Guitar Stuff » tuning

Not so Obvious Tips About Tuning a Guitar

Matt — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 23:55:22 +0000

Tuning is probably one of the most basic things you can learn about guitar. There is a lot of basic guitar theory that you can pick up in the process of learning to tune that can be essential down the line. For example one of the most important things you can learn is the notes of the strings in standard tuning. When reading guitar instructions quite often the writer will use phrases like “fret the A string on the 5th fret”. Once you have the string names memorized things like that will become natural.

At this point I could go ahead and write another set of instructions on how to tune a guitar, but there really is no point. There are so many resources out there which do just as good of a job if not better than I could. The tuning guide at WholeNote for example is a great set of instructions for the beginner.

Here are some quick points I would like to mention though:

A guitar can be tuned many different ways, but standard tuning refers to the most common configuration. This tuning starting from the low string to the high is E – A – D – G – B – E.

A string should always be tuned up to pitch. This means you should tune the string slightly lower than the note you want and then slowly tighten the string until it gets to the desired pitch. If you go beyond the pitch you wanted, turn the peg back below the note and tune back up again. Tuning this way will lower the chance of the string going out of tune as you play.

When you put new strings on a guitar you will have to tune it more often. As the strings get worn in and stretch a bit they will stay in tune better.

You want to make sure your guitar is always in tune when you are playing it, especially when you are learning. You want to do as much as you can to train your ear to the way the guitar should sound, and playing out of tune won’t help you there.

Once you get the hang of standard tuning play around with some alternate tunings, like dropped-d, open, or step down tuning.

If you are going to play with alternate tuning remember that your guitar is setup specifically for a specific tuning and gauge of strings. If you change the tuning of your guitar you may have to get it professionally setup, and in extreme cases you may cause damage to it. If you change the tuning and your strings become hard to play or start buzzing a lot, it’s probably a good idea to change back to standard tuning.

As I said above, the guitar tuning guide at WholeNote is a great resource. If that one doesn’t do it for you just do a simple Google search for guitar tuning and you’ll get a hundred other how-to’s.

String Master Robotic Guitar Tuner

Matt — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 13:00:31 +0000

There are many different guitar tuning tools out there ranging from chromatic tuners to self-tuning guitars. The String Master Robotic Guitar Tuner falls somewhere in between.

For the guitarist who doesn’t want to tune his guitar, but doesn’t want to buy a whole new bridge and nut system that’s required for a self-tuning guitar, the Robotic Tuner is here for you. The tuner acts the same way a standard chromatic tuner does, but comes with a tuning peg attachment that tightens your strings for you.

All you have to do is plug your guitar into the tuner, put the tuner over a tuning peg on your guitar. Then pluck the string and the tuner will do the rest. The tuner’s motor turns the tuning peg up to pitch and then will beep when it is in tune. The unit runs off of a 9-volt battery.

Getting my Les Paul Setup Part 3 (Finale)

Matt — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 14:23:48 +0000

So when I dropped my guitar off on Tuesday the tech said he would have it for me by the end of the week. I hadn’t heard anything (on my cell) on Friday and I was getting a little upset that I would be guitarless for the weekend. However, when I got home he had left a message on my answering machine. I ate dinner with my girlfriend and then we went to pick it up.

The repairs were $107.99 CAD + %7 taxes. This was a little bit steeper than I had expected. I didn’t think it was going to take him that long to do the repairs. However, it turns out that I really did a bad job installing the EMG pickups that I bought last Christmas (a year ago), so he had to reinstall them as well.

When I got the guitar home and plugged it in it all made sense and it was 200% worth it. I would have paid twice as much. I mean it sounds better than when I bought it new. I looked down the neck, and it’s perfectly straight. Now I can see what he saw when he looked at it for that half second when I took it in.

The strings stay in tune all the way up the fretboard. I checked by plucking each string open, and then plucking them while they were fretted on the 12th fret. The pitches sound the same. I can tell the bridge was adjusted because the high strings are lower and the base strings are a bit higher. Also the saddles have been moved. The pickups are working great as well. The tone is much clearer and I get less noise at high volumes. I think he set the height of the pickups as well because the sustain is about 100 times better.

I’m really happy I took it in. It was totally worth it and I’ll probably have it looked at once a year. The next time it won’t be expensive because my pickups are all setup mint now. It’ll be cheaper to have the bridge/intonation set if needed.

Getting my Les Paul Setup Part 2

Matt — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 15:23:24 +0000

I took my guitar into Guitar Works today for a setup. Here’s what I asked the tech to look at:

The Neck
Bridge height
Intonation
My Pickups

First off, I stared down the neck of my guitar for a good 5 minutes one day trying to tell if it was bowed and I couldn’t tell. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for though. When I took it into the shop the guy took all of 5 seconds looking at it to tell it was off. My girlfriend thinks he was playing on my ignorance to squeeze some money out of me, but he was obviously not short on business. So I don’t think that was the case.

I have Zakk Wylde EMG pickups in my guitar and I installed them myself. At the time I purchased them I didn’t have the funds to pay for them and have them installed professionally, so I did it myself. Now that I can afford it I have asked him to make sure I installed them properly. I have a feeling I didn’t do a very good job of installing them.

Finally, since I know the bridge adjustment went out when I installed my pickups, I have asked him to check the bridge height and set the intonation.

He told me he should have it done by the end of the week, so we’ll see how it goes.

Getting my Guitar Professionally Setup

Matt — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 00:22:34 +0000

I have been playing guitar for over 7 years now and I just bought my first guitar book. I have had tab books in the past, but never a book about guitars and how to play them.

The book has a section on guitar maintenance and repair which discusses topics like action and intonation. Although I have heard of these things before, when going through the steps to check them on my guitar I found it was a bit out. The book says some guitar shops will setup a guitar before it is sold, but if it is sold without being setup, the factory doesn’t always do a great job of it.

So I have decided to take my guitar in to have new strings put on, and have the intonation, bridge, and truss rod setup.

I’ll post back with how it goes.