Guitar tech question

[Born to Lose]

Hey guys.
Last month I found a cheap guitar at someone's house who has no interest in music, and they told me to take it. It's a Maestro Les Paul Jr (I believe Maestro is a sub-set of Epiphone or something like that), so yeah, major piece of crap, but it looks cool and has a pretty cool bassey sound. The only problem is that it absolutely refuses to stay in tune. I'll tune it, put it down on the bed, come back to it a half an hour later, and it will be out of tune... and playing it is ridiculous, it goes out of tune in minutes.

My guitar teacher suggested I put 10-gauge strings on it in place of the current 9-gauge strings. Will that help? I have other guitars, and I realize I'm basically putting new rims on an '89 Corolla, but I really like how this guitar looks and I wanna fix it up. Unfortunately, I'm broke, and a major guitar newbie so I cant really start hacking into it, but any suggestions are welcome.

Anyone?

 

[terry ells]

is the neck bent or warped . check that out

 

[Lynch]

My son has a crappy Fender Squier Strat that does the same thing. I can tune it, put it down, turn around and look at it funny and it goes out of tune. For the value of the thing, it's really not even worth putting money into it to have it looked at and/or fixed.

 

[Born to Lose]

is the neck bent or warped . check that out

I dont think so. My guitar teacher would have noticed it, I think.

My son has a crappy Fender Squier Strat that does the same thing. I can tune it, put it down, turn around and look at it funny and it goes out of tune. For the value of the thing, it's really not even worth putting money into it to have it looked at and/or fixed.

Yeah, I know. But I dont have the heart to just stick it in the closet, and it looks really cool

 

[Julie]

How long ago have you put new strings on it? Because with new strings, they go out of tune easily.. Though yeah it really doesn't sound normal. Do you have a case for your guitar?

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

8 reasons why your guitar won

 

[Born to Lose]

Julie: I did not. Other than the high E, which was just replaced, all the strings are the originals... on the guitar for a year or two before I got it, but never used once.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Change all the strings. If you play about 2 hours a day every day, you should probably change them in 2-3 weeks. They get dirty and rust from oxidation. Old strings like that will get out of tune easily. Thats most likely the issue.

 

[Born to Lose]

Thing is, I almost never play this guitar.

According to your link, lighter strings do go out of tune quicker. Do you think putting 10 gauge strings on might help?

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Thing is, I almost never play this guitar.

According to your link, lighter strings do go out of tune quicker. Do you think putting 10 gauge strings on might help?

maybe, but you say that the stings are original strings and that they have been on there for a bit. i think new strings in general would help.