Peterson E9th Settings

Randy Beavers · From: Lebanon,TN 37090

I've been asked from time to time to post the settings I have programmed into my Peterson tuner. I've never been happy with what I've had, so I always planned on touching up the tuning after using the tuner. Some times that's hard to do in a noisy and nervous situation.

Rather than basing the tuning around an E root note, I decided to base everything around A, since that is what a 440 hertz note is. Every piano I've ever checked in a studio is dead on A-440, and that's what it is I want to match. So that's where I started, then adjusted everything to match that. I only have the A and B pedals programmed, which is more than I had before. I would not want the 4th string raise on the C pedal to be programmed, because I would want it flat from the F#s on the 1st and 7th string. This way I have my basic open tuning, and the A and B pedals.

1. F# +5.0
2. D# -7.0
3. G# -7.0 A =0.0
4. E +4.0
5. B +5.8 C# -13.0
6. G# -7.0 A +0.0
7. F# +5.0
8. E +4.0
9. D +5.0
10. B +5.8 C# -13.0

That's what I have right now at this moment in time. (Humidity 82%, low tide, barometric pressure...)

It sounds sweet and right on with a freshly tuned piano, (to my ear.)

[This message was edited by Randy Beavers on 21 May 2006 at 06:28 AM.]

John McGann · From: Boston, Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

Thanks Randy, this is a timely post for me as I am doing a lot of tuning experimentation this weekend- in the safety of my home

What would your 4 and 8 raises and lowers (and other changes) be?

I know that you really dig into a lot of less-often used combinations on the E9 to get extended chords usually associated with the C6th, so I am really curious to see how you handle the tuning issues across the board. I know I am not alone in trying to get the pieces of the puzzle to fit, and it seems to remain a "dark art!"

The presets in the Peterson sound good to me for the bread-and-butter combinations, but not so good for other things.

I am thinking of leaving the "safety" of ET on the C6th tuning, but I have a fairly complicated setup and haven't found anything that works across the board.

(to other experienced tuners- yes I know 'it's all in the hands' and 'you can play either play in tune or not'. Thanks in advance!)
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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Rhythm Tuneup DVD and more...

[This message was edited by John McGann on 21 May 2006 at 06:15 AM.]

Charlie McDonald · From: out of the blue

Randy, your approach gets this piano tuner's endorsement.
"Gimme an A!"

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

Randy, I know that you use the D string as the root of a chord sometimes, but that D major triad looks like it would be out of tune. Do you use a compensator pull on your F# string? Or do the F# and D "drop" a lot closer to 0.0 with pedals down?

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Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6) My Blog

Randy Beavers · From: Lebanon,TN 37090

B0b,
Yes I do have a compensator that lowers the 7th string slightly, on the A pedal. I haven't checked to see just how much it is dropping, but I tune it against the 5th string when it's raised.

[This message was edited by Randy Beavers on 22 May 2006 at 07:25 PM.]

Rand Anderson · From: Cardiff, California, USA

Randy,

I really like your logic here. I used to tune my guitars using the old 440 phone tone trick. However, all the keyboard players I play with never take real(stringed) pianos on gigs with them, instead they take digitally sampled boards/modules.

My understanding is that some units are tuned a little sharp because of the math involved with modeling/sampling.

So, i went out to the studio and hooked my peterson to a bunch of different keys. Most of the vintage are tunable,but here it goes:

Roland XV2020 A=440 Digital Samples
*Rhodes MKII A=441 Tunable Tines
*Wurly ep200A A=438.5 Tunable
Motif A=441 Digital
*Yamaha Cp70 A=440 Tunable Strings
Hammond B3 A=440 Tone wheels
Clavinet D7 H=440 Tunable Strings

(the germans used h instead of a)

* = tempered

I have been using Jeff's offsets for the universal 12. Its a Push Pull but my intonation has never felt as on before in a band situation. Here they are for comparing:

F# +5.9
D# -3.9
G# -3.9
E +9.9
B +7.9 C# -5.9
G# -3.9 A +3.9
F# +5.9
E +9.9
B +7.9
G# -3.9
E +9.9
B +7.9

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

What's with all of these .9 numbers? Are you guys selling gas or something?

Morton Kellas · From: Chazy, NY, USA 1

Good one Bobby!

