Well, if it works for you, Bob, more power to you (thanks for the beer, by the way, and back atcha—skål!).

Although I'm awe-struck by some of the latest theories in cosmology and I marvel at the consistency of physics (and even more at the apparent inconsistencies in quantum physics), I generally don't get emotional over well-established principles, such as Newton's Laws of Motion or the conversion of matter to energy. Once I figured out how long it would take to get to Alpha Centauri and back, assuming one was under power all the way, and could accelerate at a constant 1 g. for half the distance, turn the ship over, and decelerate at the same 1 g.—of course, factoring in time-dilation (very tricky!). [I had a science-fiction novel in mind, and one of these days, I'm going to get around to writing it.]

It's not a matter of slipping pegs, or the quality of the guitar's tuning pegs in general (although cheesy pegs can slip, but this isn't a problem with any of my guitars), it's what happens to the string itself. If you tighten a string and raise its pitch, it tends to creep back in the direction of its previous tension. This is at its most obvious when one puts new strings on a guitar. Steel strings "stretch in" faster than nylon strings, but if you let the guitar sit for awhile after first tuning it up to pitch, you'll note that you have to bring it up to pitch again. And this goes on for a couple of days until the strings finally stretch in and start holding their pitch fairly well (more often then not, of course, you still have to check the tuning and make some minor adjustments each time you pick the guitar up).

It also works in the other direction. If you release a bit of the tension, it will slowly try to crawl back up. Strange, but true.

You can check this yourself. Retune a string and check the new note with a good quality electronic tuner (preferably one with a needle and dial). Wait for a while. Then check the string with the tuner again. You will note that the string has crept back toward its former pitch. Now, it may not be badly out of tune. But it will be measurable. I guarantee it.

All materials exhibit this phenomenon in varying degrees. It's called "memory."

I'm not making this up.

Have a rainbow day! But do try the experiment. Have another beer while you're doing it—but not so many that you can't read the dial clearly.

Don Firth

P. S. Yeah! Just checked the web site. Interesting!
I really should have a web site myself. It's in the works.