Irish ES-1 / 335 Copper Top

[Simon Barden]

IMO those string butler things are a solution looking for a problem. The key to stable tuning is all about having properly cut nut slots. Invest in a good set of nut files and you'll have guitars that stay in tune quite happily. If the nut is poorly cut or too narrow for the string (a problem I encountered on my 2018 LP Classic Gold Top) then you'll have tuning problems regardless of what additional hardware you fit.

There are no tuning stability problems at all on my Gibsons (3x LP, 1 x Flying V, 1 x Firebird and 1 x CW acoustic) or my other guitars with Gibson style headstocks. The Gibson style headstock design will certainly exacerbate the problems of a badly cut nut, but cut that nut correctly and there is no problem to make worse.

[Tweaky]

IMO those string butler things are a solution looking for a problem. The key to stable tuning is all about having properly cut nut slots. Invest in a good set of nut files and you'll have guitars that stay in tune quite happily. If the nut is poorly cut or too narrow for the string (a problem I encountered on my 2018 LP Classic Gold Top) then you'll have tuning problems regardless of what additional hardware you fit.

There are no tuning stability problems at all on my Gibsons (3x LP, 1 x Flying V, 1 x Firebird and 1 x CW acoustic) or my other guitars with Gibson style headstocks. The Gibson style headstock design will certainly exacerbate the problems of a badly cut nut, but cut that nut correctly and there is no problem to make worse.

It's not just string slots not cut as well as they could be, it can, and usually is a combination of things.
Gibson's slanted headstock, combined with the offset tuning pegs are notorious for being a major cause of tuning instability, if you add less than best practice when stringing them up your not going to solve the problem.
There is a YouTube video of Wes Montgomery famously complaining that his Gibson L5 it constantly going out of tune, so it happens to the best of them, and has been a well known problem with Gibson slanted headstock designs

I've got a 1978 ES347 that stays in tune pretty well, how much it having a Brass nut has to do with it I'm not sure.
I've also got a Hummingbird that doesn't suffer tuning problems either, but then again I don't tend to do a great deal of string bending on it TBH.

I've also got a SG, that despite having a perfectly cut nut tends to go out of tune after two fret string bends, and that's after applying Nut Sauce Graphic lubricant....I'm sort of suspecting the Kluson tuners are at fault on this guitar.