how to properly tune a guitar?

[Fragle]

i wonder what's the common studio technique of tuning a guitar? as we all know, even when using thick strings there will be a more or less slight difference between the pitch of the attack and of the sustained note. i wonder whether studio pros tell the guitar players to tune the attack to the desired pitch, or the sustained note.
also, should one tune the open string or the 12th fret harmonic? the harmonic tends to be more continuous (sp?), but then again there's still the attack vs. sustain issue.
one last question: normally it's very difficult to properly tune the G and B strings. i often notice that the tuner (i'm using a boss tu-2) says the B string is in tune, but my ears tell me it's slightly flat. i don't know whether high quality studio tuners don't have this issue, but in general, should i trust my ears, or the tuner?
btw, obviously the guitar needs to be properly intonated, but let's just assume it is.

 

[Matt Crooks]

i wonder what's the common studio technique of tuning a guitar? as we all know, even when using thick strings there will be a more or less slight difference between the pitch of the attack and of the sustained note. i wonder whether studio pros tell the guitar players to tune the attack to the desired pitch, or the sustained note.

I think it depends on the song, if it's a lot of 16th note double picking, then tune the attack, if it's sustained chords tune the sustained.

also, should one tune the open string or the 12th fret harmonic? the harmonic tends to be more continuous (sp?), but then again there's still the attack vs. sustain issue.

I always tune the open note.

one last question: normally it's very difficult to properly tune the G and B strings. i often notice that the tuner (i'm using a boss tu-2) says the B string is in tune, but my ears tell me it's slightly flat. i don't know whether high quality studio tuners don't have this issue, but in general, should i trust my ears, or the tuner?

Get rid of the TU-2. It's fine for quick tuning on stage, but it's not accurate enough for studio work. I did an album with one and the guitars are not in tune with each other very well, and the guitarists tuned between *every* take. I got a strobostomp, and have had no issues. Just to confirm my suspicion, I tuned a guitar with the TU-2 then plugged into the strobo... the strobo said the guitar was out, even though the TU-2 said it was in.

 

[Mendel]

wow strobostomp !! sounds cool adn look cool !

anyway, don't they use those expensive rack tuners in the studio 's ? where you got this big line from left to right ?

 

[AdamWathan]

From what I have heard most people are using those Peterson Strobe tuners for recording nowadays, supposed to be a lot more accurate then a regular rack tuner.

 

[Kazrog]

Check out StroboSoft. I've heard good things about it:

http://www.strobosoft.com/

I will be getting this soon and will post my thoughts on it.

 

[SPLASTiK]

I've used some old Conn Strobe Tuners. They work quite well and can usually be found cheap on ebay.

Here's a pretty interesting article on tuning

 

[Matt Crooks]

wow strobostomp !! sounds cool adn look cool !

anyway, don't they use those expensive rack tuners in the studio 's ? where you got this big line from left to right ?

I have a couple of those too. The strobo is more accurate, although the rack tuners are better than the TU-2.

Edit: the strobo costs about the same as the rack tuners, which I don't think is really that expensive.

 

[Fragle]

thanks so far.
i should have added that i'm using the TU-2 for live the thing is, i did a lot of ear training and therefore my ears became a whole lot better. moreover, i started to pick more heavily ( i used to barely touch the strings) as it definitely helps with achieving a thicker rhythm tone. now, as a result, i often pick the string once, maybe twice, and tune the sustain to pitch, doing that for all strings, and when i hit a chord afterwards (e.g. E powerchord) it sometimes sounds slightly off. same thing goes for the (high btw ) B string, it often is slightly flat IMHO. kinda sucks live when you can't double check by ear without blasting full volume through the PA - after all that's why i bought a stompbox tuner that has a mute built in !

 

[The ORIGINAL South Of Heaven]

If any of you guys have had experience with a Peterson tuner, would you recommend it for a live rack setup? They look pretty durable, but does anybody know if they can stand up to a mobile guitar rig?

 

[Andy Sneap]

I really didn't get on with the old peterson tuners, almost too fussy.
I've just got an old Korg one that I'm use to, then I usually drop the lowest string by a few cent so it doesn't go too sharp. Especially with the bass. As far as the old G and B strings, especially with inversions, I sometimes end up tuning to the chord. Anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning thing out yet?http://www.buzzfeiten.com/

 

[J.DavisNJ]

I use the Strobostomp and it's very nice and useful indeed. I've also heard great things about the Buzz Feiten system and Earvana nuts.

