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Thread: Tune up. Old news? Swedish content.

  1. #1
    Forum Member mgade's Avatar
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    Tune up. Old news? Swedish content.

    I was surfing the net to find a description of how to move a saddle on my old Western guitar, that have never tuned properly. I recently made a bone saddle myself (the old one was worn out - the strings rattled like crazy because they had dug into the material). Still it didn't tune up well.

    I found this site in swedish with a long article on "Why don't it tune up" that gave a fantastic explanation on tempered scales, how it developed and how it is a compromise. Great read (in swedish) for scandinavians. Go find some in english, it is out there!

    There is another article on how to tune the guitar. "HA" I hear you thinking. But my old western never sounded better, and the tuner in my pocket studio have worked wonders on my electric guitars.

    This guys method goes:

    Stäm höga E-strängen och jämför den med:
    5:e bandet på H-strängen,
    9:e bandet på G-strängen,
    14:e bandet på D-strängen,
    7:e bandet på A-strängen (en oktav lägre)
    5:e bands flageolett på låga E-strängen


    In english that's:

    • Tune the high/thin E-string as a starting point.

    • Tune the B-string in the 5th fret to that open 1. string E

    • Tune the G-string in the 9th fret to that open 1. string E

    • The D-string goes to the same E in 14th fret

    • The A-string is down one octave to that open 1. string E
      in the 5th fret

    • The low E is tunet to that open 1. string E via an overtone over the 5. fret (on the low E of course)


    Then there's a method to fine tuning using just overtones, but watch out, because it is exactly the point of the tempered scale (that every guitars - according to this guy - is build for) THAT THE FRETS DOES NOT conform to the overtones, because the tempered scale is a compromise.

    That was new to me!

  2. #2
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: Tune up. Old news? Swedish content.

    one more reason with the buzz feiten tuning system is full of shit. i try to tell people that their guitar will never really be in tune, ever. what do i know, i'm just some dumbass guitar player that went to college and studied classical music...

    good point though man.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  3. #3
    Forum Member mgade's Avatar
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    Re: Tune up. Old news? Swedish content.

    Yeah, except as I got to think about it. "Back in the day" we tuned from an "A" - 5th string open. That or the 4th - seems like a good choice instead of the 1st, since the lighter strings get bend a lot and the 6th (the heayy "E") gets slammed the most from heavy downstrokes.

    It works either way, and provides peace of mind and a "tempered ear", as the sweede says :)

    Thanks for commenting! I was feeling like the dumbest dumbass!!

  4. #4
    Forum Member Skip's Avatar
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    Re: Tune up. Old news? Swedish content.

    hey the reality is that I cheat and use the electronic tuner...now is my guitar really in tune when I do that? Works for my not totally trained ear... although I do attempt to tune conventionally prior to succumbing to the electronic tuner just to see how my ear is coming along...
    Comments on electronic tuners?


  5. #5
    Forum Member mgade's Avatar
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    Re: Tune up. Old news? Swedish content.

    Yo Skip. As far as I can tell - yep, it is in tune. Electronic tuners are the sland I think. Even my troublesome western guit liked it, but it likes that manual method even better. Which is slightly wierd as far as I get the theory, because the "tempered" thing is in the half-step notes, that really are compromises. One thing I did wrong was to tune it so that an "root" E-chord sounded spot on. Then a barre E at the 5th fret (an A chord) would sound rotten. Then I fixed that and the root-E chord fell apart :-) So I figured the guitar was faluty ;-) It probably is not the best guitar in the world, but it is playable under this new tuning regime. So why the electronic tuner? You still need an E (or an A). (My other guitars that sound just fine all over the fretboard when tuned with the electronic tuner. But I'm still experimenting - had just one guirat with me on holiday)

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