# Convince me to acquire or stay away from Evertune



## Tisca (May 21, 2019)

I want to hear both sides. I tried an Ltd EC long ago with Evertune bridge and hated it. There must have been something wrong with the setup and I'm ready to give it a new try. Didn't even plug it into an amp.

Also list some other brands than ESP and Solar that come stock with Evertune.
I'm under the impression that after market fitting becomes expensive and few know how to do it properly.


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## Strobe (May 21, 2019)

Plus side:


It works essentially perfectly at what it was designed for. It can easily be set up for whatever bending sensitivity you want.
If you have a heavy hand, or are just really sensitive to strings going out of tune when you strike them, you can set them (usually the low strings) so that they are less sensitive to pitch changes with bending. What this means is you have to bend a bit before the pitch changes. This can make it so that pushing down on and striking the string do not change the pitch. It can make things sound a bit more in tune. The pitch does not waver when you strike the string, or if you push down hard when fretting.
It is an easy to adjust bridge design in terms of string height and intonation. Everything is done with the same hex key.
It's very easy to use once you understand it.

Downsides:

Much like a Floyd, changing tuning takes longer than on a fixed bridge. You need to use the tool. It's faster than a Floyd, but not an on the fly mid-show thing.
It sounds a little different than a fixed bridge, in the same way a Floyd sounds different than a fixed bridge. Ideally play one first to make sure you like it.
It's difficult to explain if you have not used it before.

Overall, I think they are great, especially for live performances or recording. I own a LTD KS-7 and have used it for a few years.


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## BananaDemocracy (May 21, 2019)

I say get it. Why? Because if I didn’t just blow my wad on a M80M I had my eyes fixed on an ESP EV.... now I think those points are accurate....^^^^

If that pro side tips the scale at all in any way,go for it. You can always sell it, which is the beauty of instruments


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## LeviathanKiller (May 21, 2019)

Tisca said:


> I want to hear both sides. I tried an Ltd EC long ago with Evertune bridge and hated it. There must have been something wrong with the setup and I'm ready to give it a new try. Didn't even plug it into an amp.
> 
> Also list some other brands than ESP and Solar that come stock with Evertune.
> I'm under the impression that after market fitting becomes expensive and few know how to do it properly.


Pros: Stays in tune forever basically (I haven't needed to adjust anything in over a year), pretty comfortable

Cons: 

Heavy (expect an additional 2lbs at least). Their site claims 1.28 for the 6-string bridge but my EverTune Solar guitars were like 10lbs each I believe. I can get back to you on specifics when I'm home though

Takes out a good chunk of wood from your guitar. Absolutely fine with stock guitars imo but I have a reluctance to purchase a custom where I'm paying for fancy woods and aesthetics only to have the guitar's core section removed.

Possibly Myths: 

Reduced sustain (maybe a slight reduction but I have guitars without it that have less so it's whatever)
Weird (metallic?) sounds (I haven't experienced these at all)

Purchasing options:

It is not cheap to after-market install one. Sending to EverTune costs the bridge price plus an installation price. Around $600 total.
Having EverTune purchase a production guitar for you from one of their distributors (if they have it) saves you the price of installation. You just pay for the bridge and shipping.
Buying a guitar with EverTune already installed (whether production or a custom built) has the price built in of course.
Other brands with them stock? Almost none. It's only going to be custom builders and stuff. Cheapest custom options would be via Kiesel or Balaguer. Btw, Solar appears to be the first ones to offer a production _8-string_ with an EverTune bridge.


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## MaxOfMetal (May 21, 2019)

Grab a used LTD with an Evertune, you can grab them for as little as $600 on Reverb, try it out. If you hate it, you'll know for sure, and then dump the guitar for what you paid. If you love it, you'll know for sure, and sell it for what you paid to put towards something more high end. 

You're really not going to be able to make this decision without spending some time with the bridge.


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## MrYakob (May 21, 2019)

Strobe said:


> Much like a Floyd, changing tuning takes longer than on a fixed bridge. You need to use the tool. It's faster than a Floyd, but not an on the fly mid-show thing




This is only true if you're changing the tuning or string gauge, otherwise you just put the string on and just wind it until the note stops moving. Super quick if you're using the same strings/tuning


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## ixlramp (May 21, 2019)

See my post about Evertune here https://sevenstring.org/threads/eve...ne-really-worth-it.334297/page-2#post-4969217
Personally i see problems with the idea, however it might be right for you.

