| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| JB |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 02:19:16
I play an acoustic guitar and but one thing keeps pissing me off. I find it really difficult keeping my guitar in tune. Does anyone else have this problem? Maybe I am tone deaf or something, but I can sometimes spend over half an hour tring to get my guitar exactly in tune. I can tell that a string is slightly out of tune but often I can't quite tell if it needs tuning up or down. I bought a cheap Qwik Guitar Tuner but it doesn't seem to be particularly reliable as the tuning indicator seems to keep moving all over the place. Can anyone recommend a decent tuner for a non-electric acoustic guitar? Or if you have any other tuning tips ? This one thing is preventing me from enjoying hours of strumming bliss ! |
| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| hammerhands |
Posted - 06/13/2005 : 10:04:23
If keep a wash cloth in your case, and wipe down the strings after you play you can get a few more months out of a set of strings. |
| JB |
Posted - 06/13/2005 : 04:59:02
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I actually changed the strings at the weekend and this seems to have helped a great deal.The strings were only 2 months old and were a good make (Elixir)so I was surprised that this was the problem. The strings do stay in tune much better now. I suppose the long term solution is to change my strings every 2 months or so. Also, I think it's probably best if I try to rely on my own ear to judge whether the string is in tune or not. The general consensus seems to be that you the more that you tune by ear, the better you get at it. |
| BLT |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 21:36:35
Carl: Out of five sitars, I would defy you to identify the single instrument which is out of tune. |
| Carl |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 20:23:32
Fellow guitarists, stop complaining! We got it easy compared to some!! ;) |
| fbc |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 14:02:22
now that would be hours of strumming bliss. if you can get the damn thing tuned.
"If you can see what I can see, when I'm cleanin' windows" |
| BLT |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 13:57:49
Or, for that matter, a ukelele?
http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~kunisige/eukulele4.html |
| fbc |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 13:42:49
you sure you're tuning a guitar and not a mandolin?
http://www.mandolincafe.com/tuning.html |
| BLT |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 13:02:16
Are the strings installed properly on the tuner posts?
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/SteelStrings/Stringing/ststringing2.html |
| hammerhands |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 13:00:07
I'm going to throw a bunch of things out here.
Are the tuners on your guitar any good? Tuning machines are relatively inexpensive and will dramatically improve your guitar. Don't change them on a vintage instrument, but for anything else it is imperative for functionality. I'm told this applies especially to that 5th tuner on a banjo! My favourite tuners are Grovers but there are many choices.
The first tuning method I was taught relies on beating or phasing. My teacher is very much not in favour of this method as it will never improve your pitch recognition but I find it most accurate and quick (after more than 20 years!).
First to demonstrate the principle: Play the 5th fret A on the low E String and the open A in concert. If they are close but not quite in tune you will hear a rather dramatic pulsing. If you can't hear this try bending the low E string or detune it slightly. When you bend the E string a bit you will hear the pulsing quicken or slow.
This is caused by interfering sound waves produced by the strings, the slower you can make the pulse the more in tune the strings will be. If you need to bend the E string to slow the beating then you need to tune the A string down or the E string up.
This is harder to hear on the higher strings but it is still there. In fact I have found that on some days I hear a harmonic beating out of tune that is nearly impossible to resolve and can drive you out of your wits.
I'm considering doing an experiment to see what atmospheric conditions are best for tuning. I think if I were to chart air-pressure, temperature and humidity and then grade the difficulty of tuning it would be a very telling. Someone call Jay and Natasha.
I normally start with the G-string (sometimes the D-string if I'm having trouble hearing the G) and work down to low E then up to the high e. The idea here is that when you tune the lower strings they detune the higher strings. This can be a huge factor with a tremolo, or a crappy neck.
If you can ignore the beating and rely on your sense of pitch you would make my teacher happier than I can.
As for tuners
This works great, it's really, really cheap. I have a bit of a hard time walking and chewing gum, but most people can use them. My teacher's idea is you carry around one of these and gain some insight into the music you're listening to, "what key is that song in". Also you can start a Spike Jones collection, "Is this garbage can lid an E, or an E-flat?"
I've wanted one of these for a while, I can't find them here.
I settled for one of these. I even have my teacher using it. We don't bother with the notorious needle, they jump around too much.
"Then I thought, hey maybe it's the needle" (Steve Martin)
All this assumes your guitar is well intonated! This is your guitar's tuning from fret to fret. For example if you play the harmonic above the 12th fret and then play the 12th fret and the notes are not exact, then you will likely never be able to tune your guitar properly.
Various things that can mess your intonation include a shifting neck, shifting body, raising or lowering the action, grime on the strings...I'm not sure how this is fixed on an acoustic guitar.
On my guitar I can move the bridge around, on most guitars there are adjustment screws for the intonators. I bought a tool for this:
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| speedy_m |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 12:40:46
Don't forget the dial tone on phones (in N. America) at least is an F. I always tune to that.
And thanks to Rick Gilbert for that tip, by the way!
I am God's brother, his soul mate and team mate/He passes me info-mation/and I reciprocate
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| fbc |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 12:00:53
try tuning to your favourite song, that's always a fun way
i say the best tuner for a non-electric acoustic guitar is your very own ear
try this site: http://www.8notes.com/guitar_tuner/default.asp?sstring=d
if the problem persists, buy new strings
and if then no joy, buy a new guitar
happy strummin'! |
| Kirk |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 11:23:32
I have noticed, the more experienced a musician I am, the more out-of-tune things are.
You might have a great ear. and you'll notice how everyone else is out of tune |
| Scarla O |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 04:12:17
Well it's probably not the most efficient way of doing things but if i know one of my strings is out of tune, i turn the tuners so that the guilty string is WAY out of tune (flat) and then tune it incrementally up to the next string.
Obviously you've got to be careful not to over-tighten the string as you approach 'tunality' 'cause then you'll be in the same fix as before.
Just a suggestion :) |