-Joe

 

[Lopes]

I've got a couple of the Earvana nuts and they are very cool, those open chords are actually in tune and the install is very easy to do.

As for tuning, I usually get one string in tune (typically the A) and tune the rest by ear to chords.

 

[Matt Crooks]

Anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning thing out yet?http://www.buzzfeiten.com/

Yes, I recorded a guitar with the Feiten system. It sounded much more in tune with itself. It was noticeable in open position chords and 3rd chords. However, it didn't work well with the other guitar that was recorded, because it was not a Feiten guitar. So when mixing the two guitars it sounded more out of tune than just a pair of regular guitars.

 

[Muttley]

Check out StroboSoft. I've heard good things about it:

http://www.strobosoft.com/

I will be getting this soon and will post my thoughts on it.

/me shakes fist

Damn you Kazrog, you've made me go and buy something I'd never even thought of looking at until today.

First impressions are pretty damn good. I'll post a better review later in the week.

/me wanders off muttering something about "...drunk in charge of a credit card..."

Muttley

 

[NK]

I really didn't get on with the old peterson tuners, almost too fussy.
I've just got an old Korg one that I'm use to, then I usually drop the lowest string by a few cent so it doesn't go too sharp. Especially with the bass. As far as the old G and B strings, especially with inversions, I sometimes end up tuning to the chord. Anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning thing out yet?http://www.buzzfeiten.com/

Yeah I agree with that. The new Peterson ones (LCD strobe method) are great though. More accurate than the old strobes, instant warmup (those old ones needed a few mins to settle down (better to just leave them powered on of course). I think the new ones are 3 times more accurate than the old strobes. Nice.

Happy New Year Andy! Good luck in 2006.

Neil K.

 

[sah5150]

I really didn't get on with the old peterson tuners, almost too fussy.
I've just got an old Korg one that I'm use to, then I usually drop the lowest string by a few cent so it doesn't go too sharp. Especially with the bass. As far as the old G and B strings, especially with inversions, I sometimes end up tuning to the chord. Anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning thing out yet?http://www.buzzfeiten.com/

I have a Suhr that is set up for the Buzz Feiten tuning system and I can say that it does what it says it does. I notice a big difference in the accuracy of the tuning throughout the neck.

Steve

 

[ytrehalf]

I really didn't get on with the old peterson tuners, almost too fussy.
I've just got an old Korg one that I'm use to, then I usually drop the lowest string by a few cent so it doesn't go too sharp. Especially with the bass. As far as the old G and B strings, especially with inversions, I sometimes end up tuning to the chord. Anyone tried the Buzz Feiten tuning thing out yet?http://www.buzzfeiten.com/

I've owned guitars done by Steven Marchione with his version of the Buzz Feiten tuning system. It's an improvement, for sure, from my experience.

I mess around with things like you mention with the low strings. If I'm recording something where I'm hitting the strings hard, I'll tune so that the strings are in tune when they're hit hard. Heavier strings work better for this kind of playing. On the other hand, sometimes the sound of the low string warbling sharp during an aggressive section of a song can sound powerful.

I tune to the chord sometimes too if the song calls for it. The untempered sound can be great if the song stays around the same tonal center.

I've been playing guitar and bass overdubs over rap beats a lot lately, and they're never tuned to concert pitch, so that means tuning by ear to the sample, bass line, keyboard part, etc. Sometimes those parts are out of tune with themselves in a way that's not noticable until you try to record another part. In that case, sometimes I try to tune in a way that splits the difference, but that rarely works well. Most of the time I end up tuning the samples and keyboards for the "producer" before I even pick up a guitar or bass.

For soloing, I think just tuning strictly to a tuner works best.

I've also found that it's good practice to use the same tuner for every performer/instrument on a recording because different tuners can be slightly out of tune with each other, even digital tuners.

Great forum.

 

[Skyweaver]

I buy the software off the site, not the delux, just the standard....hmm very impressive.

I then spent hours trying to get the floyd rose to stop sinking down into the recessed area...

*sighs* - Does anyone have a recommendation for a decent tremlo system ?

Something that one string doesnt throw the others out ?

I've tired the Low E - High E, High B, Low A, Middle G, Middle D order of tuning, string stretching, well wround on the machine head etc and its still a nightmare...its an old 80's guitar, that I've had since 83 - I'm hoping theres been some improvements in tremlos since then.

 

[Andy Sneap]

oh forgot to mention, one gtr, one tuner per session. Start mixing gtrs and 9 times out of 10 you're in for a tuning nightmare.

 

[Andy Sneap]

oh, and one guitarist lol