Tuning my electric guitar

Question

I use the online tuner, howtotuneaguitar.com, for my electric guitar. It works all the time, always a good sound and all that good stuff. But i realized something today that i never realized before.

Today was the first time i tuned to Drop B, as i was trying to play a song from Slipknot. I was in standard prior to doing this, and it took me a while to get the tuning right.( I had no clue it was so much lower ).

But after i was done i tuned it back into standard, and as i finished tuning the bottom string(the high one) i realized that everything else wasn't in tune anymore, like, it was all tuned down a half step. My question is..

Did i just think it sounded correct the first time? Or do the strings actually become off tune a little bit when you're raising them so high.

Answer 1

The outside strings pull the neck to that side. If an outside string is tuned much higher or lower it can stretch or loosen the others slightly.

The better the instrument the less likely this will happen.

This is true of any string instrument. You always check every string and be ready to adjust them.

Last thought:

If you change the tuning frequently in might do some damage to a cheaper instrument.