Newbie tuning?

[peachcowboy]

OK, I know the best way to tune is by ear, to train your ear. But what about before it is trained? What is the best tuner to work with acoustic guitars. Piezo, mic, or just mp3 the low E for reference? I bought a Crafter clip on, but cant get it green. It just goes back and forth to the extreme.

[g/re/p]

I have been using a Fender LX-12 Chromatic Tuner for the last ten or so years, and it has never let me down yet.

 

https://www.theguitarfiles.com/product_id-728.html

 

 

[jandrew]

For tuning in a quiet environment, I always use my A-440 tuning fork for a
reference tone and work from there.



For tuning with background noise (living room party, campfire and such),
I'll pull out the Planet Waves S.O.S strobe tuner.



cheers,
andrew

[DeepEnd]

I use a Wittner GT-2, which is similar to the Fender g/re/p recommended except that it has a dial with a real needle. However, my guess is that you're mostly having trouble with the low E string. If so, don't worry; it happens to lots of us. My solution is to play the 5th fret harmonic and tune it as if it were the high E.

[djuna]

I stink at tuning by ear, so I use a Korg chromatic tuner--I can't remember the model number but they're all over ebay for cheap.
Is your guitar not staying in tune, or is it hard to get it there? You could be having trouble with the tuners themselves if you can't quite seem to make small adjustments

[kwakatak]

It may not be the tuning method you're using but something mechanically wrong with the guitar. Could your strings be binding up in the nut slots? Would you consider the tuning machines to be high-quality or do they tend to "slip?" Environmental conditions and transitions between one type of environment to another might also be a factor; going from a properly-humidified case to a dry room with a different temperature is sometimes enough to knock a sensitive guitar out of tune.

[CanIBDom]

I love the Intellitouch. I have the cheaper model, and it works great on all of my acoustics and electrics. There's a more expensive one with a backlight, but the plain one works perfectly for me.

[larry50]

[Brokepick]

I've not seen a Crafter clip-on, but I have an Intelli IMT500 clip-on, and I love it.

 

Before you give up on the Crafter, here's a few variables that will affect your success with it.

 

Where it's clipped on the headstock, and what parts of the clip are in contact with the guitar can make a surprising difference. Try it in a few different places, and try clipping it at greater or lesser depths.

 

Try to damp all the strings but the one you are checking. Striking one string can cause others to vibrate too.

 

Try striking the string at different points-- like over the sound hole, or maybe up around the 12th-14th fret.

 

Also, you might need to silence all the strings, and give the tuner a few moments to clear itself before you strike a string again.

 

Experiment a little, note what works better and what doesn't. Good luck

[peachcowboy]

Thanks to all. The Crafter is similar to the Intelli shown. I can't get it to get to the green light in the center and stay. The arrows go all the way up, or all the way down. The tuners on this guitar, Yamaha AES1500 are the Yamaha brand, enclosed, 15 to 1. I just put new strings on it, so I guess they could be settling in and stretching. This is an older guitar, and I wanted to learn to restring and tune it before I do My LL16. Still in honeymoon with that one. I am going with the earlier rec's and got D'Addario's (sp?) mediums

[TESmith]

http://www.fretstore.com/detail.aspx?ID=966 Does all you need!

[Opa John]

http://www.fretstore.com/detail.aspx?ID=966 Does all you need!

Mine is exactly like this one, but it's the Tune Tech TT-500....same thing with a different brand on it. Does all I need a tuner to do. About $18, plus S&H at Amazon.com......$25-$30 locally.

[bigald18]

I use a Yamaha YT-250 Chromatic Tuner. I can't even hear let alone tune by ear! Meters do the trick for me.

BigAl