James Taylor Guitar Tuning Method

[rmsstrider]

Just watched a video by James Taylor on how he tunes his guitar. He gives many reasons why, one of them being because he uses a capo that tends to make the strings sharp. Anyone try this tuning? Hi E -3 cents, B -6 cents, G - 4 cents, D minus 8 cents, A - 10 cents , and low E - 12 cents.

[Looburst]

Yes, with every guitar it varies somewhat.

[Tico]

A cent is 1/100 of the pitch between two notes of any half-step interval (one fret).
Sophisticated instruments can detect 3 cents but humans can't ... well piano tuners can (indirectly) by playing two notes and counting the beats per second that result from the difference of the fundamentals or certain overtones.

I'm sure James Taylor's $30,000? Olsen guitar has ultra-precise enough intonation and set up to tune within 3 cents.

Unfortunately guitars that the masses the lower 99.9% can afford are very unlikely to be precise enough to get there and stay accurate while fretting.

Even if they did, the moment you strum loudly it will slip far from 3 cents out of tune.

[cugir321]

Every guitar will have different intonation.....it's not that cut and dry.

My guitar sounds pretty good tuned to the JT thing for chords. As soon as I play separated notes at the same time like...B string at the 12th fret and A string at the 10th fret I hear the un-tuned interval. The guitar sounds better tuned right on with a good cent tuner. I do de-tune the low E about 3 cents because the intonation is off a bit on that string. (the saddle is filed to the max) I can get away with 3 cents flat....flat doesn't show up as bad as sharp.
I have a zero glide nut (zero fret built into the nut.... https://goldtonemusicgroup.com/zerog...php?cat=guitar ) so my intonation is as good as it gets at the nut....and the 1st fret action set up is a couple thousandths. The zero fret allows the string to go back to where it was originally tuned when you beat the chords, finger the strings, and bend. If you don't have a perfect nut than tuning all the strings off pitch from each other will compound the errors even more.
Than you've got to address the tuners.....another possible problem. If they're not the best you can get....more problems as the strings drift out from each other ....another compounding of errors.

[NoodleFingers]

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this, but I believe that the Peterson "sweetened" tuning for acoustic guitars (ACU) is a pretty close match to James Taylor's tuning.

I do know that when I tuned to it (using a Peterson StroboClip), it seemed to me that everything I played sounded a little better. I've stayed with it.

Of course, the pitch of any fretted note will vary with how hard your finger pushes down, and different strings will be affected in different ways, depending on the diameter of the string, the tension on the string, and which finger you're using. Everyone's different, so in the real world, there is no "perfect" intonation.

My understanding of the James Taylor (or ACU) tuning is that it splits the difference of all these factors so that overall, most of the notes are likely to be closer to "right." I know I can't say what's different about it, except that it sounds better to me.

Of course, it could all be my imagination—a sort of auditory placebo effect. YMMV. But if you have access to a sufficiently accurate tuner, it might be worth a try.

EDIT: I just checked the Peterson website. They say that ACU tuning is the same as James Taylor's tuning.

[llew]

Nope...I tune to the third fret with my headstock tuner. It works well for me?

[Stomp]

I have some job-related experience with this topic.

About a dozen years ago I got a call from Sammy Sanchez, JT's tech at the time.
He wanted to know if it was possible to program a custom Sweetened tuning into JT's stage tuner (a StroboStomp).
JT had some cent values he wanted to use which made it possible to tune open strings quickly while counteracting the typical string deflection and make it possible, if necessary, to put a capo on without re-tuning.
The plan was to program the cent values into the tuner to avoid having to remember which cent offset belonged to which string in the middle of a gig, just tune as normal and have the tuner do the rest.

I walked Sammy through the process of entering the cent offsets into the tuner and all was good.
A short time later I later met Sammy working a Ben Harper gig and Ben was also using the offsets, I seem to remember Keb'Mo' doing likewise but I could be mistaken, this was back in 2005 or thereabouts.

The cent offsets also worked very well when I tried them on my own collection of guitars both with and without capos.
Those are some pretty respectable offsets, not just a cent here or there, but deviations of up to 12 cents in size.
It's a useful and repeatable tweak IMO, worth trying before getting surgical.

JT was not interested in endorsing gear at the time, but was cool with us making it a stock preset Sweetened Tuning in future tuners, so that's what we did, the preset is called ACU.

The system of Equal temperament never was created with guitars in mind but its a starting point, you won't get sent to jail for veering away from it from time to time to suit a particular situation.
IMO only of course

[tippy5]

Although I do not have a strobe tuner I always tune my low E a bit low.
Tuning to a G note -low/medium pressure - while looking at the polytune.
My Goodall's need less than My vintage Gibson.
I don't like travis picking with a sharp bass line.

That's why I like higher ratio tuners but with the vintage acoustic I decide not to change the old gears.
I have 2 electrics with ratio tuners and I really love those.

[SunnyDee]

Originally Posted by Stomp

I walked Sammy through the process of entering the cent offsets into the tuner and all was good.
A short time later I later met Sammy working a Ben Harper gig and Ben was also using the offsets, I seem to remember Keb'Mo' doing likewise but I could be mistaken, this was back in 2005 or thereabouts.

The cent offsets also worked very well when I tried them on my own collection of guitars both with and without capos.
Those are some pretty respectable offsets, not just a cent here or there, but deviations of up to 12 cents in size.
It's a useful and repeatable tweak IMO, worth trying before getting surgical.

Very cool story. Thanks for sharing it.

I used JT's tuning when I had a tuner that could show me cents accurately.
I like the tuning. Overall, to me, it just sounds more "open".

[Johnny Danger]

I find this pretty interesting. I'm learning a fingerstyle tune with drop D tuning and was shocked at how sharp the low E (well, D I guess) string went when I had it on the second fret. And because that's the bass end of the tune, it really stood out.

I was wondering if it had anything to do with the slot at the nut being a bit high. It looks like it could stand to go lower (I went from stock light strings to mediums, I will probably invest in a setup soon). But I was also surprised to hear how sharp it got depending on how much pressure I applied.

So I guess the approach is to tune the D on the bottom end just flat enough to not bother me on the majority of the open notes and see how that affects the fretted notes?

[AHill]

Does it make any sense for a single guitarist in a band to use this type of tuning without the other (guitarists) also doing it?

[Looburst]

Strictly an acoustic tuning but again, your results may vary depending on the guitar you're tuning.

[smurph1]

I tried doing it once with a decent tuner and was kind of disappointed. I'm happy using my snark and a fresh set of strings. my 2 cents.

[Mr. Jelly]

I like the Norman Blake way of tuning. Once you get the G string in tune you tune the rest of the guitar off the G string. You'd be surprised how it sounds. It works for me.

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by rmsstrider

. Anyone try this tuning? Hi E -3 cents, B -6 cents, G - 4 cents, D minus 8 cents, A - 10 cents , and low E - 12 cents.

Wait a minute. I must be missing something here. They are all de-tuned? Is that right? Why not tune the high e to correct pitch and then you don't have to de-tune the other strings so far.