Great Tuning Technique

wrsomers
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Thu Jan 28, 2016 12:21 pm

wiley wrote:
Another thing to try, since we tune to A440 - bring that tone 'up to tone' first, then tune the remaining strings to "A".

In ex;

1st string - at the 5th fret (this is A4)
2nd string - 10th fret (again, A4)
3rd string - 2nd fret (this is A3) or 14th fret (A4)
4th string - 7th fret (A3) or 19th fret (A4)
5th string - open (A2), or 12th fret (A3)
6th string - 5th fret (A2) or 17th fret=A3

It's is supposed to read as such;

A4 = 440hz
A3 = 220hz
A2 = 110hz
Wiley,
I've tried that and it works if you want equal temperament, but that's not what I want. I've read that for a guitar (or piano, and other similar instruments) to be consonant across all the different keys it can play, the major 3rd has to be slightly flat. That's why one can tune their guitar to have a perfect E chord and then play an A chord and it sounds horrible; conflict between G# and C# (the maj 3rds of E and A respectively).

I used to tune my guitar using 5th and 7th fret harmonics and could never understand why it wouldn't work. Now I know, there have to be some beats in the frequencies of each string.

Bill


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neverfoundthetime
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Thu Jan 28, 2016 4:31 pm

Interesting stuff.... in theory. I can't really hear it in practice, though, and its so difficult tuning to 1 cent accuracy. And as soon as I fret a string its all slightly out anyway....

Having said that, I still have the feeling that A=432 Hz is best for me.... as long as I don't have to keep up with Ness on the E-Guitar, then I am back to A=440 Hz! :laugh:


willem
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Thu Jan 28, 2016 6:24 pm

neverfoundthetime wrote:
Interesting stuff.... in theory. I can't really hear it in practice, though, and its so difficult tuning to 1 cent accuracy. And as soon as I fret a string its all slightly out anyway....

Having said that, I still have the feeling that A=432 Hz is best for me.... as long as I don't have to keep up with Ness on the E-Guitar, then I am back to A=440 Hz! :laugh:
I hear you, and thats what Taylor knows, Taylor knows his fretting fingers push downs behind the frets. (I guess).

Willem


wiley
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Wed Feb 03, 2016 9:25 am



wrsomers
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Wed Feb 03, 2016 10:58 am

Hi Wiley,
Thanks for that information. I had seen the James Taylor video some time ago and have tried his method. I think it works best for using a capo at frets 2 or 3 as he does. The third video is very interesting. I tried the octave and 5th harmonics method and found it works pretty well. Still I think the fastest way is using the sweetened frequencies in the chart I posted earlier.

I did not take offense to your posts, quite the contrary, I found them quite informative. I enjoy comparing notes...(no pun intended)...that is the way I learned guitar. Sitting around the student center at the University of New Haven with other players showing each other our stuff. What fun that was.

Bill


familyman4
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Wed Feb 03, 2016 2:15 pm

You guys must have a lot better ears than I do. I can certainly tell when an instrument isn't in tune but spitting hairs this fine is beyond what I can hear B)


TGNesh
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Wed Feb 03, 2016 3:27 pm

Have tried it out Bill, it sounded pretty good when playing in first position, but higher up the neck...... :S :(

Could be my guitar of course, I can play a tune or two, but I don't own any high end guitars. ;) Or maybe that has nothing to do with it. My knowledge of 'the guitar' itself ain't very much as well, haha! :laugh:


wrsomers
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Wed Feb 03, 2016 4:03 pm

Ness,

You" can play a tune or two"...that's an understatement :laugh:

It could be the guitar. When a guitar goes out of tune as you move up the neck it's usually due to poor intonation. You can test it: Using your e-tuner, play an open note on any string and then on the same string at the twelfth fret; they should both be in tune, only an octave apart. If they aren't, the intonation is off. Usually when the intonation is off, the higher up the neck you go, the sharper the note gets.

That can be fixed by a good luthier for not much money. It involves fitting the guitar with a new saddle that has been compensated (the top of the saddle is filed so the distance from twelfth fret to the contact point on the saddle for each string is exactly the same as the distance from the twelfth fret to the contact point on the nut. Sounds complicated but it really isn't.

Here is a video that shows the intonation process. It's about 16 minutes long and might not appeal to anyone but us guitar nerds. I wouldn't recommend doing this yourself unless you're pretty handy.



Bill


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