Tuning Guitars

[emerica167852]

For some reason, no matter how hard i try i just cant seem to get my guitar in perfect tune when i record. Also when i record multiple guitars and bass, they all clash in the mix and its really annoying.

What are some methods for tuning guitars after recording??? I have melodyne and autotune. Melodyne works for bass, but i cant seem to get it to work polyphonically for guitars.

 

[Zack Uidl]

are you tuning in between every take you do?

is it a crap guitar?

is the intonation on the guitar setup?

 

[shred101]

I never autotune guitars and never have problems. First thing check that you're really in tune. A lot of guitar tuners need you to wait until the note starts to decay to get a better reading of the note so let the note you're tuning ring until the tuner stops reading it. Tune to the decay rather than the attack.
Second thing, check your intonation by checking the tuning of notes fretted at the 12th fret. If a note comes out sharp compared to the open string, you have to move the bridge saddle for that string back. If it comes out flat, you have to move it forwards.
Make sure you're not putting too much pressure on when you fret and that you're using the right guage for your tuning. Flappy ass strings cause problems.
If its not staying in tune then stretch the strings properly. Especially after tuning. Give em a gentle tug and then tune. Repeat until it holds its tuning.

 

[emerica167852]

i gotta Epiphone SG, its not the best guitar but i have tuning problems on every guitar i play pretty much. I restring and intonate and all that stuff all the time and im tuning with a boss tu 2 tuner. It could possibly be my playing... one thing i noticed is that im a very heavy player, and when i hit notes and chords softer and smoother, they tend to be intune more. is that a cause you think?

Btw, i using not even slinky gauge 12- 56 in drop d anywhere to drop c. I dont get too much slack.

 

[Ol'Dirty Bastard]

Your playing will definitely affect the tuning.
With heavier picking things tend to sound sharp, I find I often try to compensate for this and end up flat in chordy passages.
Tune in between every take and in between every chord, tune to the chord/notes you will be playing for that segment.

 

[shred101]

12- 56 in drop d

Shit dude how is your neck not fucked? I mean tuning a 0.12 set to E or Drop D is not very much fun in my experience.
Id possibly consider trying a different guage first. But Not Even Slinkys suck IMHO. Whatever genius put an unwound G string in that set is a moron.
The heaviness of strings in combination with the tuning may be affecting your technique. Dont just go for the heaviest shit in the shop. Choose something that suits you. Look up on the internet for reccomended guages for specific tunings and start from there. I use Daddario XL 0.52 -11 for D standard. When I played in E and Eb standard I was using 10-46 and 11-48 sets.
Work on your picking. This is the studio not the stage and windmills just dont make the grade here! Picking to me is all about efficiency and hitting the note in the optimum way with the least possible effort. You might gain a lot by simply making a conscious effort to whittle down your picking hand motions while maintaining power.

 

[emerica167852]

Shit dude how is your neck not fucked? I mean tuning a 0.12 set to E or Drop D is not very much fun in my experience.
Id possibly consider trying a different guage first. But Not Even Slinkys suck IMHO. Whatever genius put an unwound G string in that set is a moron.
The heaviness of strings in combination with the tuning may be affecting your technique. Dont just go for the heaviest shit in the shop. Choose something that suits you. Look up on the internet for reccomended guages for specific tunings and start from there. I use Daddario XL 0.52 -11 for D standard. When I played in E and Eb standard I was using 10-46 and 11-48 sets.
Work on your picking. This is the studio not the stage and windmills just dont make the grade here! Picking to me is all about efficiency and hitting the note in the optimum way with the least possible effort. You might gain a lot by simply making a conscious effort to whittle down your picking hand motions while maintaining power.

Ive tried soo many stings. And i like not evens the best. Beefy slinkys are alright too (11-54). My guitar is mainly in drop d flat or drop c. Sometimes ill go up to drop d or lower, to drop b, but not too often. I used to use power slinkys, but in drop c or lower they just dont cut it. I play a lot of bass, and use to be mainly a bass player, so i tend to like thicker strings.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Could very well be your playing. Do you accidentally bend the strings a bit with your chord hand when picking hard? It's easy not to notice it, but it will sound out of tune. Try pressing the strings down with as little force as necessary while still picking as hard as you normally do and see if it makes a difference. I have a bad habit of really pushing the strings down too hard when I'm picking harder, but thankfully I decided not to become a rock star

 

[emerica167852]

alright, so i figure i could use some work on my playing in order to help stay in tune. But nothing is perfectly intune. While once i improve, that may be enough. Outa curiosity, what ways are there to tune polyphonic guitars. I know a lot of producers tune guitars in order to make them perfect.

