Tuning

[Hank]

Having recently watched a video by Jame Taylor on tuning and also having been “in studio” recently I have become more aware of the limits of my D’Addario mini headstock tuner,which I really like. But…it does not show cents.
But…. I am trying to save money for a new build from SCGC and I’m tired of spending money on “Gear”.
So My tuning question to Y’All…. is there a “formula” using 440 or 438 or 43 whatever to achieve -3cents or -12cents or -cents whatever?
I have been almost totally deaf in my left ear for 40 years and I depend on tuners to “get it right”.
Owning the wonderful Ramuda that I do I do wish to tune them as well as possible. The Mini has been fine …until I went into studio and the sound engineer pulled out his super duper tuner and made me tune to it. I gave away a Peterson because it drove me crazy and was Very bulky.

---

1993 Martin HD-28 IR/Sitka
2001 SCGC F Cutaway Maple/German
2008 SCGC OT Madi/Italian
2015 SCGC OM “The Tree” Hog/ European
2016 SCGC 1934 D45 Braz/ Adi
2016 Taylor K62 CE Limited Edition 12 string all Koa
2019 SCGC FTC Granadillo/Redwood
Life is a journey…not a guided tour,
The Bay,The Gulf Stream , The Open Ocean are particular about who they share their secrets with.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Hank.

[bert]

zorro, I use a strobe tuner by TC Electronic called a ‘polytune’, fast is the word. My Peterson has been in it’s can since I got the polytune a few years ago, highly recommend.

I’ve seen the JT tuning video, he tunes that way to allow for his capo.. not for everyone and cents (+/-) don’t matter if guitar is tuned to it’s harmonics.

After tuning to EADGBE, this video by Justin Guitar taught me how to fine tune, been using it for a good while now. Guitar never sounds right when the harmonics are fighting. I use harmonic tuning on everything with strings… bass, reso, archtop, flattop, etc.

[Hank]

Bert…Thanks for reminding me of the harmonics method. That’s the way I used to do it….
The nice thing about C.R.S. is that everything old is “New” again.
I note from one of your previous posts that we are the same age…so I know you know what C.R.S. is.

---

1993 Martin HD-28 IR/Sitka
2001 SCGC F Cutaway Maple/German
2008 SCGC OT Madi/Italian
2015 SCGC OM “The Tree” Hog/ European
2016 SCGC 1934 D45 Braz/ Adi
2016 Taylor K62 CE Limited Edition 12 string all Koa
2019 SCGC FTC Granadillo/Redwood
Life is a journey…not a guided tour,
The Bay,The Gulf Stream , The Open Ocean are particular about who they share their secrets with.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Hank.

[09201381973]

I Like Tommy Emmanuels advice. For stage or just plugged in BOSS tuner stomp box, Green your good , Red   Make it Green.               I like the simple  blue,red , black. SNARK  guitar and bass clip on’s.   Dead center green your good to go.

[bert]

Zorro, didn’t CRS write ‘Proud Mary’? I have all their records but, Tina’s version is still my favorite.

Sorry, I don’t recall C.R.S., probably left it somewhere with my lost shaker of salt.

Some people have perfect pitch, not in my lifetime. Without harmonics I can’t tell if the note is 1-2c flat or sharp, but I know it’s out. Tapping the 5th, 7th, & 12th frets using the ultra fast Polytune tells the tale. When all six are singing together, with no warble, ready for freddie.
bert

[Hank]

Bert… CRS=Can’t Remember S—. But at least I can hide my own Easter Eggs.
Yep I liked Tin’s version better also…I’d play it but, I can’t remember the words ???
I’ll look into a Polytune.

---

1993 Martin HD-28 IR/Sitka
2001 SCGC F Cutaway Maple/German
2008 SCGC OT Madi/Italian
2015 SCGC OM “The Tree” Hog/ European
2016 SCGC 1934 D45 Braz/ Adi
2016 Taylor K62 CE Limited Edition 12 string all Koa
2019 SCGC FTC Granadillo/Redwood
Life is a journey…not a guided tour,
The Bay,The Gulf Stream , The Open Ocean are particular about who they share their secrets with.

[Daniel]

Ah tuners… something I tend to get finicky about!

James Taylor really has a signature sound, and a lot of that is his tuning.

And yes, some tuners are ‘generous’ in their readings.

