Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In with Google

Become a Subscriber!

Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!

Read more...

How many people don't own or use a tuner?

What's Hot
124

Comments

  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31367
    Rocker said:
     The chances of two guitars being perfectly tuned was slight, three guitars virtually nil.
    This is a lot of the reason I used to play in power trios. Perfect tuning between one guitar and a bass is not nearly so important.

    We used to start all our gigs with me holding an A tuning fork over a pickup :)
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    ...me - for years... well that is, cos I only ever played along to LPs and they were always all over the place with tunings and mix speeds, so I winged it...

    But when I first started out I used to have an older wiser Bass playing mate that would come round each Monday night to tune my guitar for me. He started me off in open E which was great! but when he decided was time to step up to concert E I got a bit less bombastic.

    I bet then there could have been a few quid in being a mobile guitar tuner-upper...??!

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5fYpkmRYWBY/U0WYoL4mp3I/AAAAAAAAC3I/Gy2T0-CThio/s1600/DSC05786.JPG

    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
    __________________________________
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    Rocker said:
    So if you don't have an electronic tuner, get one. And use it every time you pick up a guitar to play.
    If you're not playing in public there's absolutely no reason to use one, in fact it's much better to learn to tell when the guitar is in tune by ear. If you use a tuner *every time you play*, you won't develop that necessary skill as easily.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 1reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31367
    ICBM said:
    Rocker said:
    So if you don't have an electronic tuner, get one. And use it every time you pick up a guitar to play.
    If you're not playing in public there's absolutely no reason to use one, in fact it's much better to learn to tell when the guitar is in tune by ear. If you use a tuner *every time you play*, you won't develop that necessary skill as easily.
    I'm not sure I agree with this.
    Obviously an ability to tune your guitar by ear is essential, but I also think that if you only ever play a perfectly tuned guitar your ears get used to it and can tell instantly when it's out.

    We electric guitar players are lucky in some ways in that string bending and vibrato requires excellent pitch sensitivity. We're not just painting by numbers like a pianist can, so we're naturally training ourselves while we're playing, just like a violinist or singer does.

    I'm constantly working on the subtleties of tiny increments of pitch in my playing, but still make myself wince fairly often!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    p90fool said:
    Obviously an ability to tune your guitar by ear is essential, but I also think that if you only ever play a perfectly tuned guitar your ears get used to it and can tell instantly when it's out.
    I've come across quite a few players who actually can't tell whether they're in tune or not without a tuner, because they always use one.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • GuitarseGuitarse Frets: 165
    edited August 2015
    A tuner will get your open strings in tune, then you have to tune the guitar to itself, so you cannot solely rely on them. Never understand why some people leave the tuner on the headstock whilst playing. It looks silly. To me, anyway.
    Never ever bloody anything, ever!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31367
    ICBM said:
    p90fool said:
    Obviously an ability to tune your guitar by ear is essential, but I also think that if you only ever play a perfectly tuned guitar your ears get used to it and can tell instantly when it's out.
    I've come across quite a few players who actually can't tell whether they're in tune or not without a tuner, because they always use one.
    I honestly doubt that the tuner is the reason. They may be just shit.
    :)

    2reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • SassafrasSassafras Frets: 30273
    I've known of people with very strange ideas of what's in tune.
    A friend had a shop that sold a few guitars, someone would come in, take a perfectly tuned guitar down and then retune it to their own mangled idea of in tune, rendering said guitar painfully out of tune. And I'm not talking of alternative tunings, I'm talking of not a clue tunings.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • slackerslacker Frets: 2216
    p90fool said:
    ICBM said:
    p90fool said:
    Obviously an ability to tune your guitar by ear is essential, but I also think that if you only ever play a perfectly tuned guitar your ears get used to it and can tell instantly when it's out.
    I've come across quite a few players who actually can't tell whether they're in tune or not without a tuner, because they always use one.
    I honestly doubt that the tuner is the reason. They may be just shit.
    :)


    That is an option. I've seen people use a tuner and then play sharp because they pull on  the strings.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ReverendReverend Frets: 4974
    I rarely use them at home but then fi d that over a month or so the tuning has drifted a half tone or so.
    Essential for live. Our bassist claimed he didn't need one as he said once he was in tune his bass didn't go out. He was wrong.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • jamesjames Frets: 50
    I tune by ear in the orchestra, but in my band or in big band, a tuner is a must. I use a little polytune that sits at the bottom of my music stand or on my small pedalboard. 

