I'd like to talk about your ears.

sws626
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:04 pm

The reasons wrench has given probably account for most of the difference between the same note played on an open and fretted string, but I expect the vibration of the string against the nut of an open string also has something to do with it.


suziko
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:33 pm

Thanks, guys, for that information. Stuart- good point. I certainly would think that vibrating against a nut vs vibrating against flesh must make for slight difference in how something sounds. Wiley- I do retune my guitar after capoing. I was under the impression that that's what I SHOULD be doing, since putting the capo on it changes the tuning. I am interested in the capo you mentioned. Can you PM me with that information?


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neverfoundthetime
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:34 pm

a B on the 3rd string, 4th fret, it doesn't sound exactly the same as an open B (2nd string). Should it? Are my ears bad? Even if I use a tuner to try to get them the same, they never sound the same. The open note always sounds.... brighter?
Suzi

I was going to mention earlier that the string that I have the most difficulty hearing if it is in tune or not is the B. It does sound different to me (even when it is in tune) to the B you get by fretting the G at 4, as Suzi points out. I wonder if there's something about that B sometimes. I guess the overtones in the open string are going to be different to the B you get by fretting the g string at 4. Anyone got a comment on that?


thereshopeyet
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:06 pm

Thanks


wiley
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:54 pm



wrench
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:56 pm

I just can't resist the opportunity to learn something new.

Stuart, can you you further explain your theory about the nut? And Chris' comment about overtones reminds me that when I did that quick analysis of the open B and the fretted B, I remember the set of overtones was different enough to notice.

I'd like to look into this a little more, and I'll post something tomorrow.


wiley
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 8:09 pm



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Music Junkie
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Thu Jan 27, 2011 10:17 am

sws626 wrote:
suziko wrote:
I completely rely on my electronic tuner, but I'm starting to think maybe I should do like Stuart mentioned and use the tuner to tune one string, then do the rest by ear. Just curious, though- why do you tune the A string, Stuart? Why not the E?

Suzi
Hi Suzi,

The tuner just gives me less trouble with the A string -- I think this has to do with the resonance frequency of the guitar body (as opposed to the strings), which tends to make the A string produce a cleaner sound that the E does. You may have noticed that often when tuning the high E string to an electric tuner, the tuner will hear an A produced by the guitar body that is more prominent than the E produced by the string.

-Stuart
Stuart:

I have noticed that my electronic tuners are not as active or helpful with the low E like you mentioned. Asked about it once and the answer was "OVERTONES"...... The mention of the A string and 440hz was spot on from my experience as well. Weird how that works, sine waves and all....... The engineer in me wants to dissect it all the way down and find an answer. The football lover in me wants to kick my own butt for being such a geek...... ;) ;)

Jason


thereshopeyet
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Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:02 pm

Thanks


AndyT
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Fri Jan 28, 2011 6:39 am

I use a Korg to get in range and do the fine tuning by ear. I usually wind up a cent or two sharp or flat depending on the string and which guitar I'm using. I fine tune it by listening to the resonant response of the top.

For example, the G string. It almost always sounds flat to me until it's maybe a cent flat of 'perfect'. Then I wind up bringing it about 2 cents sharp to my Korg, but at that point it has a cleaner resonant response from the soundboard. That's where it sounds best. On Gracie at least. Each string has it's own tiny adjustment to get it right in resonance.

I use a Dunlop trigger capo. Since I have a really good setup on Gracie, I only have to capo near the lower fret and not stretch the string so much, so capoing does not give me so much trouble.

Wiley, Which capo is that you were speaking of? PM Please.


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