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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Guitars and accessories → tuners & pitch pipes
hello,
not to boast but i see myself as a pretty gd player buy now but i really struggle to tune my guitars by ear,
i recently bought myself a pitch pipe and when i tune my guitars to the pipe it sounds awfull! could the pipe be off???
if i was to buy a tuner what do the chordi comune advise, (i have a classical guitar)
thankyou once again
Tom
Hi Tom,
You are not alone in your frustration with tuning. The best of the best pretty much ALL use tuners. Not neccesarily because they can't properly tune their guitar but instead to make sure that those playing together are accurate with each other. I prefer digital tuners, something similar to this;
http://www.music123.com/Ibanez-LU10-Dig … 7.Music123
The one I have(Korg) I've had for over 20 years.
Peace and Guitars,
SouthPaw41L
I second that...use a tuner. I've also had mine for over 20 years. Tuning by ear for me is very difficult. Like Southpaw says above, if you don't start with a "known good" all six (or twelve if you have the misfortune of tuning a 12 string!) will be off.
The trouble with pitch pipes is they try use a wind sound to tune a stringed instrument. It's still tricky even when using recordings of guitars at correct pitch since their tone varies.
Electronic tuners come in two basic varieties. Plug in tuners that need you to have an electric or electro-acoustic and contact tuners that clip on to the headstock. Both work pretty well.
All ears do get better at pitch over the years, also you get to know the tension strings need to be close to the right note and tune from there. If you are in a band choose one tuner to use on all instruments. If you have a tricky instrument like a Hammond organ then tune to that.
I go nowhere without my electronic tuner. I have a Boss TU-12H, A very accurate and reliable
tuner. Had it for years, never let me down. As for twelve strings, just restrung my Guild the
other day. Not to bad, really. 'Bout 15 min to 20 min to restring and tune. Sounds sweet!!!
getfiddle
Are those tuners that clip onto the headstock really accurate ? They must register according the Vibrations they pick up, or are they sound activated ? i'm a little leery about them. I use a KORG w/ built in mic or you can plug the guitar into it. It seems to be accurate with my keyboard, and I've had it for about 10 yrs. Only changed battery once !
Hi Tom,
You are not alone in your frustration with tuning. The best of the best pretty much ALL use tuners. Not neccesarily because they can't properly tune their guitar but instead to make sure that those playing together are accurate with each other. I prefer digital tuners, something similar to this;http://www.music123.com/Ibanez-LU10-Dig … 7.Music123
The one I have(Korg) I've had for over 20 years.
Peace and Guitars,
SouthPaw41L
I'm going with the Korg tuners as well, but for another reason. Unlike Toney, I can't keep 'em around for 20 days, let alone 20 years, and they are really cheap. 
Dude get yourself an electronic tuner. They're relatively cheap, more accurate, and a faster way to tune up. There are many different models out there, but you should be able to pick up a good one for between $15 and 40, depending on the features you need.
I have several tuners, the one I use the most, clips on to the headstock, It's great for noisy places, as it doesn't rely on a mic for tuning.
brill, thanks again everyone
tom
Are those tuners that clip onto the headstock really accurate ? They must register according the Vibrations they pick up, or are they sound activated ? i'm a little leery about them. I use a KORG w/ built in mic or you can plug the guitar into it. It seems to be accurate with my keyboard, and I've had it for about 10 yrs. Only changed battery once !
I use a Seiko tuner for my mandolins...it clips onto the headstock and senses the vibrations... it works really well in a noisy environment...it also has a microphone mode. I've checked it with my other tuners and it works very accurately... often when tuning in the vibrate mode I'll be sure to pick the note and keep my hand off of the headstock and neck to let it vibrate freely...
I just bought an "intellitouch tuner" that clips onto the top of the fret board of my acoustic guitar. I was trying to learn how to tune by ear using an "A" tuning fork, but, it's hard for me to grasp. So using the tuner has been a good thing for me. I find it pretty accurate and by using it in conjunction with practicing with the tuning fork, I hope to do better with tuning by ear eventually.
i used a pitch pipe for thirty years i would ony use it for the e-string and do the rest by ear it took a lot of patience
i recently bought a electronic tuner its a (seiko sat 100)
i had to get them to show me how to work it i think it great
it has a needle that shows if yor flat or sharp and when you get it right a green light comes on it also seems to know what string your trying to tune mine was about 25 dollars
and it well worth the money jerry
rodeo-gypsies@shaw.ca
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Guitars and accessories → tuners & pitch pipes