It will inevitably have less sustain and poorer tone than a trem bridge, all else being equal, because each string isn't stabilised by the inertia of a tone block as large as that of a trem bridge, because there are now 6 individual smaller tone blocks.

What did you 'hate' about the one you tried?


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## Tisca (May 21, 2019)

I keep hearing how well the Evertune works with downtuned and 8 strings. There also seems to be a trend of having shorter scale lengths than without Evertune bridge. Has anyone noticed they don't require as long scale lengths or is it only about tuning stability and not overall feel?



ixlramp said:


> It will inevitably have less sustain and poorer tone than a trem bridge


Some say this, others say it's a myth.


ixlramp said:


> What did you 'hate' about the one you tried?


The feel of the springs in the mechanism. Hated it from the first strum and didn't play for long. Back then I only played hardtail guitars.


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## frenster (May 22, 2019)

I've installed quite a few of these, many for touring and studio pros, as well as producers. Most of what's been said here is true. 

The plusses are that it does stay perfectly in tune for weeks at a time, and set up properly, feels like a conventional guitar. I have one celebrity client who said that it was so in tune when he was doubling tracks that it was phasing, and he had to use a conventional guitar on the doubled track. I have another who said he did an entire tour and didn't tune once, and another who said they recorded an entire album and didn't have to tune. You can also go from cold to hot or vice versa and it won't effect the tuning.

It can also be set to compensate for hamfist players. I know plenty of talented singer/songwriters who put their guitar out of tune simply by grabbing the chords too hard. It also works great on 7 and 8 string guitars, and also down tuning. It stops the strings from going sharp when you hit them hard.

The downsides are that it may rob some sustain and tone, as well as sensitivity, for example, if you like to get vibrato by moving the neck back and forth, that won't work. Depending on your style of music, this may or may not matter. For Rise Against it's fine, but it might not work so well for guitarists with a more subtle touch, like Scott Henderson. As for adding weight, I've found that the difference between the amount of wood you take out and the weight of the Evertune is measured in ounces, not pounds. I've weighed them before and after installation. 

It's definitely cheaper to buy one with it installed than having me install one for you (not that I'm trying to drive away business), but some people are attached to certain guitars and simply want them to stay in tune. For example, I have a client who tours with a stadium filling act and he LOVES cheap guitars. His Teiscos, Harmonys and Silvertones sound great, but they never stayed in tune. Now they do.

As far as customer response, I've installed hundreds of these and have had VERY few complaints.

Hope that's helpful!


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## Bearitone (May 22, 2019)

After market install is around $600 total (bridge + install).

ESP and Solar are the biggest companies i can think of that carry guitars with them as a standard feature.

There is ome Kiesel signature model with an evertune bridge. And there’s also VGS guitars but, i don’t know much about them.

About the guitar you didn’t like:
Where did you try it?

I ask because i’ll be darned if i ever find anything but, fixed bridge guitars set up properly in stores and even then its a crap shoot ESPECIALLY if the guitar is in the used section. I’m betting it was used because i have yet to see any evertune guitar for sale brand new in a store (at least around LA)


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## Tisca (May 22, 2019)

Bearitone said:


> About the guitar you didn’t like:
> Where did you try it?
> 
> I ask because i’ll be darned if i ever find anything but, fixed bridge guitars set up properly in stores and even then its a crap shoot ESPECIALLY if the guitar is in the used section. I’m betting it was used because i have yet to see any evertune guitar for sale brand new in a store (at least around LA)



Guitar store, ESP Ltd. It really depends on which store, how well guitars are set up. This one has well setups every time I played. Still could be a bad setup.

There's a 2nd hand Solar 7 with Evertune for sale. Been up for a good while. Dunno what the popularity is on these in case I'd have to resell it after not liking. Also I'm not sure I want a 7 string.

Anyone know if the coming, more affordable Devin Townsend Dragon series model will have an Evertune?


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## Humbuck (May 23, 2019)

I'm sorry if this has been covered but can you set one up so you can drop tune a string on the fly with an Evertune?


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## LeviathanKiller (May 24, 2019)

Humbuck said:


> I'm sorry if this has been covered but can you set one up so you can drop tune a string on the fly with an Evertune?


