Guitar & Musician Forums

this might surprise a few people
http://timberens.com/essays/tuning.htm

Hey polyal,

Yes, very interesting material.

Also, do you know what the "Warp Refraction Principle" is?
Most guitar players don't!

It actually pertains to the tuning of the B and G strings...how it
is offset. What's cool about 6 string guitar is that it's tuned in 4ths,
except G & B strings, which are a 3rd apart. I'm sure you know
that though

Also, here's another interesting tuning thing:
The F note, on the 6th string 1st fret can be used to
tune to a dial tone...don't do it though lol!

Oh, one more interesting thing about tuning...sorry if
I'm rambling lol. There used to be a 900 # to call
to get an A440 to tune your guitar. There was a small charge
for the service. Not like today with all the gadgets and things
we can use to tune our guitars.

Maybe I should go check my guitar tuning now!!

thanks for the info.. but i'm sticking to convention and a tuner at the moment...ive spent more
time tuning my guitar than i have playing it...you can also tune your G (approx)to any appliance buzzing
on the mains ( UK 50Hz mains ) G=49Hz...i used to have an electric razor which buzzed at 50Hz and used
it as a starting point to tune a new set of strings....that was before tuners though...just after the discovery
of electricity lol (but not to loud)
warp refraction ( why is it called warp refraction? )
[youtube]/watch?v=lfINdsQP6Gg[/youtube]

I can never get my guitar perfect the Floyd Rose trem bridge just wont tune right, apparently it is well known for this.

don't know the exact reason why its called warped refraction principle, but i know it has something to do with physics/science.

James...about the floyd rose, you're definitely right. you could put a block type of thing in the bridge area to keep it from moving (but then no floyd!)

also guys...how about the gibson robot??

In the U.S., standard telephone dial tone is A 440 Hz.

polyal wrote:why is it called warp refraction?

I checked out the youtube vid. I must say, with a name like warp refraction I was expecting some amazing thing that I had never heard of before! Bit of a disappointment!

i think every git player has used ' warp refraction ' as the very first way to tune a guitar....
now... why aren't all the strings separated by 4ths..wouldn't the theory and general learning
of the instrument be a lot easier for a beginner????...who decided on warp refraction

blimey all the times ive used warped refraction an never new it

this is off the piano tuning site
'A professional tuner will tune the upper octaves increasingly sharp and lower octaves increasingly flat. This is known as stretching the octaves, and produces well temperament, a sound more pleasing to the ear than tuning to pure equal temperament, which would ideally follow a pure mathematical progression'

have you ever noticed the initial attack of a git string is always slightly sharp...esp
the bass strings....so a piano has the same probs!

when im gigging and a bit p♪ssed with fag ash all over my machine heads and a semi naked nympho
wobbling in front of me i must admit warped refractions tend go get pushed to one side

polyal wrote:when im gigging and a bit p♪ssed with fag ash all over my machine heads and a semi naked nympho
wobbling in front of me i must admit warped refractions tend go get pushed to one side

jamesd74 wrote:I can never get my guitar perfect the Floyd Rose trem bridge just wont tune right, apparently it is well known for this.

what procedure do you go through when tuning?

polyal wrote:

jamesd74 wrote:I can never get my guitar perfect the Floyd Rose trem bridge just wont tune right, apparently it is well known for this.

what procedure do you go through when tuning?

I loosen looking nuts, set fine tuners to about the middle, tune with pegs which still doesn't get it right. Lock nuts the attempt to fine tune always starting with bottom E.

the procedure sounds about right...when you say ' still doesn't get it right ' what do you mean?
is your intonation and action set correctly?
are you using a good tuning device ie boss etc

dont forget as you tune each string it will pull the floyd forward ( if tuning higher )so flattening the other strings ( pitch wise ) so repeat the process with each fine tuner in turn..this might take 3 or 4 passes

clean the bridge pivots and add a drop of light oil

Where do put the oil?????

at the point where the bridge sits on the 2 posts ( the fulcrum of the bridge rocking action )
if you move the whammy bar you want the bridge to return to its original pos...this is prob a bit
overkill but it wont hurt

polyal wrote:when you say ' still doesn't get it right ' what do you mean?
is your intonation and action set correctly?
are you using a good tuning device ie boss etc

could you explain what you mean

polyal wrote:at the point where the bridge sits on the 2 posts ( the fulcrum of the bridge rocking action )
if you move the whammy bar you want the bridge to return to its original pos...this is prob a bit
overkill but it wont hurt

polyal wrote:when you say ' still doesn't get it right ' what do you mean?
is your intonation and action set correctly?
are you using a good tuning device ie boss etc

could you explain what you mean

clean the bridge pivots and add a drop of light oil

With all the quotes i'm getting a bit lost

can you post an update

clean the bridge pivots and add a drop of light oil

I don't know what these are please help.

the bridge is resting on them ...one by the 1st saddle...and one by the sixth saddle...
an allen screw assy ...it also adjusts the height of the floyd

i would still like to know what

jamesd74 wrote:just wont tune right

refers to..because any
guitar should be able to be tuned initially.... ie each open string tuned to the correct pitch

The way I turn a guitar turns heads. I havent seen anyone else do it. I'll use the following to illustrate.

<> - Natural Harmonic (i.e. <> 6,12 means play the Natural Harmonic at 6th string 12th fret)
X,Y where X is string and Y is the fret (i.e. 2,1 means 2nd string, 1st fret)
---> means "compare pitch to, and tune that string to match the <>".

Here we go!

<>6,12 ---> 5,7
<>6,12 ---> 4,2
<>5,12 ---> 4,7
<>5,12 ---> 3,2
<>4,12 ---> 3,7
<>4,12 ---> 2,3
<>3,12 ---> 2,8
<>3,12 ---> 1,3
<>2,12 ---> 1,7

This puts it in very close temperament tuning with itself, especially if your reasonably sure your E is good.

Instructor

wow that is beyond me.

I'll give you an example. Basically you are matching the fretted notes to the natural Harmonic.

So I'd pluck and let ring the 12th fret natural harmonic....

then I'd fret the 7th fret of the 5th string and play it, it's also an E, and with the Harmonic ringing, it would be tuned to match as a perfect unison with the Harmonic. Then I'd do the same thing, and this time Pluck the 12th fret Harmonic, but go fret the 4th string 2nd fret, which is *also* E, and tune that to match the 12th fret harmonic.

Thus

<>6,12 ---> 5,7
<>6,12 ---> 4,2

Does that help explain it better? Like I said I know no one else that does this, its just one of the things I worked out years ago, and have used it ever since. I don't know where I came up with it, as most things I come up with. I like to think of it as "tripping over something that was there all along".

About 10 years ago I published it as a white paper over the internet but I dont know what if any exposure that actually had.

Instructor