Tuning question:

[chet]

If I came to you with a detuned guitar or bass would you be able to tune it to concert pitch by ear?

Or what kind of electronic tuner do you use?

[SixStringSlinger]

Pfft. Please. Korg is my friend. I could tune it relatively (Low E 5th fret = open A, etc.), but that's all.

[Steve G]

No.

[Steve G]

Thats perfect pitch isnt it?

[Pete Galati]

I could tune it with a pitch pipe. You know, the things we used to use before electronic tuners?

Actually, when I string up a guitar, I first tune it with the tuning wav's at the top of TDPRI. I downloaded and saved those. And I'm usually pretty close when I take it to my Boss tuner.

I'm going to try replacing those TDPRI tuner wav's with notes generated on my sinegen program. At least one of them have a really long pause between notes, and a constant sine wave might work better. Might not though.

Pete

[chet]

I bought one of those old pitch pipes a few years ago. I checked it against an electronic tuner I have and it was way, way off.

I use an electronic tuner and check my tuning every night before playing.

[Tdot]

LX-12

[blue metalflake]

I can get it near enough right by ear somehow, but need my friend Mr Boss to get it dead OK.

Just think - years back we used to tune to a piano, or organ, or something, even sometimes a set of pitch pipes. Then along came the electronics & spoilt it all!

[Daddydex]

Here is a cool online tuner:

http://www.gieson.com/Library/projects/utilities/tuner/

[neocaster]

That would be perfect pitch, but I've gotten close with improving relative pitch. (requires knowing the pitch of some external reference, such as a note in another song, or another instrument that you've arbitrarily agreed was "in tune") The only problem with close is as more instruments come in, they can be varying degrees of close, to either side of dead on. Gets to sounding like anarchy pretty quickly. I use a boss, drop flat, then tune up to the note. I've yet to tune perfectly without a tuner by anything but accident.

[Oskar]

For years I used a tuning fork that was in A. Once I had that the rest came pretty easy. Got to admit, electronic tuners are much better.

[BritishBluesBoy]

Yes. Or pretty darned close anyway.

[kennl]

If you handed me MY guitar, I could get within a few cents. I can get within a quarter tone just by feeling the string tension. If you play a song, I can improvise a line with the first note being key-correct 90% of the time. But if you ask me to SING an "A", it's just not the same point of reference, and I couldn't do it. Is that relative pitch?
Ken

[markothefish]

I can tune my guitar without my tuner as long as my high E is tuned ... But it's much more accurate to use my Boss TU15 , especially when I use open tunings ...

[bender-freak]

i can get really, really close by ear, but as already said....electronic tuner to really nail it down

[Pete Galati]

Originally Posted by chet

I bought one of those old pitch pipes a few years ago. I checked it against an electronic tuner I have and it was way, way off.

I use an electronic tuner and check my tuning every night before playing.

The ones I had were about 1/4 step sharp. Which made me in tune with a lot of my vinyl as I recall. But my Boss tuner's in tune with most of my CDs.

I see Boss has something newer by now. I got mine years ago, and it's still working. Mine's a TU12H, which they still seem to make. The store I got it at's long gone by now.

Pete

[jjkurtz]

I can't do it.

The guy I took group lessons from at the University of Memphis could put his chin on the guitar body, pluck a string and tune it by what he said was the vibration on his inner ear. Apparently, he went to an ear, nose and throat doctor who helped him "train" for the draft's hearing test back in the '60s by teaching how to identify different pitch vibrations by the way they felt to his inner ear. He didn't completely escape being drafted but didn't have to go to Viet Nam either so I guess it helped. I thought it was a cool story either way.

[TeleBrew]

Originally Posted by markothefish

I can tune my guitar without my tuner as long as my high E is tuned ... But it's much more accurate to use my Boss TU15 , especially when I use open tunings ...

I use that tuner too. I love the beeps!

I have a pretty good ear and can come close without a tuner. I'm usually a little low.

[Big Mike Simpson]

For some reason I can get the D (4th) pretty close and then tune all the other strings to it.

Probably from using open G and D tunings.

But when playing with others or a gig I always use a tuner. In a backhanded sort of way a tuner teaches you what the correct note is to listen for.

[Sarge]

I still have my old Korg...money well spent. I'm sure after all these years that I could get in somewhat close to tuned. Now and then I'll tune by ear then check it with the Korg.

[Telemaniac]

I think the expression used to be "good enough for blues" . . . nowadays I just use a Boss TU2, although I do try to tune new strings by ear to start with.

[marquis de jonny]

for most of us, being able to tune to a note in our heads is not perfect pitch, it's having a good sense of relative pitch. perfect pitch is very rare and just comes naturally, good relative pitch is learned.

i trained myself to "hear" A. every time i walked past a piano at school i'd hit the A below middle C and then sing it. i don't practice it anymore, but i'm still pretty close (i tend to be a little flat).

it's a fun thing to learn and a nifty party trick. or something.

oh, imo i think that electronic tuners are the worst way to go if you want to improve your relative pitch. they're quite the crutch. that said, i'd never go to a gig without one.

[moonshiner]

I can usually do Eb or F by ear.. but never E.. so, I guess that's no for me..

I use a TU-2 or a TU-12..

[chet]

I used to bring a guitar to work at a job I had in the '70s. One day I was coming in and a young lady started singing something. I can't remember why she sang but she was right on pitch without any instrument to work off of.

[chet]

Originally Posted by marquis de jonny

for most of us, being able to tune to a note in our heads is not perfect pitch, it's having a good sense of relative pitch. perfect pitch is very rare and just comes naturally, good relative pitch is learned.

i trained myself to "hear" A. every time i walked past a piano at school i'd hit the A below middle C and then sing it. i don't practice it anymore, but i'm still pretty close (i tend to be a little flat).

it's a fun thing to learn and a nifty party trick. or something.

oh, imo i think that electronic tuners are the worst way to go if you want to improve your relative pitch. they're quite the crutch. that said, i'd never go to a gig without one.

Go to any Guitar Center and check to see if the guys wanking away are in tune and I'll bet that most of them aren't. Most of the guitars/basses hanging on the walls aren't in tune either.

[hekawi]

Originally Posted by Tdot

LX-12

ditto for me

[Daddydex]

After playing for 35 years I can honestly say I am getting better. But, sadly no.

Being out of tune only drives me nuts in the open position. I think I have become good at compensating when playing above that.

Dan