    We played a joint gig, orchestra and big band, on an outdoor stage last week. Before the orchestra finished, the bassist and I snuck on stage to do a final tune. With her amp turned off, she was trying to tune it by ear, about 2 metres away from the brass section.

    I was kind and passed my tuner over 
    :)
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • I couldn't go without one - I also can't be dealing with guitars that can't stay in tune. That will ruin it for me. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • I bought a Matrix tuner in the late eighties and recently bought another (from Amazon USA for $25) as a back up because, with the exception of the Boss tuner, there are few analogue tuners left. I much prefer a needle to flashing LEDs. 

    I can tell when a guitar is out of tune because I know from using a tuner what a tuned guitar should sound like. Tune by ear? Nope, can't do that, at least not with the accuracy of a tuner.

    image
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • MotorhateMotorhate Frets: 238
    I must admit, over the years I've not gone to gigs or rehearsals without one for months on end. Now I've invested in a pedal and a hand held Korg. There really isn't any excuse, they're so cheap.
    Guitars: ESP Viper | BC Rich Mockingbird Pro X | Jackson RR5 | Washburn Custom shop Idol | Schecter C1 Stealth | Schecter Blackjack AX-7 | Washburn “Billy Club” Idol | Washburn “Nick Catanese” Idol - Amps: Peavey 5150 60w Combo | Peavey 6505 120w head | Peavey JSX 120w head | Blackstar HT-1 Combo

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Jack_Jack_ Frets: 3175
    Now you just need a forum tuner for ironing out those bumps.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • VoxmanVoxman Frets: 4718
    ICBM said:
    Philly_Q said:

    I can't really see why anyone who plays live would not have a tuner. 

    It's not as if they're hugely expensive or some kind of massive inconvenience.  Stick one on your pedalboard, if you don't have a pedalboard get one of those clip-on things.  Insisting on not having one just seems like Luddism.

    It depends what you mean by 'playing live'. If I do an open mic I prefer not to use a tuner. I find it more irritating watching someone staring at a tuner for twenty or thirty seconds while no sound comes out than it is to hear a quick check of the guitar by ear, which is much more useful to let people know why you haven't started yet :).
    The tuners built into my Vox gear let you tune with or without sound - best of both worlds.  I'm sure there are lots of other tuners out there that do the same.  
    I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • VoxmanVoxman Frets: 4718
    edited January 2017
    Duplicate post (caused by Board slowdown)
    I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Guitar - Amp - tuner the three essentials.  Always told students the biggest one off improvement you can make to your playing is buy a tuner.

    i play in a band with a singer who know knocks out a few few power chords in a few of the songs.  He hadnt got a tuner - it drove me and the rest of the band mad - so we bought him one - result band and musical harmony. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    Guitar - Amp - tuner the three essentials.  Always told students the biggest one off improvement you can make to your playing is buy a tuner.

    i play in a band with a singer who know knocks out a few few power chords in a few of the songs.  He hadnt got a tuner - it drove me and the rest of the band mad - so we bought him one - result band and musical harmony. 
    That's true - but getting a tuner is only half (or a third) of the story… you also have to know how to string and tune a guitar properly so it *stays* in tune, and how to play it so it *sounds* in tune even when the open strings actually are. I've been in bands with people who managed the tuner bit but not one (or both) of the other two, and it still sounded horrendous :).

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBM said:
    Guitar - Amp - tuner the three essentials.  Always told students the biggest one off improvement you can make to your playing is buy a tuner.

    i play in a band with a singer who know knocks out a few few power chords in a few of the songs.  He hadnt got a tuner - it drove me and the rest of the band mad - so we bought him one - result band and musical harmony. 
    That's true - but getting a tuner is only half (or a third) of the story… you also have to know how to string and tune a guitar properly so it *stays* in tune, and how to play it so it *sounds* in tune even when the open strings actually are. I've been in bands with people who managed the tuner bit but not one (or both) of the other two, and it still sounded horrendous :).
    I would agree with that! 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.