I think Ola covered that in a video. Check his YouTube for all videos discussing EverTune. I think there was a fairly big FAQ one once.


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## Bearitone (May 24, 2019)

Humbuck said:


> I'm sorry if this has been covered but can you set one up so you can drop tune a string on the fly with an Evertune?



Yes

See Ola’s video on this


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## LeviathanKiller (May 24, 2019)

Get a 10% #discount on all bridges, installations and aftermarket Evertune upgraded guitars available in our web-shop during our spring #sale until June 7th!!
Use #coupon code “spring19” at the checkout: https://www.evertune.com/shop/index.php

via their Facebook page


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## ixlramp (May 26, 2019)

Tisca said:


> Some say this, others say it's a myth.


Yes, i can understand players not 'noticing' loss of tone and sustain, but they don't have another guitar identical in all ways except the bridge type to compare it too. If they did, a normal trem bridge will probably be slightly better, a fixed bridge will certainly be much better.
Because Evertune is an alternative to a fixed bridge, not an alternative to a trem bridge, the loss of tone and sustain is significant.

A saddle on a pivot with less rotational inertia than a trem bridge will not be as solid an anchor as a fixed bridge or a trem bridge, this seems inevitalbe due to the laws of physics.

Below is a photo of the Evertune mechanism for a single saddle, the silver parts and saddle are on a pivot. They have wisely placed a largish chunk of metal as far from the pivot as possible in order to try to maximise the rotational inertia (rotational inertia depends on mass but also the distance of the mass from the pivot), but it still won't be as much rotational inertia as an entire trem bridge.
Ideally they need a larger mass placed even further from the pivot, but there is only so much space in a guitar body, so the guitar body may need to be extended backwards, which defeats the intention of fitting this inside existing designs.


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## ixlramp (May 26, 2019)

Tisca said:


> I keep hearing how well the Evertune works with downtuned and 8 strings. There also seems to be a trend of having shorter scale lengths than without Evertune bridge. Has anyone noticed they don't require as long scale lengths or is it only about tuning stability and not overall feel?


The only advantage is the improvement in tuning stability at low tensions, by reducing the pitch spike on attack and removing tuning issues caused by fretting too hard on a loose string. The other problems of low tension remain: poor tone, floppiness. Those who use Evertune to use lower tension strings are people who are not bothered by the problems that remain, which i personally find a little odd.
The 'short scale, detuned, smaller gauge, low tension string' thing has become a bit of an 'Evertune myth'.

I suggest only considering Evertune if you have significant problems with a guitar going out of tune halfway through a live performance or halfway through a studio take.
But then, if this is happening there may be a cause and a cheaper, simpler solution, like better setup or maintenance.
I see some people considering Evertune but without any clear need or reason. Due to the disadvantages and cost it's best avoided unless you have a clear need for it. It's not something that is right for everyone.


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## Tisca (May 27, 2019)

@ixlramp Thx! Science and arguments works well on me. I think Evertune for me is more about interest than need.


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## noob_pwn (May 27, 2019)

i love the evertune for touring and recording. It's unreal and one thing not mentioned is that it significantly improves intonation. Super helpful support team too. Can't recommend evertune enough.


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## Tisca (May 27, 2019)

noob_pwn said:


> i love the evertune for touring and recording. It's unreal and one thing not mentioned is that it significantly improves intonation. Super helpful support team too. Can't recommend evertune enough.



Are you the Northlane guitarist with that sweet offset ESP custom in black?


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## jonsick (Jun 7, 2019)

I've had various guitars with "odd" bridges. Some were flavour of the day, some were not. Some examples being Kahlers, Speedloaders, Steinberger's weird ass thing... the problem has been consistently that when they stop becoming flavour of the day, parts are impossible to get hold of or at least for not stupid money. That leaves you the option of paying out for expensive aftermarket parts if you find them or somehow modifying the guitar to accept something more standard.

For example, my old ESP had to be plugged, rerouted and refinished for an official floyd rose when Kahler parts were just not around. Afterall he did go off to make golf clubs forever and a day and any replacement bridges were silly money or just not around. Even Slayer spoke of scouring eBay for used tremolo units and even sending some old guitars back to ESP for scavenging parts from. 

