tuning guitars

[blindboygrunt]

whats the science behind this peterson 'sweetened tuning' ?

 

someone posted that 'ordinary' tuners dont quite get the G and B strings in perfect tuning ... whats all that about ?

[rar]

whats the science behind this peterson 'sweetened tuning' ?

 

someone posted that 'ordinary' tuners dont quite get the G and B strings in perfect tuning ... whats all that about ?

There's no science. Tuning is fundamentally a compromise -- there is science behind that -- and some people think a guitar sounds more "in-tune with itself" if a sweetened tuning is used. But it's just a different compromise.

 

-- Bob R

[blindboygrunt]

There's no science. Tuning is fundamentally a compromise -- there is science behind that -- and some people think a guitar sounds more "in-tune with itself" if a sweetened tuning is used. But it's just a different compromise.

 

-- Bob R

 

yeah , i get what theyre saying , but i dont understand whats different in what a peterson tells me or my tuner tells me ?

whats 'in tune with itself' mean ?

[daveg]

Wes got it right - octaves for tuning.

 

DG

[kidblast]

< whats the science behind this peterson 'sweetened tuning' >

 

It compensates a few cents for the B string to make up for the natural imperfection that normally occurs between the G (which is tuned to a fifth with all the other strings) and the B which is tuned to a 4th, then we go back the E which is again is a fifth in relation to the B. It sounds a little more in tune to the ears than if it was just tuned to standard pitch.

 

If you have a Peterson tuner and set it on Equal Temperament, then it's just a standard tuner, once it's set to the Guitar Temperament, the compensated tuning is now in effect.

 

It does make a difference, I think I notice it the most when I'm using a capo.

 

Oh and one thing to note, if you DO have a Peterson, when you are setting intonation, set the tuner to equal temperament or it's not going to read the intonation properly.

[MissouriPicker]

You mean we're supposed to tune these damn things too? When did all this stuff start?

[j45nick]

You mean we're supposed to tune these damn things too? When did all this stuff start?

 

 

Nah, just turn the pegs until a G chord sounds right, and go for it!

[blindboygrunt]

its the natural imperfection that goes way over my head , i dont get that part ...

if a string is tuned to a G or a B then surely you get a G or a B ?

and why dont other tuner manufacturers callibrate theirs to this ?

 

i'm sorry if i'm being ridiculously stupid about something thats maybe obvious , just trying to learn a little each day :-)

[Towzend]

Trouble is these days tuners are used as 'gospel' relied on to much..

 

What i do, i tune with the tuner, sling that to one side.. and then use my ears! listening for the strings to match each other

in tone (tune) if you know what i mean!

for example my guitar sound best with the 'b' string tuned slightly flat! so what 'im' hearing is a perfectly balanced tuned guitar!!

[telemaster03]

I'm buying what they're selling. Actually, I had a method to "temper tune" my guitars that worked fine. Problem was that if I used a fixed tuner the guitar sounded out and it's tough to tune by ear in a noisy setting. The Peterson tuners solve that problem for me. I know, I know...some will think it's baloney. I've been around a couple of those guys in jams here around town and their guitars always sound out of tune. I bought 3 Snarks when MF had them for $10.00 a couple years ago and a Planet Waves a buddy gave me, they've all been re-gifted...couldn't use them, my guitars sounded out of tune. I did the tuner test with those tuners and the Peterson clip on and I can say that the $10.00 I paid for each of the Snarks was a complete waste, they were nowhere near being in tune with the Peterson's standard setting. Lots of people love em, though.

 

I bought a Strobo Flip back when I played pedal steel and it was a lifesaver onstage. I ran the guitar through the E9 sweetened tuner setting and could tune completely with the tuner...No more trying to tune 10 strings and tune-able pedals and knee levers on a noisy band stand. I've played steel off and on for over 30 years and that was unheard of until the Peterson thing, though some of the major steel guys had formulas all worked out with their tuners to temper tune. I sold my steel last summer to fund my first J45 purchase but I still use the Strobo Flip on my bench and a clipper-onner everywhere else I go. They work incredibly well for me.

[telemaster03]

You mean we're supposed to tune these damn things too? When did all this stuff start?

 

It was in tune when I bought it!

[BluesKing777]

It was in tune when I bought it!

 

The Salesman Promised!

 

 

 

Anyhow, it is just another one of those amazing things that keep moving about - intended to keep guitarists on their toes! Constantly moving bits would drive some people round the...........

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[onewilyfool]

I tune with my electronic tuner, THEN if I'm playing in the key of "G", for example, then I adjust the tuning to the "key" i'm playing in. I've done that for years, just minor tweaks, but enough to make it sound better to my ears at least.

