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How anal are you about tuning?


Silenced Fred

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Just wondering. Personally, as long as its close, I'm happy. I do the "ringing G chord test". If I pick up a guitar, and a G chord rings fairly well, I'm not too worried.

 

I was looking at a Polytune and this guy told me to get the Boss instead because the Polytune is a bad tuner because it won't tune as well and the "all string" mode isn't as accurate as tuning each string. I said it was a good idea because in between songs, its an easy way to check, but he would have none of it.

 

Just a though

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I'm beconing more anal as time goes by.

Used to be happy with close but now whenever I'm out of tune or anyone else I'm playing with is out of tune, it drives me nuts.

I think that comes with developing a keener ear.

 

Dave

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Even a perfect guitar is almost impossible to be tuned perfectly....The inherent design is imperfect....Each musician / guitarest chooses what level of perfection is tolerable to him / her...And we each choose which imperfection fits our playing best...Myself, the G and B strings are the ones I tune 'my way' ever so slightly...And there is the Buzstien something tuning system, which is interesting...

 

I'm working on a C.D. with just a gal on piano and me on guitar and other instuments; Playing guitar with a perfectly tuned piano really shows how difficult keeping a guitar tuned is....

( Off hand, the C.D. will be released early fall. )

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This is an interesting question that I have been thinking about lately. I have an electronic tuner (Ashland made by Crafter) which I suspect will be a make available only in the U.K, and not very expensive, £10 (I guess about $15 to $20), and I don’t think it is very accurate.

When I used to go for Classical lessons my tutor would completely retune the instrument, even though I had just tuned it with my electronic jobby, and when he had tuned it sounded really sweet.

Even after I have used the tuner myself, sometimes it doesn’t sound “quite right”

So are there varying quality’s of electronic tuners or are they all “much the same”

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Just wondering. Personally, as long as its close, I'm happy. I do the "ringing G chord test". If I pick up a guitar, and a G chord rings fairly well, I'm not too worried.

 

I was looking at a Polytune and this guy told me to get the Boss instead because the Polytune is a bad tuner because it won't tune as well and the "all string" mode isn't as accurate as tuning each string. I said it was a good idea because in between songs, its an easy way to check, but he would have none of it.

 

Just a though

 

 

Hi Fred

 

I have a problem with the term anal being used in reference to tuning (but I still love you though), I suppose because to me it implies that as long as you are nearly in tune, then that will do - and that people wanting to fine tune are being just fussy for the sake of it.

 

There is only out of tune and in tune to me!

All the while my instrument is out of tune, even if only by a microtone, I can still hear it and it offends my ear greatly and makes everything sound terrible!

 

something out of tune is like your nads being put in a vice!! msp_flapper.gifmsp_flapper.gif

 

Matt

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Well, I like to be in tune...

 

It matters more, when you're playing in an ensemble, that all of the instruments are tuned to a single standard, and are in tune relative to that standard. Meaning, the rhythm guitarist and the lead guitarist are in tune with each other, and the bassist is in tune with them, and so on.

 

If a string is out of tune, I'll waste no time in getting it back in tune.

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my ear has developed to the point where i can tell exactly when a string is out now, and which one. i will tune mid song or between songs to at least keep the guitar in tune with itself. i am not as picky about a perfect A=440 reference tuning all the time, as long as the strings are in tune relative to each other.

 

recently, if i am recording, i'll tune up the guitar as accurately as possible first, and create a quick "in tune" reference track of each string picked individually (you never know when you may decide to overdub in the future.) :)

 

-Don

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I only play Green day songs...I wasn't aware tuning was required.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, I'm always pretty darn close to perfect. I have a used Dean Markly pedal tuner ($29) and a Boss chromatic tuner (also $29). That's close enough to me. But yeah, if a string is off, I notice and gotta fix when I'm just playing at home. I have notice some tuners are more forgiving than others and that's ok by me.

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I'm beconing more anal as time goes by.

Used to be happy with close but now whenever I'm out of tune or anyone else I'm playing with is out of tune, it drives me nuts.

I think that comes with developing a keener ear.

 

Dave

 

Me too! lol I agree about it bothers me more as my ears develop.

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I don't know what my anus has to do with it...but my guitars really don't go out of tune when I play them.

 

I tune each time before I play.

 

I found that I like the "feel" of the old quartz tuners, so I went on ebay and bought up like 6 of them over the last few months.

 

I just bought one for $.99 last week!

 

I'm not too hot on the new digital tuners, (except I like the clip on kind for my fiddle...and for when I tune my piano).

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Hi Fred

 

I have a problem with the term anal being used in reference to tuning (but I still love you though), I suppose because to me it implies that as long as you are nearly in tune, then that will do - and that people wanting to fine tune are being just fussy for the sake of it.

 

There is only out of tune and in tune to me!

All the while my instrument is out of tune, even if only by a microtone, I can still hear it and it offends my ear greatly and makes everything sound terrible!

 

something out of tune is like your nads being put in a vice!! msp_flapper.gifmsp_flapper.gif

 

Matt

 

My sincerest apologies. I probably should have rephrased that. My one friend will literally yell at people at Guitar Center when they are untuned.

 

I hate when a guitar is out of tune myself, but little minutia doesn't bug me, probably because my ear isn't that good

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I guess I'm kinda of the "in relative tune" school - as in, "if it ain't a 440 C, it's not that big a deal, but the strings had best be in tune with each other and ditto in an ensemble, everybody in tune with each other."

 

And I won't claim my ear's that good, but sometimes I think playing in different keys will sometimes make me want to mess just a bit with the tuning, but I never do. <grin>

 

As has been mentioned, nothing in ways ever is in tune if it is designed with frets or, on a keyboard, with a "tempered" scale. Properly tuned, it's "close, but no cigar."

 

OTOH, a vibrato, whether in classical, jazz, folk or rock, inherently is going in and outa tune. So... <grin> I think it's best to start in as good relative tune as possible.

 

m

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OTOH, a vibrato, whether in classical, jazz, folk or rock, inherently is going in and outa tune. So... <grin> I think it's best to start in as good relative tune as possible.

 

m

 

i always thought vibrato was invented to compensate for instruments that have trouble staying in tune. if it's almost there, bend it just a little bit. :)

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I voted "I tune after every song", since that was the closest choice to my reality, I had to pick it. In reality, if my guitar sounds out of tune, I tune it. It usually stays in pretty well. The most tweaking I have to do is the G String & B String as damian mentioned. I hate being out of tune and anyone that plays with me should also be in tune, It's just the right thing to do.

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For me it's like, what's the point if it's out of tune? Why would anybody want to sound like carp? But the worst is when I'm playing with a band and they're out of tune (except for the drummer, he can be out of tune). No matter how good you are, the whole band is gonna sound horrible. When that happens, I stop the music and ask for a tuning check... [biggrin]

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I was at a GC recently to buy a Snark tuner. (it's pretty good, BTW - but make sure you make them price match to Newegg.com. $13 c.f. $30...)

 

I almost bought one to give to the yahoo who was shredding away at 110db and was so horribly out of of tune that even the sales guys were cringing.

 

Being in tune is very important to me.

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