I just got this acoustic, gibson maestro made in china, and i figured it wasnt that great of a guitar. maybe less than 100$ from the google searches, but it actually plays nice. its smaller than most guitars, since it was for my aunt, and i feel comfortable playing it. however, i have trouble tuning the lowest E string ( 6th string ) with my tuner. the other strings are fine, and i eventually got the E to sound right after much fiddling around.

anyone have this problem before? what could it be?

is it a guitar problem or is it because you're not quite familar with how to tune a guitar?

if its the guitar; then i would venture to say that there is a truss rod problem that is causing it to fall out of tune. Though you should hear it across all the strings.
If not that, i might guess its how the guitar is strung? You must make sure all the strings go from inside > out on the tuning forks themselves.

if not that... maybe something with the bridge or nut?

Does it need new strings?

Ok ignore the tuner for a moment and lets work on your ears.

Hold the 5th Fret low E string.

That note is the same as the open A string - or should be the same when in tune.

Simply play the Open A string, then play the 5th fret E string and tune until the same note.

Another one is:

Play the E string 5th fret Harmonic followed by the A string7th fret Harmonic.

Tune E until the notes stop vibrating - when you have just 1 note sounding from the 2 strings played

well, its already in tune now. the other 5 strings were no problem to tune, but the last E string just wouldnt tune by the tuner.

my tuner actually shows frequency, and it would start from, say, 190, then as i tuned it down, it would drop steadily. however, after 130 or something, it would skyrocket to 250. maybe its my tuner, but ive used it before on my fender strat, and it worked fine.

Your tuner is registering the first overtone as the lowest note instead of the fundamental frequency. This is largely a consequence of using electric tuners acoustically as they're not well-built to handle outside noise; either that or your guitar is resonating weirdly.

Bob: Using a fretted string to tune an open string requires that your guitar be intonated well. It is likely that an acoustic that he just bought is not intonated well. The harmonic method is better but more difficult.

Tooshay

also, let your string ring out when using a tuner, constantly hitting it will take FOREVER, and really, not get you where you want to be.

Ya except using the harmonic method your strings will be progressing out of tune more and more as you get to the high E due to the JT harmonic and ET tuning...

simple... cheap guitars have cheap tuning keys. when u barely twist it, it probly changes by like 2 steps... shit happens u just gotta deal with it or get a nicer guitar. they sell those maestros in like wal-greens and stuff.