V2 Stealth (All Black) - Best Guitar Upgrade to Improve Tuning Stability

This was a God send. I'm using it on an epiphone Les Paul with a wound G string for a lot of mellow chord playing. It stays in tune while playing and over time. I've had this thing for a while and I love not being frustrated with what was otherwise my favorite guitar.

I have Bigsby vibrato bars on two of my Gibson SGs. I use roller bridges to help the strings return to pitch more consistently, however, the break angle of the strings at the nut on Gibson guitars is notoriously sharp with the strings often binding at the nut - hence the need for the String Butler as the strings now run straight at the nut and then run across little rollers as they angle towards the tuning pegs on the A, D, G and B strings, thus reducing the binding at the nut considerably.

I have a Les Paul with a Corian nut, and it's great for tone, but not so great for tuning. The Corian seems to bind on strings 4, 3, and 2. They go sharp - and instantly from the moment you release the bend. If you bend any of those strings, the string will stay sharp. Even if you don't bend them, the strings progressively go sharp as you play. It got so bad that the LP was virtually unplayable. I tried nearly every lubricant - graphite, gun oil, WD-40 silicon lube and others. I thought about changing out the nut, but LPs are still prone to that kind of binding no matter what material the nut is made out of. So, I opted to try the String Butler. It solved my tuning problems instantly. String bends are no longer a problem - the guitar stays in tune like guitars with no string break angle issues at the nut - such as Fenders. I opted for the black V1 model, as it was the least obtrusive. The picture makes the String Butler look like it is somewhat white/silver. It's not, it is just a reflection of room light, but the reflection helps to illustrate how the V1 looks on a Les Paul. Otherwise, it is nearly invisible unless you get really close to the guitar. It's way more expensive than either a new nut or a new truss rod cover, but the String Butler solved a really vexing problem, did so without any guitar tech surgery or labor costs, and it and got me back my Les Paul. It was money well spent. I highly recommend the String Butler to any Gibson owner with string binding/tuning issues.

It's almost hard to give this little device the credit it deserves. That's because you practically forget about it once it's installed. Only after a while you remember all the G-string mayhem you went through before getting the Butler.It quietly takes care of business, never drawing much attention to itself, like a perfect butler should. The famous, classic Gibson headstock is a beautiful design visually, but a constant source of headaches nevertheless. The break angle of the center strings, D and G, is simply too big. With the D string this is not much of a problem, since it doesn't usually get bent, is much thicker, and wound. The G however is the annoying step child of Gibson players. Somehow, this note being slightly out of tune seems to cause more trouble than any other. A G chord might ring true, then you follow it with a D chord and suddenly your toe nails are curling up. Go from E minor to E major, and you want to die.I appreciate that the design of the Butler makes it possible to remove it without having caused any damage. Its "V" shape also makes it easy to install without running into trouble with the truss rod cover. I got the all black version, which on a black headstock is stealthy enough. The small change in looks is more than made up for by the increased tuning stability. The price is okay, not amazing for what it is in terms of materials and workmanship. I would say you pay about 25$ for the idea. That's fine by me. I have one on a Gibson BFG, and one on an Epiphone 335. They both have worked well for an extended period of time.

I am a huge fan of ESP/LTD guitars, and own and have owned many. Each one was designed beautifully With function USUALLY taking president. Primarily when it comes to the headstock, but specifically with the tuner placement. My ltd f-250 has a prs style headstock with the d and g strings nearer to the center. My viper 401b has a more vertical 3x3 arrangement but ive never had issues, because the break angle of the central strings was never too extreme, and the nut was cut to compensate by a pro. But the guitar I have loved forever, and in the most beautiful finish I’ve ever seen; my ltd ec1000 deluxe, with its fishman moderns, esp locking tuners, stainless steel x jumbo frets, and violet andromeda color shifting finish- tuners took the les paul/dean guitars route and actually spread outward towards the top. Couple that with the knife blade TOM bridge, and graphene nut that I am terrified of cutting and ruining - I had a guitar whos tuning would barely hold up for an entire song. I had considered getting this tool for a bit and finally pulled the trigger. My beautiful guitar had basically been just for showing people rather than actually playing the past few months and it hurt my heart.The set up took mere minutes to complete. The rollers spin freely and the whole device is well designed, and well built, and from the moment my guitar was tuned to pitch- let me tell you- I could hear and feel the change immediately. Even harmonically fine tuning the strings to each other, they had a clearer and more stable sound. Played on her for hours. Really shredding it up and putting those pickups to use. And had to adjust the tuning slightly only once and only due to them being new strings and hadn't finished stretching yet.My guitar now plays as solid and as beautifully as she looks, and I’m so happy to finally fully love this guitar with my ears as much as I have always loved it with my eyes. The string butler is the single best guitar accessory I have ever bought simply because it made me finally fully love my favorite guitar!Im sure if Glenn Fricker had a string butler on the Gibson les Paul’s he has worked with, he wouldn’t speak so poorly of them or so highly of schecters.If you have a 3x3 tuners guitar that seems to fall out of tune routinely and are on the fence about this product: im here to tip you. Buy it. You wont regret it. It is a literal night and day difference! And its built to last! I will sing the string butler praises to every guitar player I know. Fantastic product