[BluesKing777]

I played a bar in a room next to a large function room for a while there - people would come out from the large gig for a chat and talk over me - not very encouraging. They had the touring superstars in the large room often and it made things pretty interesting sometimes....

 

 

But one act I remember is Ben Harper (Alt Rock Slide Guitarist). He tuned up his guitars ALL afternoon loud through a PA. I don't know what that is about, but it was some kind of a perfectionist at work.

 

 

I just tune mine by the harmonics at the 12th fret with an electronic tuner and we are away - it is out of tune a bit after the first 'blues bend' on the B string anyway.

 

 

BluesKing777.

[davenumber2]

I don't know what you guys are doing but they tuned mine at the factory.

[drathbun]

Watch this video by James Taylor where he discusses tuning his guitar.

 

Here are the cents flat that he tunes each of his strings from low E to high e:

 

E -12

A -10

D -8

G -4

B -6

e -3

 

I've tried this and it works!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2xnXArjPts

[J200_2013]

< whats the science behind this peterson 'sweetened tuning' >

 

It compensates a few cents for the B string to make up for the natural imperfection that normally occurs between the G (which is tuned to a fifth with all the other strings) and the B which is tuned to a 4th, then we go back the E which is again is a fifth in relation to the B. It sounds a little more in tune to the ears than if it was just tuned to standard pitch.

 

If you have a Peterson tuner and set it on Equal Temperament, then it's just a standard tuner, once it's set to the Guitar Temperament, the compensated tuning is now in effect.

 

It does make a difference, I think I notice it the most when I'm using a capo.

 

Oh and one thing to note, if you DO have a Peterson, when you are setting intonation, set the tuner to equal temperament or it's not going to read the intonation properly.

 

 

??? The G string is tuned as the perfect 4th of the D string (5 semi-tones or major 4th interval); the B string is tuned to the 3rd of the G string (4 semi-tones or major third interval).

[rar]

??? The G string is tuned as the perfect 4th of the D string (5 semi-tones or major 4th interval); the B string is tuned to the 3rd of the G string (4 semi-tones or major third interval).

The definitions of intervals depend on the tuning. In equal temperament tuning, the frequency ratio for an interval is the same in all keys. (This could be used as the definition of equal temperament tuning.) But in well temperament, for example, the ratio varies by key. In equal temperament, an instrument shows roughly equal signs of being out-of-tune -- beats that suggest a lack of "purity" -- in every key. In well temperament, for example, there are almost no beats playing in C, but there are more pronounced beats in other keys (an effect that can be exploited in composing, as Bach did in The Well Tempered Clavier). Anyway, in sweetened tunings, music will sound purer in some keys and less pure in others when compared to equal temperament. If the guitar sounds more pure in the keys you play in using a sweetened tuning, you will probably* prefer the sweetened tuning.

 

At least, if you're the kind who's bothered by such niceties. After listing to who knows how many guitarists (including myself) play radically out-of-tune guitars in days of yore (before electronic tuners), I don't worry about this stuff at all. I figure I'm a heck of a lot closer to being in tune than I ever was when I used a pitchpipe then compared the fretted second string to the open first, the fretted third to the open third, etc., and that's plenty good enough for me. Especially since all bets are off as soon as I bend a string to fret it. Worrying about this stuff when tuning a piano is reasonable, but when tuning a guitar? I don't think so, but you should do what you need to do in order to make your ears happy.

 

-- Bob R

 

* The "probably" qualification is needed because people have some odd notions of what constitutes sounding in-tune. For instance, the Rev consistently tuned his low E string way flat in order to get his guitar sound in-tune to him.

[BluesKing777]

Watch this video by James Taylor where he discusses tuning his guitar.

 

Here are the cents flat that he tunes each of his strings from low E to high e:

 

E -12

A -10

D -8

G -4

B -6

e -3

 

I've tried this and it works!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2xnXArjPts

 

 

Thats' what you get, JT, when you leave the beautiful Gibson J50 in the closet and buy the expensive $30,000 geetar - won't go in tune!

 

 

Wouldn't that rock ya?

 

I also like his big tuner for these tired old eyes.

 

Those strings are certainly tuned a long way out!

 

I will try this later....need to write down the list by hand.

 

 

BluesKIng777.

 

 

[drathbun]

Thats' what you get, JT, when you leave the beautiful Gibson J50 in the closet and buy the expensive $30,000 geetar - won't go in tune!

 

 

Wouldn't that rock ya?

 

I also like his big tuner for these tired old eyes.

 

Those strings are certainly tuned a long way out!

 

I will try this later....need to write down the list by hand.

 

 

BluesKIng777.

 

That isn't a big tuner BK. It is a video monitor showing the image of a camera he has trained on his small tuner.