apl
Stand Up Comity
I once did a setup like that. It was a lot of work.
I once did a setup like that. It was a lot of work.
Light
New member
It takes me FAR less time than trying to tune with a tuner. When I'm changing strings, once I start tuning I have it in tune in about 20-40 seconds (depending on how close I got when I was winding the strings), and if the guitar is already close it takes me 10-15 seconds. It's just a matter of practice. Once you learn how to do it, it is faster and your guitar sounds much better to boot.
Of course, it helps that we have a tuning fork mounted to a spruce box that amplifies it to an audible level.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
E
ermghoti
New member
Is that working well on stage for ya?
apl
Stand Up Comity
I meant setting intonation by ear using harmonics of adjacent strings, back when I didn't have an electronic tuner.
Light
New member
Is that working well on stage for ya?
It works fine. It takes me less time to tune than it does most people who have tuners, and most of the time on stage I'm tuning to a chord anyway, which electronic tuners are completely incapable of doing. As a result, I actually sound in tune on stage - a rare thing indeed. If I really need to, I can tell a story while I'm tuning, but it doesn't usually take that long.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
muttley600
Banned
Yep, me too. Shall I post that link to the tuning primer I'm always linking too?
Nah, I'll wait til theres more folks here claiming that a tuner is the way to go.
As gunn pointed out are you setting intonation like this?? Intonation is the process of setting the intervals correctly across the fingerboard so you sound good in all keys. Not exactly "in tune".
Intonation and tuning issues have become the favorite topic of dissent here recently. Really there is nothing to argue about. Myself and light generally work the same way and do things the same, to a point. This despite the fact we have never met and learned our stuff in different countries and workshops. There is a reason for that. Intonation and tuning is a universal thing.
OK here's are those links. Read them. The first is written by Paraglider a member here and explains as well as I could the limitations and advantages of the tuning system we use today. The second is a how to, written by luthiers as a way of explaining round the problem.
https://homerecording.com/bbs/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2907248
http://www.stagepass.com/tuning.html
muttley600
Banned
Oh and I meant to say...
Gotoh 510's every time here. Unless requested to fit something else. All you fancy locking this and that does exactly nada.
Gotoh 510's every time here. Unless requested to fit something else. All you fancy locking this and that does exactly nada.
TelePaul
J to the R O C
Oh and I meant to say...
Gotoh 510's every time here. Unless requested to fit something else. All you fancy locking this and that does exactly nada.
Electronic Tuners are better than a tuning fork.
muttley600
Banned
apl
Stand Up Comity
Intonation. It was friend's Lotus LP copy. Not really a copy, a bolt neck. That was a long, long time ago.
apl
Stand Up Comity
Me, too. And you were right. I did the ear thing, then a needle tuner, then a tuner in a floor pedal, and a couple of years ago I got StroboSoft. A strobe's the only way to go.
apl
Stand Up Comity
No, no, no. Past tense: I did one by ear with a tuning fork once, maybe more than once, I don't remember. It was a pain. Now I use a strobe.
muttley600
Banned
You don't need a tuner to set intonation. When you set intonation the guitar can be a half tone sharp or flat, doesn't matter as long as it doesn't alter the setup. Bringing the guitar upto pitch and at 440 and in tune across the fingerboard requires a single accurate reference note. Tuning and intonation are separate things.
TelePaul
J to the R O C
If you say so.Can you also say why so?
Computers are like, more accurate and stuff?
muttley600
Banned
I'm afraid not in this case. A tuning fork has vibrates at a given frequency, it's fixed. The only way it changes is if you add or subtract more mass. Those tuners you buy in the shop are horribly inaccurate at times. Some are better than others. A strobe tuner being the best.
apl
Stand Up Comity
Exactly. I used the tuning fork to set the A string and tuned the rest by harmonics. Then I checked the intonation of one string by sounding the harmonic at the 24th (if there was one) while fretted at the 12th, and comparing that to the seventh fret harmonic of the string below. I adjusted the saddle accordingly and tried again.
muttley600
Banned
Thats fine of course. The bit you need to be wary of is using the neighbouring string harmonic as a reference when tuning (even when checking intonation adjustments). You run the risk of introducing a small error each time and by the time you get to the top E you have compounded the error to a point where it can be quite noticeable. Get each string intonated correctly, use a tuner or your ear but just reference off that string. Then tune as per the instructions in the GAL article I linked to. The pertinent bit that applies here is this bit.
Give those links a read if you haven't already. They are good and very informative for all guitarists who want to better understand intonation and tuning. The important bit being that a 7th fret harmonic is a pure interval. We want tempered ones. Individually it's only a few cents but compounded across six strings it gets very messy.
TelePaul
J to the R O C
So I was kinda right?