Perfectly tune guitars, chords ring out 100% tuned?

[demirichris]

Ok so I'm currently in the midst of tracking guitars for a personal project I've put a ton of time into.

I'm noticing that big chord hits don't always seem to ring out 100% in pitch. This issue is magnified by the fact that I have complex VST orchestrations going on in the music that are obviously perfectly pitched.

I'm tuning after every take and my guitar was recently setup by a pro. Is it fairly common to have to tune to alot of the bigger chord hits? Is there any method to a more comprehensive way of tuning the guitar rather than just the open strings?

Also, when tracking once I get a part 100% in tune, would it make sense to just double right then rather than moving on with the song? So tracking the song with both left and right guitar part by part rather than finishing one guitar and going back to finish the other?

I'm really curious how you guys handle this issue and would love any input.

 

[Seth Munson]

If its really really bad and we are on a tight deadline, I will have the guitarist play each note and let it right for a while somewhere after the song and then "program" all the notes that are way out of tune.

 

[bryan_kilco]

About tracking a specific part of the song, doing both left/right tracks, right away.....I do that if I feel I'm warmed up to the riff and can nail it a second time. Or if I need a break from the riff I'll finish up left guitar first then go back for the right. Depends. On the tuning issue, I'd imagine layering a bunch of big chords would sound kind of wobbly, even if tuning the piss out of your guitar. Maybe you could tune each string one at a time, and layer the strings separately from each other? Seems like a pain but I'd be interested in hearing a comparison between that and just holding a chord.

 

[SocialNumb]

You can go all anal and tune each chord/note (held down, correctly, no bend) and "program" them like seth said. meh . . .

 

[egan.]

It's intonation, technique or chorusing with the vibrato/chorus on the orchestrations....or you're playing a gibson.
That said, in the case of intonation (gibsons) I've tuned the chord rather than open strings. Literally finger the chord and tune each note.

 

[demirichris]

I really appreciate the advise here guys. The guitar I am playing with is an american fender start.

It does have a floyd rose, however, it's not a floating floyd, you can only dive down and not up...so I figure that's probably not the issue.

I'm just curious how common this issue is...I really like the sound of perfectly tuned guitars ringing out. I guess it's just going to break down to 75% tuning and 25% tracking. Sounds like fun!!! YEAH!!

haha.

 

[paladin shredder]

Guitars are the most difficult instrument to get in tune.

First of all, I would make sure all the strings are stretched out well. New strings tend to go out of tune faster, because there may still be some slack in the tuning peg, even if it's ringing out perfectly in tune. Heavier gauges usually stay in tune better as well, but you'd need to adjust the action/intonation probably. If that fails, it may just be the guitar. See if you can borrow a friends guitar and compare how it plays.

 

[demirichris]

I've got a gibson standard les paul as well...and it's even worse. Are their any guitars out there that are known to have really really nice intonation down the neck?

 

[paladin shredder]

PRS, except for the SE series.

 

[26]

Is there any method to a more comprehensive way of tuning the guitar rather than just the open strings?

tune the intervals in a chord as good as possible (cleanest fourth you can get, for example). do the same to the next chord.
could be, you will have to sacrifice some for the important ones depending on theme and chord.

 

[Jordon]

PRS, except for the SE series.

I own 2 SE's (Mike Mushok Baritone and the SE One) and they stand up to my Custom 22 and 24 in terms of tuning stability and intonation.

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

It's intonation, technique or chorusing with the vibrato/chorus on the orchestrations....or you're playing a gibson.
That said, in the case of intonation (gibsons) I've tuned the chord rather than open strings. Literally finger the chord and tune each note.

thats what i do, unless i dont give a shit about the project, which thankfully is getting more and more rare these days.

 

[Vinny]

The easiest way is to probably tune the actual chord.
But I rarely do this, coz I like to have a little bit of movement in guitars.

 

[Trevoire520]

What guage of strings are you using and what tuning are you in?

 

[demirichris]

I really like the sound of a standard tuned guitar. So I am in E standard.

I am using 10 gauge strings as well.

 

[Trevoire520]

hmm, you shouldn't really be having problems with those. Unless you're maybe picking quite heavy? (I use 2mm picks and pick pretty hard so my lowest string is a .56 in drop d) In which case going up a guage might help.

 

[Ermz]

Hey Chris,

This is a hard one. The first thing you want to do is to check the intonation of your guitar, so that you know what your starting point actually is. Simply tune the open strings to be in tune, then chromatically go up the neck checking how much each fret deviates from perfect pitch. This can essentially tell you whether your best option is to intonate the guitar properly, or if the intonation is already good, start going down the path of tuning each chord. Consider perhaps detuning the low E somewhat if you like to strike the chords hard, because your initial whack will get them way out of tune.

Good luck to you, there is no envy here! Guitars are the most boring, mind-numbing instrument to track on a record by far. Your time can literally be broken up with 70% tuning and 30% performing, and that's not even considering how much time gets eaten up changing strings so often.

 

[John_C]

without crazy fretting systems, it's completely impossible to make a guitar properly in tune for a variety of different chords. FACT.

The only simple alternative is literally tuning to each chord, or taking a step back and realising music isn't about technical perfection

 

[guitarguru777]

Only way in the world you will get chords to ring 100% in tune!

http://www.truetemperament.com/site/index.php

 

[Vinny]

^^^^
I heard even that isn't perfectly intonated.