I'm not entirely sure if this really has made a difference, but it does exactly what it says it's meant to. The device itself is well made, with small rollers to ensure the strings move smoothly. After fitting, which is a 5 minute job, and restringing the guitar, the strings are now routed through the nut in a straight line, rather than at an angle, which has got to be better...I've realised that on my other guitar, the headstock isn't rectangular, and is narrower at the top than the bottom, so the tuners are not in a straight line, meaning the strings are routed better through the nut, so the issue can easily be fixed by a better design, but as most acoustic guitars tend too look like mine, the string butler is a good alternative...

My Gibson SG is finally playable again. I had put it in a closet the last two years because I could not get it (G and D strings) to stay in tune and I played my other guitars instead. But now my Gibson is back to being my favorite guitar again thanks to the spring Butler. I wish other reviewer‘s would have said what version they bought instead of just saying whether or not they liked the string Butler . So I want to mention here that I bought the metal V2 size and I think it is the best size for a Gibson SG and Gibson Les Paul guitar . I also put a V2 on my Epiphone les paul jr. And now I plan to buy 2 more of these to put on my Epiphone Les Paul and Epiphone SG. I disagree with the people who say these are too expensive. I have to deal with machine shops in my daily job and based on quotes I’ve gotten for various mechanical parts I don’t really understand what basis people are using for comparison when they complain about the price. This item is lightweight yet has to be very sturdy to withstand the pressure of 4 strings constantly pulling on it. I see no deformation or bending on metal base, nor on the shafts the little rollers are on. There are 9 separate metal machined parts that make up this item. I feel this is a very high quality, well designed, and well machined item. Sometimes you get what you pay for and In my personal opinion I think the quality of this item and how well it works justifies the price. I think this string butler seems to have had more of a positive result on my tuning than any other single thing I have tried on my Gibson. On a side note, I went to the actual String Butler official website to see where it is made and I think this item is actually made in Germany. Today, as I am writing this review the dollar is only worth 0.86 Euro, so that exchange rate by itself explains some of the price I paid here on Amazon.com in the United States . I wonder if other reviewers have taken the dollar/euro exchange rate into consideration when they said the price of this item is too high.

