Tune a fish...?

Kuroyama · January 25th, 2009, 09:34 PM

How many people out there can practice, and or play live without using a tuner? If you do use a tuner, which do you use and why?

Me, Ive got a couple of clip on tuners. Nothing like keeping your eyes on the peghead instead of looking up and down!

I also have a tuner/metronome but dont use this much since I got the drum machine.

There was a big trend in Japan last year, whenever you went to a guitar shop *In the Tokyo area* and asked to try a guitar, the clerk would tap out some harmonics and spend 10 minutes tuning the guitar by ear before handing it to the customer. Ive taken to walking away and just coming back. Instead of watching their antics. Whats worse is that Id slap a clip on tuner and find the guitar wasnt in tune... Still Id like to be able to tune by ear. Ive just never seen it done accurately. Close, but still off.

adaptable · January 25th, 2009, 09:57 PM

I can tune a guitar if I have a basis note (usually A or E). For a perfomance, I usually use a Korg Chromatic Tuner/metronome, a PodXT live built in tuner, or one of the vibration based headstock tuners on my acoustics.

I learned a tuning method that tunes the guitar to Es and Bs throughout the neck so that the guitar is in tune more towards the center of it's range by using a 7th position E bar chord and stretching the pinky to get the 12th fret on the B and E Strings.

Open chords are a bad way to tune a guitar unless all you are playing are open chords because some many guitars have nut/intonation issues....B-strings are notorious for this.

autodane · January 25th, 2009, 11:46 PM

I've developed perfect pitch on natural notes, and I can tune at home (on stage is very different, unless I play solo (acoustic)), but that's after years of painful struggle... but besides an electronic tuner, I've found the best way is tuning the 5th fret harmonic to the 7th below it (except g-b, 4th to 5th)

bobthecanadian · January 26th, 2009, 12:56 AM

I'm lazy and almost always use a tuner. I can tune by ear but I like the accuracy and quickness of a tuner.

Bruster · January 26th, 2009, 03:30 AM

I didn't have a tuner until I was well into my twenties, but started playing at 13. So it was E from the piano then the rest by ear. Was probably terrible in the beginning, but I know I was pretty close. i suppose it's good for your ear to train to be accurate. But honestly, to be accurate you have to be somewhere quiet. I use a Korg chromatic pedal tuner. It's the best HK$400 I've ever spent.

hendrixfan · January 26th, 2009, 03:45 AM

yeah i can tune from ear,i learnt using pitch pipes first then just by ear,

Offshore Angler · January 26th, 2009, 07:55 AM

I use a tuner with a mute onstage. Nothing is a set killer more than tuning by ear.

Shades of Blue · January 26th, 2009, 08:35 AM

I use one of the vibration tuners that attaches to the headstock.

I play with a guy that has been playing guitar for 35 years. He plays by ear and can tune a guitar by ear. The problem with that is, he can tune his guitar and it sound great by itself, but when he starts to play with the rest of us who used a tuner, he is generally a touch flat or sharp across the board.

So, even though his guitar sounds in tune, he is really way off as a whole.

nars1l · January 26th, 2009, 08:58 AM

I can tune a piano.. but I can't tuna fish... :D

I grew up from the age of 4 playing and tuning by ear, so it comes pretty naturally to me. However, I'm that guy Shades is talking about (not quite literally) - I'm great at being in tune with myself, not so good at being in tune with the rest of the band.

Speaking of tuners, anyone know anything about the pulse tuner that uses LEDs? I'll most likely eventually get one with a set of strings from MF, and I'm wondering what to expect...

Diamond Jim · January 26th, 2009, 10:18 AM

At home, I tune by ear. That's the way I learned starting out. There were no electronic tuners, unless you count the Magnus organ my folks had. When playing with other people, I use a cheap Korg tuner or have the keyboard player hit an e or a and tune to it.

When I played with a bluegrass band years ago, we'd all tune to a Peterson Strobe tuner before our set and then wing it onstage. If only I had a dollar for every time one of us said, "that's close enough for 'grass!"

Jim

aznrambo481 · January 26th, 2009, 05:52 PM

Tune by ear at home, tune with a tuner outside. Same as a lot of people, I reckon.

Strat-Man-Do · January 30th, 2009, 05:42 AM

I like to get my Strats set-up where they can actually hold a Tuning with moderate Trem use.

But from here I have a PT-100 Fender pedal-board Tuner which basically helps me correct a flat note. Most of the time I can hear the string go out of Tune and fix it quickly without even looking at a Tuner.

But as for a guideline to begin with I believe they are great. I played for years without a tuner. And bsically tuned by ear on the low E or whatever tuning I was using, and then tuned the guitar to itself.

But playing without a Tuner is sort of like sleeping without a pillow. Do you need it?.....NO. But does it make things more comfortable? For Sure.