A lot of mandolin players I know trust Snarks.  I love my Intellitouch PT10.  I have a little clip on Polytune by TC Electronics, but I prefer the PT10 because I can read the PT1o in bright sunlight and the Polytune’s LEDs just can’t manage that.

I also have a Boss TU-12h that’s (holy cow) 30 years old now.  I use it when I get the pedal board out.  Zorro, you might benefit from using one of these.  It has an analog read out: a needle that swings left & right and shows cents.  This makes JT’s instruction possible to execute.

I wish I still had the little case the TU-12h came in.  That made it really convenient to use.  But that case has been broken and gone for 20 years now.  🙂

I’ve participated in a kickstarter for Soundbrenner’s Core device (I have a Pulse and love it).  It’s a smartwatch with a haptic metronome, a decibel meter, and a tuner in it.  The unit comes off your wrist (watch band stays in place) and attaches to the instrument via a magnet.  You can stick the unit either to the tuning machines or to a small self adhesive metal plate that comes with the Core.  It reads notes the same way as any other clip on tuner.

They’re shipping in March.  I’ll post a review.  🙂

Daniel

 

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Daniel.

[bert]

zorro, I do remember Susanna’s line to Guy Clark about the Easter Eggs. Otherwise, CRS is in full effect where I trod.

I know a number of performing musicians who use the Polytune2 pedal on their effects board with the 9v LED illumination for visibility. Speed is the reason I use the Polytune clip-on.  Tap the frets… instant feedback. Strum all the strings open, it auto shifts to chromatic and shows which strings need attention, then auto shifts back to the strobe for fine tuning… all happens in mil-seconds, nano-fast is my reason to own one.

now, where did I put my car keys?

[Hank]

I ordered the Polytune clip on from Amazon yesterday.

---

1993 Martin HD-28 IR/Sitka
2001 SCGC F Cutaway Maple/German
2008 SCGC OT Madi/Italian
2015 SCGC OM “The Tree” Hog/ European
2016 SCGC 1934 D45 Braz/ Adi
2016 Taylor K62 CE Limited Edition 12 string all Koa
2019 SCGC FTC Granadillo/Redwood
Life is a journey…not a guided tour,
The Bay,The Gulf Stream , The Open Ocean are particular about who they share their secrets with.

[tadol]

That Polytune has always looked good – but I’m gonna leave that as a “suggestion” for the wife come birthday time –

please post your thoughts when you’ve had some time to play with it –

---

Lots o’ SCGC guitars! But never ask which is my fav

[haasome]

I have a few TC Electronic Polytune Clip-On tuners and think they suit me best. Easy to use, accurate and not as heavily influenced by background noise in a room as my Peterson clip-on tuners. But the Peterson StroboPlus HD is a close 2nd.

---

– Paul –

[Hank]

Received the Polytune Clip On yesterday afternoon.
I used Bert’s method in his post above.
I will NEVER need another tuner…wish I had gotten one before this.
As I am only a mediocre player I try to use any trick I can to sound better…This will stay in my “little bag of tricks”

---

1993 Martin HD-28 IR/Sitka
2001 SCGC F Cutaway Maple/German
2008 SCGC OT Madi/Italian
2015 SCGC OM “The Tree” Hog/ European
2016 SCGC 1934 D45 Braz/ Adi
2016 Taylor K62 CE Limited Edition 12 string all Koa
2019 SCGC FTC Granadillo/Redwood
Life is a journey…not a guided tour,
The Bay,The Gulf Stream , The Open Ocean are particular about who they share their secrets with.

[bert]

Good to hear zorro.

Sometime in early 2004, I called SCGC and asked what tuner do they recommend. Don’t remember who I spoke with but was told they use Peterson. This began my relationship with strobe tuning. I started with the Virtual Strobe II, my SCGC Tony Rice was in tune for the first time ever. I finally got to hear what a well tuned guitar was all about.  I was a member of a mostly amateur songwriters group in those days and tuning was driving me nuts. I was so self conscience of my inaccurate tuning that it had a negative impact on what I was doing.

The VSII was a miracle, then came the StroboClip and now the Polytune.

Using strobe for the past 14yrs has trained my un-trained ear to easily recognize bad tuning but, as most of us, I will never have perfect pitch.

[Author]

Posts