Der String Butler ist vielleicht die genialste Erfindung seit es Kopfplatten mit 3L/3R Mechaniken gibt. Was heißt "vielleicht" !?Das Teil IST ...."Paula"-Spieler wissen, daß durch die schräg verlaufenden Saiten starke Stimmungsprobleme, insbesondere der G-Saite, aber auch der H-Saite entstehen, weil der Zug quer zur geraden Sattelkerbe die Saite darin verkantet.Als die LP entwickelt wurde, war der Saitenverlauf quasi egal, denn Les Paul war ein Jazz-Gitarrist und seine Spielweise sah massives Saitenziehen nicht vor. Zudem waren die damals verwendeten Saiten deutlich dicker.DIe heutige, aggresivere Spielweise mit massiven Bendings (manche ziehen mehr als 2 Halbtöne) lässt die "Paula" sich dadurch extrem schnell verstimmen. Hinzu kommt ein hoher Druck auf den Sattel durch die große Neigung der Kopfplatte.Der String Butler schafft hier Abhile: er wird von Haus aus unter den beiden Mechaniken der E-Saiten montiert, kann aber auch unter dem mittleren Paar seine Funktion einwandfrei verrichten. Auch geht der Einbau mit der Spitze des V in Richtung Sattel weisend. Man muss eben probieren, wie es am besten passt.Die Röllchen, durch welche die Saiten zunächst gerade aus dem Sattel geführt und dann mit quasi Null Reibung auf die Mechaniken umgelenkt werden, lassen in der Höhe einen gewissen Spielraum zu.Dadurch wird es möglich, die A-, D-, G- und H-Saite umgekehrt auf die Mechanik zu führen: Der erfahrene LP-Spieler wickelt nämlich diese Saiten nicht von oben nach unten, sondern von unten nach oben auf die Achse auf !Hierdurch wird der sehr steile 16°-Winkel der Kopfplatte auf ca. 12° verringert und sorgt so für weniger Zug auf die Sattelkerben.Kombiniert man das noch mit einem Top-Wrap der Saiten (die Saiten werden zunächst Richtung hintere Zarge geführt und dann ÜBER den Saitenhalter geführt. Bonamassa, Billy Gibbons, Bernie Marden... machen das so und wissen, warum), erhält man nun in Kombination mit dem String Butler die stimmstabilste "Paula" aller Zeiten.Ich habe das vielfach geprüft, mit bereits "broken in" Saiten massivste Bendings mit 3 Fingern bis fast zur tiefen E-Saite durchgeführt, die Verstimmung der G- und H-Saiten liegt im niedrigen Ct-Bereich !Lieber Sven Dietrich, DANKE für diesen genialen Einfall !P.S.1:Die V3-Version ist für schmalere Vintage Kopfplatten, also LP Standard, SG, Melody Maker, ES335.... und div. Kopfplatten von Akustikgitarren geeignet. Die V2 Version ist eher etwas für die breiteren LP Custom Kopfplatten. HIer sollte man unbedingt vor dem Kauf nachmessen !P.S.2:Das umgekehrte Aufziehen der 4 mittleren Saiten geht so: man führt die Saite durch die Bohrung in der Mechanik und legt dann zunächst 1 Wicklung unterhalb des Loches an. Dann schneidet man das Saitenende 4-5mm hinter dem Loch ab und knickt das Saitenende scharf nach unten. Nun wickelt man 1-2 Lagen oberhalb des Loches und stimmt die Gitarre. Durch die untere und die darüber liegenden Wicklungen wird aus einer Vintage Mechanik quasi eine Klemm-Mechanik. Das scharf abgebogene Saitenende verstärkt diesen Effekt.Die beiden E-Saiten werden umgekehrt aufgezogen, also 1. Lage oberhalb, 2-3 Lagen unterhalb des Loches, Saitenende scharf nach oben genkickt.Ach ja, die nötige Überlänge der Saite lässt sich auch ganz einfach bestimmen: sie entspricht je nach Saitenstärke etwa dem Abstand zweier Mechaniken zueinander. Hier muss man halt etwas herumprobieren, aber nach 2-3 Saitenwechseln sollte man das richtige Maß haben.P.S.3:wer den "Top Wrap" machen will, schneidet zunächst vom alten Saitensatz die Ball Ends ab, entfernt die um sie herum führende Drahtschlaufe und führt die neuen Saiten nun durch das Loch des Röllchens. Hierdurch wird die Saite so aus dem Stop Tailpiece herausgeführt, dass nur die Saite, nicht aber die Drahtwicklung umgeknickt wird. Dies verhindert die Verletzung des Handballens und vermindert die Bruchgefahr der Saite.Die abgeschnittenen Ball Ends sind natürlich wiederverwendbar... :-)

Endlich laufen die Saiten bei meiner SG-ähnlichen E-Gitarre gerade und die G-Saite macht keine Zicken mehr! Aber es taucht das Phänomen auf, dass die Übersetzung der der Stimm-Mechaniken zu schnell anspricht ( 1mm drehen ist zuviel! ). Man darf auch nirgendwo anstoßen, schon ist die GItarre (A-D-G-B Saite) verstimmt. Ich hätte fast Lust, die Mechaniken auszutauschen, wenn ich wüsste, welche Mechaniken eine lange Übersetzung haben. ;-)