 

[emerica167852]

Could very well be your playing. Do you accidentally bend the strings a bit with your chord hand when picking hard? It's easy not to notice it, but it will sound out of tune. Try pressing the strings down with as little force as necessary while still picking as hard as you normally do and see if it makes a difference. I have a bad habit of really pushing the strings down too hard when I'm picking harder, but thankfully I decided not to become a rock star

Yeah, i use to have a really bad habit of bending the strings when pressing down on it. I have gotten better, but not great. Im sure thats the cause of a lot, even though i still get out of tune when doing open d chords in drop tunings.

 

[dmmi]

XJumbo frets will cause tuning problems when depressing frets too hard.....you HAVE to change your gauge when making drastic tuning changes....drop C is ok for that gauge, but don't even try drop D....I'd even shy away from drop Db. The theory here is to pick the gauge of strings that will more or lees keep the same tension on the neck at different tunings.....if you stick with this your tuning problems will be eliminated in time as your neck gets used to correct and constant tension.

(Note....I play guitar and I picked up a bass.....I'm used to thinner strings, but that doesn't mean I can put super light strings on the bass...same theory)

 

[emerica167852]

(Note....I play guitar and I picked up a bass.....I'm used to thinner strings, but that doesn't mean I can put super light strings on the bass...same theory)

yeah i know, its not always true. But for me, i feel that playing bass and getting used to thicker strings has caused me to like thicker strings on guitar.

 

[shred101]

The theory here is to pick the gauge of strings that will more or lees keep the same tension on the neck at different tunings.....

+1

Seriously, I shit you not, some kid from the college I did music theory grades at used Not Even Slinkys on his epiphone to tune to standard. His neck was fucked after a few months.

Its worth adapting your preference in this area if only for the sake of the guitar.

 

[emerica167852]

ive been using not evens or beefys on my guitar for a year and the neck is still in great shape.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

There's nothing wrong with high tension strings, that's what the truss rod is for :Spin: Jazz guitarists regularly use 13's in E-standard, and as for tension balancing, I honestly prefer ascending tension from the high string to low (current set in D-standard is .0095-.014-.019-.030-.042-.056, for example)

And as to the topic at hand, the main things that can cause tuning difficulties along the neck are intonation, too-loose string tension (causing the notes to go sharp when you play them), or pressing too hard/bending the string slightly when you fret; I know you mention that none of those are issues, but I can't think of anything else honestly! (though also, it's important to realize that a guitar can never be 100% in tune for every spot on the neck, just the nature of the beast)

 

[Ol'Dirty Bastard]

I dont think many AEs rely on melodyne for tuning guitars after takes etc (Would love some input from some of the more seasoned veterans on here on this though).
You can easily achieve good results by tuning each chord etc as your tracking, this way mild intonation issues with the guitar itself are not as apparent.
I guess this goes back to the whole "tracking one note at a time" subject (which is touchy around here haha) but again its the easiest and most reliable way to have your tracks in tune (Again would really appreciate input from the likes of Jval, Joey etc on this! haha).

 

[jval]

Thick strings is a huge help. Kinda silly that people are saying 56 is too big for drop d. I wouldn't use anything less.
I've used autotune on gtrs before for single note riffs when frustration levels are high... But it just comes down to patience and tuning all the time!
Playing technique is has a huge part as well - both hands. And when sometimes the tuner just doesn't work (weird chords / intonation issues), you just gotta use your ear and adjust accordingly.

 

[JeffTD]

There's nothing wrong with high tension strings, that's what the truss rod is for :Spin:

+1 - WTF are half of you on about??? SRV used 13's in Eb and his necks were fine.

 

[mva801]

+1 - WTF are half of you on about??? SRV used 13's in Eb and his necks were fine.

That's the exact thought I had. I send every guitar player I record to the best guitar tech I know. 95% of them have no idea how to set up their shit properly. If your guitar is set up correctly, you shouldn't have to tune in between every single 5 second take. Oh and in the studio I use only strobe tuners like this: http://www.petersontuners.com/index.cfm?category=92

All the rest is up to your technique.

 

[Harry Hughes]

XJumbo frets will cause tuning problems when depressing frets too hard.

You have to have SERIOUSLY BAD technique to be doing that though.
You have to press down so fucking hard to actually do that.
I've played scalloped fretboards and never had that problem at all