Abandoned

Since infogami has been abandoned by its creators, I’m out too. Back to web.fisher.cx for me. Everything that was here is there.

Robert Fisher

Just thinking out loud

Guitar tuning

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Tips for tuning a guitar:

  • Always tune up. If a string is sharp, loosen it until it is flat & tune up to the correct pitch. This results in a more stable tuning as it tends to lessen hidden slack in the system such as through friction between the string & the bridge or nut. (There's got to be a better way to phrase that.)
  • It is better to tune the other five strings to one string rather than tuning each string to its neighbor. I usually try to get the high-E in tune first. Then...
    • I tune the B-string at the fifth fret to the high-E.
    • The G-string at the 9th (double-check that) fret to the high-E.
    • The D at the 14th fret.
    • The A-string at the fifth fret to the high-E. A bit trickier than the others since I'm now dealing with an octave rather than unison.
    • The low-E-string to the high-E. Open, at the twelfth fret, & with the twelfth-fret harmonic.
    • I typically use both this method & the standard adjacent string method together.
  • Remember that the tension from one string can affect the other strings. Don't assume that the first string you tuned is still in tune after you've tuned the other five. You may have to go through several iterations of tuning before all the strings are in tune at the same time. This tends to be more true the farther out of tune it was when you began.
  • I need to confirm this one: Tuning with harmonics (other than the twelfth-fret harmonic) will result in just-intonation, which is at odds with the equal-temperment of the fretboard. (Which is fine if that's what you're going for.)
  • When using an electronic tuner, you may need to mute the other strings when tuning one string. Try to send the strongest, cleanest tone into the tuner. (A cable straight from the guitar to the tuner is preferrable.) Some people report that using the neck pick-up or using twelfth-fret harmonics works better with some tuners. (I tend to use the bridge pick-up.)
  • Also when using an electronic tuner: The tuner may report a string out-of-tune immediately after plucking the string or after it has been ringing for a second. You want to tune the sound of the string after it has settled down from the plucking but before the decay has really got going.

last updated 1 year ago #