So in short, while I'm sure the Evertunes are a lovely piece of kit, they just are not established enough for me to get behind for any reason. I fully expect that in 10 years time there will be a flood of guitars hanging around with Evertunes requiring new parts which don't exist going for silly cheap or owners paying out money to have them modified.


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## Tisca (Jun 8, 2019)

Good point. Kahler is no more?


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## MrWulf (Jun 8, 2019)

They are still in business but it is relatively expensive.


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## spudmunkey (Jun 8, 2019)

Tisca said:


> Good point. Kahler is no more?





MrWulf said:


> They are still in business but it is relatively expensive.



But one thing kinda cool is that replacement parts are pretty easy to get from them, in some cases in several different metals are availble for several of the parts.


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## jonsick (Jun 11, 2019)

spudmunkey said:


> But one thing kinda cool is that replacement parts are pretty easy to get from them, in some cases in several different metals are availble for several of the parts.



They are right now (I guess, not looked in a while). But during the years while Mr. Kahler made golf clubs, you could get flat zero spare parts. I hunted for a year for some replacements on my ESP before I went for the drastic avenue of routing it out for a floyd rose. It ended up perfectly fine, but I've learned the hard way to stay with what's there. I think that's a big reason a lot of guitarists tend to stay with things that have been there since forever and moreso while they reject major advances. If it's a brand new and almost experimental piece of hardware, there is every chance that in ten years you won't find parts for love nor money. If I remember right I either needed a whole assembly or just the mounting plate as a screw had stripped. I remember at one point I had a used unit bid up to £500 odd and got sniped right at the end. 

Like I said, even Slayer had to return old guitars to ESP when they wanted new ones so that they could scavenge parts off them. 

While I'm sure the Evertune is great, I and many others also got burned on the Speedloader bridges - and that's a bridge made by the still existing Floyd Rose! The problem? Try and get strings for the damned things. Another example of when I needed to do some surgery to a guitar to get round the issues of not being able to find something as basic as a set of strings! You can order them from FR but blimey it's expensive.


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## Konfyouzd (Jun 11, 2019)

I wasn't a big fan of the way my vibrato sounded on an Evertune. It was sometimes completely non-existent. It may have been something I was doing with the setup, but it just felt like more headache than it was worth for me. 

I feel like it's a cool idea to have a guitar that never goes out of tune but I regularly do things that more or less deliberately take the guitar out of tune [temporarily] (vibrato / bends) and didn't like fiddling with it to make it sound like a normal guitar.


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## noob_pwn (Jun 17, 2020)

Tisca said:


> Are you the Northlane guitarist with that sweet offset ESP custom in black?



Nah that would be Jon, I play jackson.


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## Choop (Jun 17, 2020)

I haven't handled a guitar with an Evertune yet, but in a video I saw a while back (it may have been one with Devin Townsend showing it off) he almost had to preemptively bend to get the bend to come in when intended, like there wasn't an immediacy to it. Has anyone here experienced that, and is that just something that could be changed with the way the bridge is set up?


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## Winspear (Jun 17, 2020)

Choop said:


> I haven't handled a guitar with an Evertune yet, but in a video I saw a while back (it may have been one with Devin Townsend showing it off) he almost had to preemptively bend to get the bend to come in when intended, like there wasn't an immediacy to it. Has anyone here experienced that, and is that just something that could be changed with the way the bridge is set up?



That's exactly why it works in the first place. The amount you have to bend before the pitch starts to change, is the amount of pitch change that would occur from things like neck warping, tuner being knocked, strings stretching, hard picking, or any other things that you buy an Evertune to eliminate. The more you want it to resist pitch change, the more you will have to bend before pitch change. Adjustable.


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## Choop (Jun 17, 2020)

Winspear said:


> That's exactly why it works in the first place. The amount you have to bend before the pitch starts to change, is the amount of pitch change that would occur from things like neck warping, tuner being knocked, strings stretching, hard picking, or any other things that you buy an Evertune to eliminate. The more you want it to resist pitch change, the more you will have to bend before pitch change. Adjustable.



Thanks! I feel dumb...should have read all of the responses in the thread more thoroughly.


