Tuning stability...eek?

[The amazing Phil]

Ok, I've got tuning stability issues with my tele, and though I've got most of the teething problems sorted (i.e. the break-angle at the nut- just need a drill bit for the new string retainer) it still manages to go out of tune with locking tuners and a graphite nut when it's in the case. Deffinitely a case of "Whiskey tango foxtrot"

Now I couldn't work it out for a long time, but does anyone else with a 3 saddle tele bridge get this? I'm starting to think that maybe the strings are sliding ever so slightly out of alignment since there don't seem to be any notches like in tun-o-matic saddles.

Am I right or mad? Or could there be another reason? I'm pretty sure the nuts cut right, it deffinitely should be but I know strings binding in nuts can do it. And schaller locking tuners should help right? It's always the two E strings and the G string that seem to be affected the most too. Could this be as silly as how it sits in the case nudging the tuning keys ever so slightly?

Thanks for any help as this is really baking my noodle.

[38thBeatle]

I am probbaly not a lot of help but I have tuning stability issues with my Tele which I put down to the crude bridge. My 2 Strats are pretty good and at gigs they stay pretty much in tune but the Tele has to be tweaked every couple of songs. Seems ok with new strings but as soon as they go off, if I dont change them they are a pain. Having said that it is not a major problem and I can live with it as i have come to know the sweet spot for it- as you do.

[Bob Johnson]

You mentioned that it goes out of tune "in the Case". If it stays in tune when out of the case it might be worth checking that the case is not applying any stress to the neck/body joint when closed. I've only seen this once before but it can happen.

[Searcher]

Hey, I had the same problem with my guitar. It's the first guitar I've owned that has locking tuners--these are Schaller as well--and at first it went out of tune in the case far more frequently than any other electric I'd owned.

The last time I restrung it I wound the string around the pegs a bit more than before--almost as much as I would if the tuners were just regular ones and not locking. Before that I hardly wound the string around the pegs at all. I figured that half the point of the locking mechanism was that I didn't have to do that; but it does seem to affect the tuning stability a little.

I think the damn things are overrated anyway. I still have to correct the tuning almost every time I play it. My other guitars have sometimes held their tuning for months in the case if they haven't been played.

[The amazing Phil]

Maybe it's something to do with how tightly (or not) they're fitted?