanks so much for brining it to my attention.

Are there other things I should be aware of? I live in NJ and it's extremely humid right now, so that's probably a big factor.

I'll definitely look into getting the nut fixed, I need to talk to my tech. It's a great axe, I just wish I knew how to take care of it better.

-Joe