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## Nicki (Jun 17, 2020)

Tisca said:


> I want to hear both sides. I tried an Ltd EC long ago with Evertune bridge and hated it. There must have been something wrong with the setup and I'm ready to give it a new try. Didn't even plug it into an amp.
> 
> Also list some other brands than ESP and Solar that come stock with Evertune.
> I'm under the impression that after market fitting becomes expensive and few know how to do it properly.


Do you:

Tour extensively to the point where you are going from one climate to another overnight? Yes - An Evertune is a good idea. No - Proceed to Question 2.
Own multiple guitars that are used to play gigs locally, state/province-wide or nationally that tuning becomes a huge time sink and impacts your time to play your set or soundcheck properly? Yes - An Evertune is a good idea. No - Proceed to Question 3
Hop from studio session to studio session where time is money and tuning your guitars takes more time than it does to lay down a solid take? Yes - An Evertune is a good idea. No - Proceed to final question.
Do you need an Evertune? Yes - Go back to Question 1. No - You don't need an Evertune.


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## Tisca (Jun 17, 2020)

noob_pwn said:


> Nah that would be Jon, I play jackson.


Don't give up, there's still hope. One day you can be as cool as Jon.


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## c7spheres (Jun 17, 2020)

- I never owned an Evertune, have nothing against them at all and never played one, but you asked to convince to aquire or stay away from Evertune.
- Since I've never owned one I'd say stay away because every greatest guitarist in history never used one.
- On the other had you should get one because they might improve on what all the non trem using greatest guitarists in history ever used. 
- Then again, theres to many parts and special parts at that and special things to do or deal with and they're expensive too.
- Just get a Floyd style guitar and either block it, make it dive only, or float it. It's the best of all worlds and when setup properly stays in tune really well. 
- Then again an Evertune can be adjusted for different zones of play and stays in tune really well to and much easier than a Floyd from what I've read. 
- Hope this adds to any confusion you're having. jk.


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## spudmunkey (Jun 17, 2020)

c7spheres said:


> - I never owned an Evertune, have nothing against them at all and never played one, but you asked to convince to aquire or stay away from Evertune.
> - Since I've never owned one I'd say stay away because every greatest guitarist in history never used one.
> - On the other had you should get one because they might improve on what all the non trem using greatest guitarists in history ever used.
> - Then again, theres to many parts and special parts at that and special things to do or deal with and they're expensive too.
> ...



You just reminded me of a 5th grade schoool "debate" project. Everyone was assigned a topic, and a side, and then had to present an arguement for your side in front of the class. One girl, though, completely missed that there was a "side". Her topic was seat belt laws. She kept bouncing back and forth on her topic, side to side, and then finally ended her confusing mess with, "In conclusion, I feel strongly about seat belt laws", but nobody had any idea about which direction her strong feelings were directed.


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## Emperoff (Jun 18, 2020)

noob_pwn said:


> Nah that would be Jon, I play jackson.


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## Tisca (Jun 1, 2021)

Thread starter here.

Two years later I gave in and bought a 2nd hand Solar E1.6 with Evertune, just to finally give it a proper test.
I changed from previous owner's setup and put on 10-46 and tuned to standard E. I have another guitar (ESP EC) with same scale length, fixed bridge, saame tuning and exactly same strings (gauge/brand/model) but the Evertune one feels like it has thicker strings. I remember reading a comment that you can "get away" with thinner strings on ET. Not sure what was meant by that, can mean various things. 
I'll test tuning it down a half step and go from there.

The Solar shouldn't get compared to my MIJ ESP but that's what I got. It feels like the Ltd Black Metal M I had; as if there's so much paint and lacquer that it became resonantly dead and like a big piece of plastic. Now I don't know how much the Evertune affects. That was my main worry; how it feels with the ET mechanism. The tuning aspect is no issue. I need to compare it to a friend's retrofitted ET/Ibby. Should've gone with a 25,5" ET guitar. Need to check one of those also.


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## Zhysick (Jun 1, 2021)

Tisca said:


> Thread starter here.
> 
> Two years later I gave in and bought a 2nd hand Solar E1.6 with Evertune, just to finally give it a proper test.
> I changed from previous owner's setup and put on 10-46 and tuned to standard E. I have another guitar (ESP EC) with same scale length, fixed bridge, saame tuning and exactly same strings (gauge/brand/model) but the Evertune one feels like it has thicker strings. I remember reading a comment that you can "get away" with thinner strings on ET. Not sure what was meant by that, can mean various things.
> ...



