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  #16  
Old 10-19-2017, 07:49 AM
baw3 baw3 is offline
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I hear you. I have found when using my clip on tuner that if I tune my low E and my B just a hair flat it sounds perfect to me. Not sure why this is but I have four different guitars and this seems to work really well on all of them. Also James Taylor has a video on how he tunes his guitars. You should check it out and see if that helps you a little.

Last edited by baw3; 10-19-2017 at 07:58 AM.
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  #17  
Old 10-19-2017, 07:52 AM
Greg Ballantyne Greg Ballantyne is offline
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My experience is a combination of the OP and the post from Bikewer..... I've thought about it a lot, and reached a couple of conclusions.

Tuners like Snarks don't work as well on guitars that have intonation problems. Sometimes tweaking the string (in many cases the B, of course) may be required. Guitars with better intonation have less of this.

Electronic tuners also have an accuracy "bandwidth". It is entirely possible to see the green middle light on the tuner for each string, and the strings still be slightly out of tune with one another. You have to know the tuner and the guitar, and hit the right point in that "bandwidth" to achieve good tuning.

While I usually settle for my version of "good enough", few things irk me more than another player (usually my brother) who continues to obliviously bang away on a guitar that is obviously a little out of tune.
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Last edited by Greg Ballantyne; 10-19-2017 at 08:06 AM.
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  #18  
Old 10-19-2017, 07:56 AM
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Al Acuff Al Acuff is online now
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The idea of equal tempered tuning is that you can play in any key and play pretty much in tune.

Before the Well Tempered Clavier came along people tuned in just tempered tuning which sounds more in tune but only lets you play in one key. You have to tune differently for each key you play in. To use just tempered tuning on a guitar I've read that you have to change the fret spacing.

Your standard guitar tuner uses equal tempered tuning although some tuners have other temperaments selectable. When you are done tuning to your tuner the major thirds on your guitar will sound slightly sharp. That's how Equal Tempered tuning sounds.

Microtuning by ear after using a tuner is a standard practice with some folks. Buzz Feiten has taken things farther and come up with a system that plays more in tune.

Personally, I fell in love with guitars while listening to records that were made before there were electronic tuners and high tech compensated tuning systems. I don't stress over the the micro tuning debates. Guitars don't play exactly in tune. Never have. Never will. But they sure sound good to me
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  #19  
Old 10-19-2017, 09:34 AM
aaronwinter aaronwinter is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jabberwocky View Post
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl3mcHixAKM

You're doing better than the tuner and Martin Taylor tells you why.
I watched it this morning. I feel that I've become dependent on the tuner and I need to resharpen my skills!
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  #20  
Old 10-19-2017, 09:35 AM
aaronwinter aaronwinter is offline
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Personally, I fell in love with guitars while listening to records that were made before there were electronic tuners and high tech compensated tuning systems. I don't stress over the the micro tuning debates. Guitars don't play exactly in tune. Never have. Never will. But they sure sound good to me [/QUOTE]

John Fahey comes to my mind. CSNY, etc.
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  #21  
Old 10-19-2017, 10:29 AM
guitar george guitar george is offline
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Here's what can happen if you try to tune without a tuner.

89849f14a415853f275e7c311b5d19d7--the-bridge-the-top.jpg
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  #22  
Old 10-19-2017, 11:50 AM
Denny B Denny B is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aaronwinter View Post
Personally, I fell in love with guitars while listening to records that were made before there were electronic tuners and high tech compensated tuning systems. I don't stress over the the micro tuning debates. Guitars don't play exactly in tune. Never have. Never will. But they sure sound good to me
"John Fahey comes to my mind. CSNY, etc.[/QUOTE]





Yep....
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  #23  
Old 10-19-2017, 12:07 PM
zhunter zhunter is offline
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Back in the 80s my brother bought me a tuner for my birthday. No going back from that. I hate tuning without one. There are days when my guitars will simply not sound in tune to me. Not sure what factors are involved but I guess there are days I can't ignore imperfect for tuning guitar layout. Other days it goes right by me. Either way I rely on the tuner to get me where I need to be. And I am a big fan of using sweetened tunings as in Peterson.

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  #24  
Old 10-19-2017, 12:12 PM
Arthur Blake Arthur Blake is offline
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I use the Sonic Research Turbo Tuner, which apparently they don't make anymore, unless you have electronics and can plug it in. Mine has a microphone. It's a true strobe tuner and extremely accurate. Something like two hundredths of one cent.

I think the Peterson Strobe is the next best thing and still available, now with an improved version.

If the guitar doesn't sound quite right, I check the tuning more carefully, and that seems to do it. Notes seem to harmonize well all up and down the neck, with and without a capo.

I realize they are not technically perfect, but if you start with them as close as possible to the actual note, it works well.

I went through a lot of tuners initially, and find that they vary quite a bit and get you close, but not exactly right on.
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  #25  
Old 10-19-2017, 12:29 PM
51 Relic 51 Relic is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaneh View Post
I have the exact same issue. I feel like my guitar never seems in tune and spend way too much time fixing it. Never used to have that issue at all. Seems like something when I got older like you said. If you find a cure let me know. I sometimes give up and change guitars and that doesn’t always work.


Hi ,
Don't know if this info will help .James Taylor has a tuning instruction on YouTube it looks at the issue of sweetened tuning . It helped me especially when playing with a capo
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  #26  
Old 10-19-2017, 02:30 PM
L20A L20A is offline
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You won't be happy with the sound of a guitar if it is tuned exactly to the tuner.
The guitar's intonation is far less perfect than is a tuner.

Sweetened tuning is needed to get the guitar to sound right.
While every guitar is different, I have found that if I tune the bass E a bit flat and do the same with the B string, the guitar will sound in tune to me.

Add a capo and you might have to tweek the E and B a bit more.
You can have a fully compensated saddle installed which will help a lot.
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  #27  
Old 10-19-2017, 02:37 PM
Rodger Knox Rodger Knox is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by guitar george View Post
Here's what can happen if you try to tune without a tuner.

Attachment 3112
That's not a guitar, it's a tipple!
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  #28  
Old 10-19-2017, 02:53 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by guitar george View Post
Here's what can happen if you try to tune without a tuner.

Attachment 3112
I was ... I WAS using a tuner.

Nobody told me you have to tune it to a certain EADGBE.

I play piccolo and think the highest EADGBE humans can hear are pretty so I tuned it to those.

Who knew?
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  #29  
Old 10-19-2017, 05:53 PM
leew3 leew3 is offline
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I too used a tuning fork...at home. Trying to tune up in a noisy bar before or between sets sent me to a Zen On tuner in the early 80's-what a life saver as I could plug in my guitar and tune it regardless of the noise in the room. That said, I still spent a minute fine tuning through the monitors once we were plugged in before going 'live' through the FOH. I use clip ons now but still tweak my tuning by ear after that.
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  #30  
Old 10-19-2017, 11:39 PM
ii Cybershot ii ii Cybershot ii is offline
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I start with an electronic tuner to get it as close as possible to the standard pitches. Then I tune the guitar to itself, always.
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