Sweetened tuning setting?

[Deeve]

I initially thought about posting @ Acoustic Heaven, but there's no reason I can think to exclude people who plug in.

The tuner app Pitch Lite was my absolute favorite. When the free version went away, I was willing to Pay to get it back.
Now - wth are these alternatives to equal temperament? See screen captures below.
Any suggestions?

Peace - Deeve

 

[String Tree]

I initially thought about posting @ Acoustic Heaven, but there's no reason I can think to exclude people who plug in.

The tuner app Pitch Lite was my absolute favorite. When the free version went away, I was willing to Pay to get it back.
Now - wth are these alternatives to equal temperament? See screen captures below.
Any suggestions?

Peace - Deeve
View attachment 1094315View attachment 1094316View attachment 1094317View attachment 1094318

Stick with the Bagpipe Tuning.

 

[haggardfan1]

I've been told I should alter my temperament, because sometimes I have a meantone.

I just use Guitar Tuna. I like the app name, and it's easy enough for idiots such as I. Fender has a decent tuner app too.

 

[0SubSeanik0]

I just use Guitar Tuna

Yes, I've heard that one is great for scales.

 

[RomanS]

I prefer GString...

 

[JohnnyThul]

Most of the tunings listed are meant for piano/cembalo and maybe even clavichord in 2 cases.
No harm in trying them for guitar.and see, if that works out for you. But I guess a "standard" tuner might be easier. Or something like the Peterson tuner sweetened settings.

 

[kplamann]

Equal temperament divides the octave into twelve equal steps on a logarithmic frequency scale. What we perceive as "just" harmonics, however, are frequency relations which may be expressed as ratios between whole numbers: 1:2, 2:3 etc. Pythagoras was one of the first to realise the latter, motivated also by philosophic considerations. Those scales are quite different; in particular the major third of the "natural" harmonics is quite a bit lower than that of the equal temperament. This is why for dobros or lapsteels one tunes the major third string slightly flat.

The historical temperaments propose a number of quite convincing compromises with respect to this problem. However, they only make sense on keyboard instruments where one note corresponds to one key.

For guitar there are a couple of "sweetened" compromise tunings which partly address this problem, but also take into account a couple of guitar-related phenomena. For example, a strongly picked string initially produces a sharper tone than a softly picked one.

For acoustic guitar, the James Taylor tuning is particularly convincing. I have that programmed in my Peterson strobe tuner (no affiliation). They also propose a number of sweetened tunings for electric guitar and various other instruments.

 

[Deeve]

Most of the tunings listed are meant for piano/cembalo and maybe even clavichord in 2 cases.
No harm in trying them for guitar.and see, if that works out for you. But I guess a "standard" tuner might be easier. Or something like the Peterson tuner sweetened settings.

While I appreciate the puns, this is useful.
Thank you.

 

[Deeve]

Equal temperament divides the octave into twelve equal steps on a logarithmic frequency scale. What we perceive as "just" harmonics, however, are frequency relations which may be expressed as ratios between whole numbers: 1:2, 2:3 etc. Pythagoras was one of the first to realise the latter, motivated also by philosophic considerations. Those scales are quite different; in particular the major third of the "natural" harmonics is quite a bit lower than that of the equal temperament. This is why for dobros or lapsteels one tunes the major third string slightly flat.

The historical temperaments propose a number of quite convincing compromises with respect to this problem. However, they only make sense on keyboard instruments where one note corresponds to one key.

For guitar there are a couple of "sweetened" compromise tunings which partly address this problem, but also take into account a couple of guitar-related phenomena. For example, a strongly picked string initially produces a sharper tone than a softly picked one.

For acoustic guitar, the James Taylor tuning is particularly convincing. I have that programmed in my Peterson strobe tuner (no affiliation). They also propose a number of sweetened tunings for electric guitar and various other instruments.

Thx for concise stmt on the "compromise" involved w/ guitar tuning.
And the reminder about JT's method - That may be the next direction I wander.
Any Down-sides to the JT tuning?
Peace - Deeve

 

[kplamann]

You are welcome!

I do not know of any downsides of the James Taylor tuning. It has always worked very well for me. It detunes the strings as far as -12 cent (for the lower E-String), which takes care of the lower strings being sharp when plucked strongly. Most chords sound, well, sweeter.

Also, the tuning makes the guitar very tolerant for capos. Reportedly, he developed the tuning during his earlier singer-songwriter solo performances. He uses capos a lot and he could not afford to retune after every song.

Have fun!

 

[memorex]

All these different tuning methods matter on keyboard instruments where every note is played on a different tone generator. But a guitar only has six strings on which to play all the notes, so the accuracy of the 12th and 19th fret harmonics has a much larger effect on how in-tune your guitar sounds than the tuning of the open strings. And the harmonics of guitar strings begin going flat from moment you put on new strings until they've been stretched beyond their ability to stretch any more. And capos mess up any semblance of intonation relative to the open strings.

For that reason, I seldom change strings (like every 18-24 months) unless I break one, and I don't mess with the intonation of my bridge saddles until the new strings have been on for at least a month. Then, the digital tuner in my multifx pedal gets the guitar close enough that nobody in the band complains about my intonation.

 

[0SubSeanik0]

While I appreciate the puns, this is useful.
Thank you.

Same, btw (I'm not just here for the puns). I just bought a little clip-on Pederson tuner (via gift card) and noticed that besides the standard chromatic tuner, it has a ton of "sweetened" presets for different instruments. I saw that unlike other tuners' presets, there is more to it than setting the instrument so the device is just listening for certain strings.

My brief investigation into this has only yielded marketing speak and (possibly uninformed) opinion from other forums... so, I'm happy to learn more about this here! Thanks!

 

[Deeve]

Same, btw (I'm not just here for the puns). I just bought a little clip-on Pederson tuner (via gift card) and noticed that besides the standard chromatic tuner, it has a ton of "sweetened" presets for different instruments. I saw that unlike other tuners' presets, there is more to it than setting the instrument so the device is just listening for certain strings.

My brief investigation into this has only yielded marketing speak and (possibly uninformed) opinion from other forums... so, I'm happy to learn more about this here! Thanks!

WHAT?
Products are promoted w/ buzzwords and limited functionality???
I am SHOCKED!

 

[slauson slim]

Jerry Donahue on tele intonatio:

Jerry Donahue On Telecaster-Style Bridge Intonation - Seymour Duncan

We asked "Bendmaster of the Telecaster" Jerry Donahue to share some of his secrets for setting up a Telecaster bridge and keeping it properly intonated.

www.seymourduncan.com