For me the strings feel tighter, the same way a guitar with a Floyd feels tighter. Normally I would use something like 10-52 for Eb tuning on a 25.5" guitar and the plain strings will feel slightly loose as that's the way I like them but in my solar I am using the stock 9-46 and the plain strings feel tighter so yeah, that's how it is. Same with a Floyd in my experience.


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## Tisca (Jun 1, 2021)

I just swapped to a lighter set, NYXL 9.5-44. Feels better now. E std, 24.75".
Haven't been tuning to standard E much but that seems light to me. Could possibly go even lighter. Might have to go extra light gauge if I'd want std E on a longer scale.
Not sure about the feel yet but I only got it yesterday. Have to go compare to my friend's high quality retrofitted ET axe.
Might need other pickups than Solar.


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## bostjan (Jun 1, 2021)

Anything that uses a highly complex system to solve a problem you never knew you had is probably just going to be a pain in your ass. 

Pick up your current guitar, play it. Make a list of problems you'd want to solve with your next guitar. If Evertune solves zero of those, then I recommend against it. Otherwise, you are just asking for troubles you don't need to worry about.


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## ixlramp (Jun 3, 2021)

ixlramp said:


> It will inevitably have less sustain and poorer tone than a trem bridge, all else being equal, because each string isn't stabilised by the inertia of a tone block as large as that of a trem bridge, because there are now 6 individual smaller tone blocks.


I realised the above is possibly not true, and i apologise for that.
The 'tone block' of an Evertune mechanism has much less mass than the tone block of a trem bridge, but, rotational inertia at the mechanism pivot depends on more than just the tone block mass.

The inertia of an Evertune saddle will also depend on the ratio of the distances from pivot to saddle and pivot to tone block. If this ratio is much higher than that of a trem bridge, they can use a much smaller tone block mass but achieve the same rotational inertia.
I expect this is what they did to some unknown degree, because unlike a trem bridge, the saddle does not need to move much, so the pivot can be much closer to the saddle.

Being a floating bridge i expect the tone of an Evertune bridge will be similar to that of a trem bridge: slightly less brightness and attack, relative to a fixed bridge. It will not achieve the tone of a fixed bridge, so in a way is not a replacement for that.

As with 'True Temperament' fretting, there is commercial-interest hype from the company and the guitar companies who use it on their guitars, sensationalism hype from the music media to make their articles more attractive, and dumbed-down or ignorant misinformation because it is technically complex.
Yet again i am so happy to have a technical mind and a physics degree =)


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## Wucan (Jun 13, 2021)

Bumping this thread to ask a dumb question:

So I read up on the "zones" created by the Evertune bridge and how to get into the one that maintains stable pitch... which had me wondering - can you adjust the bridge's springs such that the strings wouldn't go out of tune even if the tension was a bit lower than ideal (say 9's for standard tuning in a Gibson scale or running sub-60 for the low A in a 7-string)?


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## Randy (Jun 13, 2021)

Acquire and then stay away from the Evertune. Put it in the part of the house furthest away from you. If you have to go to that part of the house for some reason, call someone and tell them to move it first.


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## spudmunkey (Jun 13, 2021)

Wucan said:


> Bumping this thread to ask a dumb question:
> 
> So I read up on the "zones" created by the Evertune bridge and how to get into the one that maintains stable pitch... which had me wondering - can you adjust the bridge's springs such that the strings wouldn't go out of tune even if the tension was a bit lower than ideal (say 9's for standard tuning in a Gibson scale or running sub-60 for the low A in a 7-string)?



Yes. To a point. If I'm understanding your question correctly, I think this video should answer your questions pretty efficiently/clearly.


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## Tisca (Jun 13, 2021)

Wucan said:


> Bumping this thread to ask a dumb question:
> 
> So I read up on the "zones" created by the Evertune bridge and how to get into the one that maintains stable pitch... which had me wondering - can you adjust the bridge's springs such that the strings wouldn't go out of tune even if the tension was a bit lower than ideal (say 9's for standard tuning in a Gibson scale or running sub-60 for the low A in a 7-string)?



ET site has a calculator where you put string, scale and tuning info. It then recommends if you can stick to the standard saddles or if you need to swap them for lighter or heavier. That's one thing I never heard before the seller of my guitar told me.


