guitarists, do you use a tuner?

[Borogove]

I tune my bass once a year, whether it needs it or not.

You can always tune to a fluorescent light. I believe they buzz a perfect Bb.

I have been known to get a rough G from 50Hz mains hum though!

In the US, flourescent lights and wall current hum is 60Hz, right between Bb1 (58.270) and B1 (61.735).

In 50Hz countries, between G1 (49) and G#1 (51.9).

So there's this band, and one day the singer gets to the rehearsal space a little late and finds the guitarist chasing the drummer around with a mike stand, screaming dire threats. The singer pulls the guitarist aside and says "yo, what's going on here?" The guitarist replies "that little bastard detuned one of my strings and he won't tell me which one!"

[al2k1]

When I don't have my RP100 or Zoom 504 plugged in, I use a pitch pipe.

[Hink]

If I strum a chord and one note is out of tune I know it know which one it is and can tune a guitar when no one thinks you're tuning. I tune by the harmonic structure and ingretity of the chord(s) (major or minors, but I prefer minors).

Don't you find that tuning one chord perfectly can leave others sounding out? Although, I suppose if you change tunings between tracks that implies you use open tunings, so you are really tuning to a specific key each time..?

Although I don't play live much these days, I used to do my best to achieve equal tempered tuning so that any key was ok.. I stick to boring conventional tunings myself!

I guess you missed t (s) but different tunings are gonna have different attributes, for instance on opeb F in Am sounds super sweet, and it's quite easy and if you noticed above I said usually I tune strating with A or the tonic of the tuning. What I was saying in the second post (the I can understand the confusion) is that I can tune, or create a variance in a tuning, like changing between a minor and major tunig or a drop D on the fly (while playing) by using chords, but one chord no...that's why soon I'm getting a Transperformance.

But correct me if I'm wrong but same note tuning is not perfect for all chords either, in fact I have read and believe that perfect intonation on a guitar is impossible. I think that tuning with mutiple chords would be more accurate across the entire spectrum as opposed to notes all 5th fret or below depending on the tuning...

[ugo]

i use my old, trusty, korg DT-1 Pro rack tuner. if im feeling sloppy, i'll use the tuning in my pod. (less accurate.) if im feeling really sloppy, i'll go by ear...but i wouldnt want to record anything that way. my ear is ok...but the korg + my ear is *way* better.

and i'd certainly wouldnt even dream of intonating my basses and guitars without a good tuner. imho, thats not even an option.

-ugo

[ugo]

in fact I have read and believe that perfect intonation on a guitar is impossible.

probably true...apparently the buzz feiten (sp?) nut placement/tuning method can help a lot though. but its also up to the player too. if you have a tendency to grip chords too tightly, or if you tend to apply more pressure with your index finger than your pinky, your pitch will still varry a bit no matter what you do to improve the guitar.

-ugo

[kovacs]

The only way to get a truly correctly tuned guitar is to buy a fretless one.

[Hink]

in fact I have read and believe that perfect intonation on a guitar is impossible.

probably true...apparently the buzz feiten (sp?) nut placement/tuning method can help a lot though. but its also up to the player too. if you have a tendency to grip chords too tightly, or if you tend to apply more pressure with your index finger than your pinky, your pitch will still varry a bit no matter what you do to improve the guitar.

-ugo

indeed, jumbo frets imo are worse. However my next guitar (that I was gonna build by xmas) will have a scalloped neck. I figure it will be my solo guitar. I have the body and 4 or 5 floyd roses, a drwaer of pick ups (But I'll buy EMG'S) and plenty of hardware,
I just need the neck. A warmoth of course...

[Hink]

I made a funny typo

I tune strating with A or the tonic of the tuning.

strating... that's because my yahoo is stratman969...I always put startman

[EJo]

(removed)

[Hink]

BTW if you're gonna play Bob Dylan songs, dont bother intonating.

actually when it comes different tunings Dylan used many, alot of which were open tunings. Open strings hit hard especially on an accoustic will bever be in intonation. Even though tuning doesn't change the intonation of a fixed bridge the intonation can vary greatly due to the different positions of the chords in different tunings...

[EJo]

(removed)

[ugo]

indeed, jumbo frets imo are worse. However my next guitar (that I was gonna build by xmas) will have a scalloped neck.

yeah, you need a mighty light touch to play a scalloped fingerboard. but of course developing that light touch forces one to relax, improving speed, accuracy. a light, relaxed, touch like that will also help prevent repetitive stress issues.

i enjoy playing jumbo frets, but i've never been comfortable on a scalloped fingerboard. i feel like im playing on a tightrope.

i didnt enjoy scalloping for customers either. i thought it was a pain in the ass. i only did a couple of them though. a friend (and co-worker) of mine did a lot of them and he had a rather clever little trick for checking how even his scallops were. what he did was put a plain string clipping over the frets and then watch the shadow as he moved the string across the board. it helped him to do fantasticlly even and smooth scallops. he did everything by hand on those jobs too. no dremmel...just a file, sandpaper, a string clipping, and a bright light. the guy was an excellent luthier. well, actually he still is, but he's been out of the business for probably around 6 years or so now. (i've been out of it for around 2 years or so.)

-ugo

[604Rmx]

i usually prefer tuning by ear. the exception is for recording sessions i use the tuner in the computer to be sure i'm 'in'

[donkey tugger]

I did try using a tuner once, but it sounded even worse than when I did it by ear.

[hao nao]

I use a tuner for the bass E string, then tune up by intervals and ear from there

there they all stand, tuned up without a guitar player in sight