Can you REALLY trust your tuner?- An experiment

[PhilNBend]

Originally Posted by jwayne

What, no pitch pipe fans?

I'll take any of the tested electronic tuners over pitch pipes any day.

[Looburst]

Oh I get this whole site now. You guys don’t want answers, you just like to talk about it.

[Edgar Poe]

Originally Posted by Looburst

Simple answer is, with acoustic guitars, close is all you can ever hope for. Not my words, I get this from all the session guys here in Nashville. Just the nature of the instrument.

Pretty much the same thing I said. MOST can't tell the difference. They just think they can.

Ed

[Looburst]

Very true, Ed very true.

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by Purfle Haze

On this forum, some players swear by Peterson Sweetened™ ACU tuning, which puts the low E string off by 12 cents from standard tuning, It's 9 cents off from the high E, and the strings in between are all off of each other by a couple of cents, as so:

E: -3¢
B: -7¢
G: -5¢
D: -8¢
A: -10¢
E: -12¢

Are the players who use this tuning missing something?

This similar to JT tuning works decently for me.

[Purfle Haze]

Originally Posted by Looburst

Oh I get this whole site now. You guys don’t want answers, you just like to talk about it.

Exactly! That's why its called General Acoustic Guitar Discussion and not General Acoustic Guitar Solution.

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by Purfle Haze

To verify for myself, I tuned my 6th string to pitch using Peterson ACU, then replaced ACU with Peterson's EQU (standard tuning), and the string was indeed 12 cents flat. Does -12 cents count as In Tune?

Not for me. But I don't use enough force to make the string deflect much.

[Jabberwocky]

[profiler]

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky

The algorithm can be extended:
1. Tune with a tuner all open strings
2. Adjust according to your ears (see video as a guidance)
3. Read the tuner for all open strings and remember YOUR sweetening offsets
4. Next time you tune the guitar just use these offsets
Should it work?

[jwayne]

Originally Posted by Purfle Haze

James Taylor explains his offsets in this video at 2:46. I wrote 'em down; his numbers are:

E: -3¢
B: -6¢
G: -4¢
D: -8¢
A: -10¢
E: -12¢

Wouldn't that be appropriate only for the specific scale length, string gauges, bridge compensation, and setup on his (presumably) Olson SJ? And then there is the tuning, the tune and key, the specific chords being played, where on the neck one is playing, which open strings are ringing with which fretted strings, etc. It seems when you are talking one cent here or one cent there, there just seem to be too many variables. How can this be reduced to a single formula?

Not being argumentative or skeptical or anything, it's all just too academic for me.

I just grab whatever clip-on or amp or phone or pedal tuner that is nearest at hand to start and adjust by ear when things sound out of whack. Sometimes I'll adjust based on a harmonic (which introduces its own flaws when used across the neck) or play unison notes on each string.

But then again I have neither JT's ears and hands nor one of his $15,000 guitars.

[vindibona1]

As I read through replies and double check my findings I think the bottom line is using the tool that will make your guitar sound best to you. Tuners may not (and probably do not) create the exact same results across the board, but you may find one or another that makes YOUR guitars sound its best with the least amount (or no) tweaking.

[Purfle Haze]

Originally Posted by jwayne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2xnXArjPts"]this video[/URL] at 2:46. I wrote 'em down; his numbers are:

E: -3¢
B: -6¢
G: -4¢
D: -8¢
A: -10¢
E: -12¢

Wouldn't that be appropriate only for the specific scale length, string gauges, bridge compensation, and setup on his (presumably) Olson SJ? And then there is the tuning, the tune and key, the specific chords being played, where on the neck one is playing, which open strings are ringing with which fretted strings, etc. It seems when you are talking one cent here or one cent there, there just seem to be too many variables. How can this be reduced to a single formula?

I agree. These numbers are specific to JT's guitar. I would not expect them to work on my guitars, and they don't.

I just grab whatever clip-on or amp or phone or pedal tuner that is nearest at hand to start and adjust by ear when things sound out of whack. Sometimes I'll adjust based on a harmonic (which introduces its own flaws when used across the neck) or play unison notes on each string. But then again I have neither JT's ears and hands nor one of his $15,000 guitars.

If your ears can hear when you're out of tune, and you can adjust it to your satisfaction, maybe you do have JT's ears.

[Denny B]

Originally Posted by Looburst

Simple answer is, with acoustic guitars, close is all you can ever hope for. Not my words, I get this from all the session guys here in Nashville. Just the nature of the instrument.

I'd say those guys are more than likely staying busy enough playing for a living instead of worrying about achieving "perfect" tunings..

[gfsark]

Good discussion, and I now know why my electronic tuner on the iPhone never seems right for me, especially the bass string. Which I don’t fret about that much. But still it’s annoying to tune to the tuner and have it not sound great.

The app on my phone is called GuiTune. Use a pedal for gigging, BOSS TU-3. The pedal is better, but I always have my phone with me. Going to check out the Peterson tuning system, because it strikes me as what I end up doing after I’ve tuned against the electronic tuner.

On a side note, all my guitars always seem to go sharp when I’m not playing them, unless they’ve been ignored for a long time. So tuning down is the rule not the exception for me.

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by Purfle Haze

I agree. These numbers are specific to JT's guitar. I would not expect them to work on my guitars, and they don't.



If your ears can hear when you're out of tune, and you can adjust it to your satisfaction, maybe you do have JT's ears.

My argument was that they wouldn’t work unless everyone used the tuning and then probably sound like crap anyway, so what was your point? After saying the tuning wouldn’t work on your guitars, I’m no closer to learning what point you’re failing to make.