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## Zhysick (Jun 13, 2021)

Wucan said:


> Bumping this thread to ask a dumb question:
> 
> So I read up on the "zones" created by the Evertune bridge and how to get into the one that maintains stable pitch... which had me wondering - can you adjust the bridge's springs such that the strings wouldn't go out of tune even if the tension was a bit lower than ideal (say 9's for standard tuning in a Gibson scale or running sub-60 for the low A in a 7-string)?



Yes, if you are going VERY low tension you might need the low tension saddles but it's doable (the same way you set up a floating bridge with two, three, for or five springs depending on the tension of your strings)

I am playing with 9-46 on Drop C# without any issues at all. For sure the 9 on Eb on the 25,5" scale feels a bit tighter than what I would like but there is plenty of room to go for a thinner string so absolutely sure you can go to 9 on a les paul with the starndard tension saddles.


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## Wucan (Jun 13, 2021)

Zhysick said:


> Yes, if you are going VERY low tension you might need the low tension saddles but it's doable (the same way you set up a floating bridge with two, three, for or five springs depending on the tension of your strings)
> 
> I am playing with 9-46 on Drop C# without any issues at all. For sure the 9 on Eb on the 25,5" scale feels a bit tighter than what I would like but there is plenty of room to go for a thinner string so absolutely sure you can go to 9 on a les paul with the starndard tension saddles.


That's great to know. I'm eyeing an LTD Viper with an Evertune and it apparently comes stock with 9-42s so I was concerned whether it would have appropriate tension at that gauge.


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## nickgray (Jun 13, 2021)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Evertune still basically requires regular tuning (just a bit differently). Its main purpose it to keep the string in tension within some tension range [T1, T2], so if you lower or raise the pitch when the string is in this [T1, T2] range, the pitch will stay constant. The problem is that usually you want to be able to raise pitch in order to perform bends and vibrato. So you need to set it up so that the strings are super-super close to the right edge of the [T1, T2] range so that the Evertune doesn't prevent you from raising the pitch. But, strings will naturally tend to go flat over time. Which means that you need to always tune them up a little if you want a consistent response for your bends and vibrato.


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## Zhysick (Jun 14, 2021)

nickgray said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, but Evertune still basically requires regular tuning (just a bit differently). Its main purpose it to keep the string in tension within some tension range [T1, T2], so if you lower or raise the pitch when the string is in this [T1, T2] range, the pitch will stay constant. The problem is that usually you want to be able to raise pitch in order to perform bends and vibrato. So you need to set it up so that the strings are super-super close to the right edge of the [T1, T2] range so that the Evertune doesn't prevent you from raising the pitch. But, strings will naturally tend to go flat over time. Which means that you need to always tune them up a little if you want a consistent response for your bends and vibrato.



Yes but no.

You don't need to retune the guitar. The guitar keeps in tune perfectly but you might need to turn the machiine head a bit from time to time to compensate for the string going flat over time so the "distance" to zone 3 is constant, but the guitar will still be in tune. The only drawback of the Evertune is finding the sweetspot where all the strings are equally close to the "bending point" but still in the Zone 2 so tuning is constant, specially when you are moving around because if you hit the headstock and move the machinehead then the setup is gone.

But yeah... I find it easier to compensate for a bend in the middle of a song than to realising one string has gone out of tune and everything is sounding like ass. But that depends on each one.

Also, drop tuning and don't having to care about the other 5 strings is great since the Evertune compensates for the difference in tension on the neck. Even the more stable and rigid one goes a bit flat or sharp then you drop or tune up the sixth specially if you are like me (more tension on the wound strings than the pain ones so mayor part of the tension relies on the wound strings).

Good things and bad things. The evertune might not be for everyone


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## nickgray (Jun 14, 2021)

Zhysick said:


> The guitar keeps in tune perfectly but you might need to turn the machiine head a bit from time to time to compensate for the string going flat over time



Yep, that's exactly what I meant. That's still tuning. Strings naturally go flat a little, and with bends and vibrato you definitely rely on muscle memory. As I've said, I've never tried one, but I imagine even a couple of cents will make a difference - subtle vibratos and bends (lower than a semitone) require very little tension change.



