Guitar never sounds in tune even though it is - G & B strings

[hatrickpatrick]

This is really beginning to drive me crazy. For some reason, I find it INCREDIBLY difficult to get my guitar to sound completely in tune. My tuner tells me all the strings are fine, and it sounds ok clean, but as soon as the distortion is on, any major chord sounds way off. Specifically, the B string (and sometimes the G string) seems to 'clash' with the high E, even though individually they are in fact tuned correctly? What's up with this? Are my strings wearing out or is it a problem with my pickups or bridge? Sometimes I can get it to sound ok but it literally takes hours of tuning and very often then the strings don't quite match individually (IE, they stop clashing with one another but are out of tune with the rest of the guitar)...

Does anyone else have this problem? Are the high strings just much more sensitive to tiny flicks of the tuning head than the deeper ones are?

 

[radioattivos]

And after playing are the strings in-tune? I think it could be a problem with the tuining keys...

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

Might be an intonation issue. The bridge saddles might need to be adjusted. What make and model guitar is it?

 

[hatrickpatrick]

And after playing are the strings in-tune? I think it could be a problem with the tuining keys...

Not quite sure what you mean - this guitar is brilliant because as long as the strings are in fairly good shape (IE not brand new or almost dead) it will stay exactly as you tuned it for a very long time.

Might be an intonation issue. The bridge saddles might need to be adjusted. What make and model guitar is it?

It's an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, the €520 one.
This only happens from time to time, which drives me nuts.

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

Try some Nut Sauce. (Funny as it sounds)

Could be the when you bend a string is getting caught on the nut and going out of tune.

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If that doesn't help maybe just have a repair guy check to be sure the strings aren't catching on the bridge (the saddles of the bridge) or at the nut. And have them check the intonation. Might need to adjust it.

 

[U2DMfan]

The neck may be bowed.

Let's see if I can explain this without sounding like a dumbass...

When you fret the notes, the sound coming from the guitar is determined by the length of the string (from your fretting finger, to the bridge). If you are not fretting anything, you can tune the guitar while they are at their proper lengths. You pluck each string individually and your tuner tells you everything is fine. Because the lengths are proper. When you strum it open, it sounds more or less like it should, right?

As soon as you fret a certain note on a certain string, it's not proper because the length is not proper - because of the neck. So it sounds like shit.

I had the exact same problem - believe it or not - on the exact same strings, B and G.
This was on an old piece of shit acoustic, so I didn't mess with it. I may have pawned the thing, I don't remember.

So basically if you have a truss rod, you should adjust it. You should search online for the proper advice for adjusting it. I am no expert on the matter, just throwing my two cents in here.

 

[PJBonoVox]

Common problem is the pickups. If it's fine when clean, but gets worse as you apply more dirt to it you might find that's your problem.