Bill Moore · From: Manchester, Michigan

Just as a reference point, here's Jeff Newman's numbers:

F# +6
D# -4
G# -4
E +10
B +8 C# -6
G# -4 A +4
F# +6
E +10
D +6
B +8

very close to the numbers that Rand came up with.

Rand Anderson · From: Cardiff, California, USA

actually bOb,

i am selling gas.......or a least biodiesel.
i have been starting up a biodiesel distribution company.
we buy it from American soybean farmers in the midwest and sell it to schools and trash truck fleets around here.

company is called Mountain BioFuel......
http://www.mountainbiofuel.com

we will be having an alternative fuel festival at our new ampitheatre soon, running on diesel generators, wind and solar.

btw/ jeff help me program my vs-II before he passed, the offsets maybe for the U12.

Gary Preston · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Randy this is strange because this is just about where i tune my guitars . Is this after you tuned by ear that you came up with this tuning to write down ? Just curious ,Gary .

Randy Beavers · From: Lebanon,TN 37090

Yes, I tuned it by ear keeping the "A" as the center of the tuning and then wrote down the tuning using the V-Sam tuner as my guide.

These presets may be somewhat flat for some because my guitar has very little cabinet drop. Tuning to A with the pedals down will compensate for it.

Tony Rankin · From: Land O’ Lakes, FL

Randy,

Since I am also playing a Zum Hybrid, I am curious about what you came up with for the fourth string raises and lowers. Have you measured those changes, after tuning by ear, while depressing the A pedal for the raise and B pedal for the lower? I would love to hear what you came up with.

Tony

Randy Beavers · From: Lebanon,TN 37090

Tony,
the 4th string lower should be the same as the 2nd string, and you can't have two Eb settings. As for the 4th string whole tone raise on the C pedal, there is already a F# setting for the 1st and 7th string. I set the 4th string whole tone raise flat from those. Once again, you can only have one F# setting. The F lever I just tune by ear.

John Lockney · From: New Market, Maryland, USA

When you mention that "you can not have two Eb settings" do you mean that the tuner does not have enough user-programmable memory banks to allow this or, would having two different values indicate that something is wrong with my chart ?

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

When you hit the Eb 2nd string vs the Eb lever on the 4th string, how would the tuner know which one you want? That's why there's only one Eb note programmed into the tuner.

John Lockney · From: New Market, Maryland, USA

Peterson Tech-Support told me that even the ultra-high-end piano tuners don't allow you to have multiple values for a note since it could not tell which one you were looking for.

I'm using bank "P1" for (aprox) strings 1-5 and bank "P2" for strings 6-10. Starting from the top, the second time I encounter a note I'll flip to P2. Its easy to flip back and forth and I don't have a C6 neck yet.

The new StroboFlip has 8 user-programmable memory banks, which is nice.

[This message was edited by John Lockney on 29 May 2006 at 01:35 PM.]

John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

I have the ‘ingenious~solution’ for finding varying pitches of ‘the same note’! Just break into your savings and purchase another tuner¡ Why not? You have at least (2)-Guitars, (2)-Amps. & (2)-of everything else! Why not (2)-Programable~Tuners? Dah!
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“Big John”
a.k.a. {Keoni Nui}
Current Equipment

[This message was edited by John Bechtel on 08 June 2006 at 10:08 PM.]

John Lockney · From: New Market, Maryland, USA

P.S. Thank you for sharing these settings Randy! I printed this thread for reference.

And, I rememberd that the answer to my last tuning inquiry was answered by Larry Bell with something along the lines of not getting too wrapped-up in one or two beats or cents.

[This message was edited by John Lockney on 06 June 2006 at 07:27 PM.]

Randy Beavers · From: Lebanon,TN 37090

I'm bringing this back out due to some inquiries.

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Here are the settings for my Franklin, with the new Strobe O Flip. I took the basic Jeff Newman chart (the original one referenced to "0") and then modified the settings so my guitar was in tune with itself.

T1(E9)
C -4
C# -14
D -2
D# -14
E +2
F -28
F# -2
G -4
G# -14
A -2
A# -4
B -2

[This message was edited by Jack Stoner on 09 August 2006 at 07:39 AM.]

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