Members FretFiend. Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 I picked up the guitar tonight, and it sounded a little sour... it needed tuning pretty bad... which is a little unusual unless it's been sitting for several days, which it hadn't. Sooo, I tuned on it a bit using the old 5th/4th fret comparison routine, which usually works for me. Got all the strings to jive. The guitar still sounded a little sour though. Sooo, I got out the trusty Snark, which never fails. Got all the strings showing dead nuts on key. The guitar still sounded a little sour. Sooo, I resorted to the "play a chord and tune the string that sounds sour" method, which I sometimes call the "shot in the dark" method, which almost never works for me. After about five minutes of tuning and cussing, I actually got it sounding pretty good. (but this never jives with a tuner or other tuning indicator.) Sooo, I put the Snark back on it, to check my work, expecting it to show every string off some... but every string was dead nuts in tune... just like it showed before when it didn't sound in tune. Yeah, I probably need some new strings, but it's still weird. I can't say this is the first time this has happened, but damned if I can figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pitar Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Nothing wrong. Time for a tune up is all. Seriously. Loose the strings and spend a penny on another set. I change mine every 3 weeks. Tuners can show dead nuts and still be fractions off either way. The one you have is the tin ear model everyone raves about, incidentally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Samilyn Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 That happens to me too, sometimes, though more often with the 12-er than the 6-er. That's when I just have to hand the git to hubby and say "please." He tweaks it for me and all is well. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Seorie Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoacoustics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acousticdepot Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 I find that the snark can sometimes only get me close. And in addition to using the 5/4 fret comparison, also check every other string. Like high E third fret with the G string, and B string third fret with the D string, etc ... The other thing that will drive you crazy if a string sticks in it's slot in the nut. You have everything in tune, and then while playing, the string works it way through a little more sending the guitar out of tune again. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opa John Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Sounds like it's time for a string change to me. Look who's talking though.......I change mine twice a year whether it needs it or not! (BTW, FF......it's "jibe", not "jive") I was hanging out at my local M&P shop (The Bluegrass Shop in Columbus) yesterday afternoon. An elderly lady walked in with a blue Snark tuner that she'd bought Friday last week. The whole head of it had popped off. The man behind the counter looked at it and said, "Yep. I see that a lot!" (And he's the one who sold it to her). Her jaw dropped a couple of inches for a moment or two, then the man gave her a new one and took the old one back. She was all happy then. In fact, she was so happy she bought a new hardshell case for her 1965 B-25 Gibson. Nice guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sangemon Posted February 8, 2012 Members Share Posted February 8, 2012 You can also use the 5th and 7th fret harmonics...or you do this: Tune your A string to pitch.Tune D string, 7th fret, to the A string's harmonic (12th fret).Tune G string, 2nd fret, to the A string's harmonic.Tune B string, 3rd fret, to the D string's harmonic.Tune high and low E strings, 5th fret, to the A string's harmonic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guildfire Posted February 8, 2012 Members Share Posted February 8, 2012 I use a tuner but yeah sometimes it doesn't sound quite right, so I "tweak" it by ear until it sound good. Simple huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickjes Posted February 8, 2012 Members Share Posted February 8, 2012 I find sometimes...especially when the weather is crappy raining etc...(low pressure) no matter what I do it never sounds right...those are the days I just put it away....try again the next day or so..all good....I think weather conditions can affect our hearing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members masterbuilt Posted February 8, 2012 Members Share Posted February 8, 2012 Chalk it up to "standard deviation" and possibly time to change the battery in the Snark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.