Zhysick said:


> in the middle of a song



For live use it's great, no problems here.



Zhysick said:


> Also, drop tuning



Yeah, it should also excellent for tracking purposes for when you don't need bends or vibrato. Especially for lower tunings. Should be really good for tracking cleans too.



Zhysick said:


> The evertune might not be for everyone



The way I see it, it's not that great for a general purpose guitar, but for specific purposes like live playing or tracking certain stuff, it can be amazing.


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## Zhysick (Jun 14, 2021)

nickgray said:


> Yep, that's exactly what I meant. That's still tuning.



I meant it's not tuning because you are not changing the pitch, only adjusting "the zone" the string is in. That's what I meant.


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## Tisca (Jun 30, 2021)

Update:
I'm getting more comfortable with ET, maybe getting used to it or more accepting. My Solar is pretty low end compared to my non ET guitars but this is the one I keep using. It's the ease of use. Doesn't matter we're having a heat wave and I'm taking it from home to car to rehearsal space. Always in tune taken out of the gigbag and not even handling it with care (2nd hand, already banged up). I don't even use tuners anymore.
I want to see more brands with ET stock. I might end up with another Solar before we see that or a retro fit.


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## Tisca (Jul 7, 2021)

Update:
Broke a string so thought might as well go even slimmer gauge. Went from 9.5-44 to 9-42 (on 24.75" scale). On a fixed bridge that would be too low but with ET it is how I like it. Fixed bridge and that scale I use 10-46. All this std E btw.


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## CanserDYI (Jul 7, 2021)

Not going to lie, I loved evertune at first. Now I absolutely hate it. I am part of the camp that states it kills sustain. It just does dude. At least in my model, LTD MH1007ET. The guitar just sounds dead.


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## Zhysick (Jul 7, 2021)

CanserDYI said:


> Not going to lie, I loved evertune at first. Now I absolutely hate it. I am part of the camp that states it kills sustain. It just does dude. At least in my model, LTD MH1007ET. The guitar just sounds dead.



My bandmate bought an LTD MH1000ET (so the 6 string version of yours basically) and the sustain is quite poor even compared to my solar (with ET also) so... maybe there is something LTD is doing wrong? I don't know but his, even with EMGs, is not as hot and powerful as mine and has less sustain...


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## CanserDYI (Jul 7, 2021)

Zhysick said:


> My bandmate bought an LTD MH1000ET (so the 6 string version of yours basically) and the sustain is quite poor even compared to my solar (with ET also) so... maybe there is something LTD is doing wrong? I don't know but his, even with EMGs, is not as hot and powerful as mine and has less sustain...


Dude the EMGs in it are absolutely awful. It sucks because the instrument itself is absolutely immaculate and beautiful. Just doesn't sound awesome. Pickups for being EMGs don't drive my amps at all, my SDs crush them all day long.

The evertune seriously works, that's one thing I can attest to, but that string tension spring system seriously hinders vibrating strings in my experience, also even in full bend mode you have to fight the evertune a bit, not much but to say it's as expressive as a hardtail is just ....wrong.


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## Tisca (Jul 7, 2021)

CanserDYI said:


> Not going to lie, I loved evertune at first. Now I absolutely hate it. I am part of the camp that states it kills sustain. It just does dude. At least in my model, LTD MH1007ET. The guitar just sounds dead.


I just realised; maybe the reason I'm able to like it right now is I've been playing black metal. Fast tremolo picking and hard hitting. There's no time for sustain.


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## ixlramp (Jul 8, 2021)

Tisca said:


> Doesn't matter we're having a heat wave and I'm taking it from home to car to rehearsal space. Always in tune taken out of the gigbag and not even handling it with care


Yeah. Although, as correctly explained earlier, what now shifts is the response to bending, instead of pitch.
So if consistent bend response is required, the guitar needs the bend response adjusted before every performance, in which case ET does not save as much time as is often claimed =)


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## Tisca (Jul 9, 2021)

ixlramp said:


> Yeah. Although, as correctly explained earlier, what now shifts is the response to bending, instead of pitch.
> So if consistent bend response is required, the guitar needs the bend response adjusted before every performance, in which case ET does not save as much time as is often claimed =)


Good point. On the other hand I can't get bending to feel as good as a hardtail no matter how much I tweak it. Don't think that's even possible.


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