Tuning issues

Jerry Miller · Posted 24 Jun 2014 3:26 pm

Here is the issue, I have a strobo plus (but tuner does not matter here) I tune using one of the sweeteners in the unit and so does the rest of the band appropriate to their instrument, so we are all tuned up ,I have to play 3/4 up off the fret to be in tune with the band that weird enough but here is the clincher another steel player can play my guitar without tuning it at all just sit down and play ON THE FRET and be in tune I sit back down behind my guitar and have to play up off the fret to be in tune. This has been going on now for quite some time and its driving me bonkers. what is it is my ears doing something funny or what. any help is very much appreciated Sad

Marvin Born · From: Ohio, USA

Jerry,

Are you attending the steel jam Sat, June 28 ?

Marvin

Bud Angelotti · From: Larryville, NJ, USA

jerry - I'm taking a shot in the dark here, some other folks would be much more knowledgable about this but here goes.
The sweetend tuning is somehow throwing off your preception. Are any of the notes in your tuning straight up? Like the A's @ 440?
Did this start when you started using the sweetened tuning?
I see in your avatar you are playing a guitar. Do you tune that straight up? Do you have trouble with the guitar sounding in tune with the band?
Maybe you should try a different sweetened tuning.
There was a guy some years ago from our area here in jersey, i'm not gonna say who-doesn't matter, fantastic steel player, made me cry. he was awesome when I heard him play alone. Well I saw him with a band at one point and ... ouch. to MY ears his tuning was really bad. To MY ears, to MY perception, which is NOT the bottom line. Try a different tuning and see if it helps. I believe it's gotta sound good to you first, from your perception. Then if the band says you are outa tune, take it from there. Get a tuning that works for you.
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Jerry Miller · Posted 24 Jun 2014 6:53 pm

@Marvin ..Yes I plan on being there,,,@bud no I got the tuner to see if it would help and the 6 string guitar has no issues at all and I don't think I have any strings 4400 that I know of.I am going to try some different turnings funny thing is this has just happened in the last 3-4 years I have been playing 20 + years the rest of the band says I sound in tune when I play off the fret but then another player plays on the fret and they say he sounds in tune.

Niels Andrews · From: Salinas, California, USA

Sounds like a parallax in your eyes. Put a video camera directly over the keyboard and both play. That will tell you where the bar actually is.
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Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Not sure this has any bearing on the subject, but I use to tune to Jeff Newman's SE9 on my strobo-flip, and when playing with the band, I sounded all out of wack, even tried to play above fret a little to compensate. That's very hard to do BTW. But then I started tuning to Newman's older OE9 and everyone in the band sounded in tune, including me. The guitar player and bass player tune straight up 440. Go figure. Oh Well

terry

Bud Angelotti · From: Larryville, NJ, USA

Yeah, I really believe this whole tuning thing is all about how the individual percieves overtones. Everybody is different.
Parallax in eyes makes sense also.
Maybe it's time for an eye check-up.
I started wearing glasses regularly a few years ago and everthing looks "bent".
Also, if you wear glasses, the $10 for three pairs ones are not always so good.
Eat carrots & take care!
Bud
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Niels Andrews · From: Salinas, California, USA

Well there is no great mystery here. You have as I see it three choices. One the bar is not where you think it is, Two you are using a tremendous amount of bar pressure that is raising the pitch, or you have the ability to defy the laws of physics. Laughing

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b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

Is it in tune when the band plays in E and you play on open strings?
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Michael Hummel · From: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

As always, B0b gets right to the point!
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Jerry Miller · Posted 25 Jun 2014 9:24 am

Bob yes and no I tune the guitar so that it plays in tune on the fret but if I tune to any sweetner without modification no it is not in tune hence the bar going up 2/3 a fret thats the part that gets me basic tuning with tuner I play off the fret anybody else plays on the fret...I wonder if my ears are jacking me up?

Bob Hamilton · From: California Central Coast

Make sure the tranpose number on the tuner is the same for everyone.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I think your problem is mostly parallax error. In order for the bar to seem directly over a fret, your head has to be exactly lined up with the bar, and that doesn't happen very often with most players until their bar is about at the 15th fret. Oh Well

Bud Angelotti · From: Larryville, NJ, USA

I love a good mystery! Cool

Maybe your fretboard has shifted.
Is it glued down or screwed in ?
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Jerry Miller · Posted 25 Jun 2014 5:38 pm

Its glued 1987 Zum,,Thanks for all the reply's I am looking at all of them.

Jerry Roller · From: Van Buren, Arkansas USA

Jerry, maybe you have changed your seating position thru the years. I center my belly button at about the 13th fret. You might have someone spot check you while you are playing and have you hold your bar position and have that person sight the bar and fret from head-on front and see if you are on the fret.
Stay in touch Jerry, we have lost contact. We used to have some good times chatting. It seems we are all too busy to visit any more and that is not a good thing.
Jerry
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b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

Check the calibration on your tuner, and on the tuner that other band members are using. They should all be set to A=440 Hz.
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Willie Sims · From: PADUCAH, KY, USA

JERRY LOOK AT YOUR BAR HAND WHILE PLAYING AND KEEP A TINY BIT OF DISTANCE BETWEEN,THE BOTTOM OF THE BAR AND THE FRET,DEPENDING ON HOW YOU SIT BEHIND YOUR STEEL. WILLIE SIMS.

P.S ALSO HELPS TO KEEP YOUR BAR STRAIGHT ON THE FRET

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