| Author |
Topic: Does anyone tune using a tuning fork? |
Adam Kavanaugh
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
|
Posted 1 Sep 2015 3:09 pm |
|
| Does anyone tune their steels using a tuning fork? |
|
|
 |
Brian Evans
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
|
Posted 2 Sep 2015 3:45 am
|
|
I used to tune with a tuning fork, still have one, but now I use a pretty good clip on tuner. It's hard to get the intervals correct when you just start from A-440, particularly after I found that intermediate harmonics are actually out of tune. For me it's now one of those things that you can do, but why would you if something better and easier is available for almost free?
Brian |
|
|
|
John Dahms
From:
Perkasie, Pennsylvania, USA
|
Posted 2 Sep 2015 6:19 am
|
|
For many years all I used was an A440 fork but there are better ways available now. We used to churn our own butter and crank cars to get them to start but those too have gone by the wayside. Some improvements are improvements.
_________________
Time flies like an eagle
Fruit flies like a banana. |
|
|
|
Bill Sinclair
From:
Waynesboro, PA, USA
|
Posted 2 Sep 2015 6:58 am
|
|
I sometimes use the ball on the end of a tuning fork to burnish the reed slots on my harmonicas. Not so much for tuning anymore though.  |
|
|
|
Joe Breeden
From:
Virginia, USA
|
Posted 2 Sep 2015 9:24 am
|
|
I carry a flint and steel to light my cigars.  |
|
|
|
Fred Justice
From:
Mesa, Arizona
|
Posted 2 Sep 2015 9:34 am
|
|
Danny Sneed here in Arizona still uses one.
_________________
Email: azpedalman@gmail.com
Phone: 480-235-8797 |
|
|
|
Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
|
Posted 2 Sep 2015 9:46 am
|
|
Tune my steels to an "A" tuning fork most of the time. On occasions I also use a Strobo Plus HD, or a high-res frequency counter...  |
|
|
|
Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
|
Posted 2 Sep 2015 12:45 pm Got a question for ya............
|
|
WHAT do YOU do if you're all tuned up properly and the band climbs up on stage and they've all tuned to some OTHER tuning source?
THEN What????????????
Please enlighten me........ The band always used to tune to the steel as I had three neck and later on four necks. |
|
|
|
Jack Aldrich
From:
Washington, USA
|
Posted 2 Sep 2015 5:57 pm Re: Got a question for ya............
|
|
| Ray Montee wrote: |
WHAT do YOU do if you're all tuned up properly and the band climbs up on stage and they've all tuned to some OTHER tuning source?
THEN What????????????
Please enlighten me........ The band always used to tune to the steel as I had three neck and later on four necks. |
when I was playing full time out of Eugene in the 80's, the lead guitar and fiddler got into an argument about who was in tune. It turned out that the guitarist had bumped a button on his tuner and had tuned to 460 Hz.
_________________
Jack Aldrich
Carter & ShoBud D10's
D8 & T8 Stringmaster
Rickenbacher B6
3 Resonator guitars
Asher Alan Akaka Special SN 6
Canopus D8 |
|
|
|
Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
|
Posted 3 Sep 2015 2:24 am Re: Got a question for ya............
|
|
| Ray Montee wrote: |
| WHAT do YOU do if you're all tuned up properly and the band climbs up on stage and they've all tuned to some OTHER tuning source? |
Haven't been in that situation for ages, but since I have the advantage of a "movable fret" I simply played off-fret and in tune with the others when that happened. Only have to avoid open position for that to work just fine.
Plenty of the recorded music I use to practice along with is slightly "off tune" with my well-tuned steels anyway, so playing off-fret in order to be in tune with others has never been much of a problem - as long as my steels are in perfect tune with themselves. |
|
|
|
Stefan Robertson
From:
Hertfordshire, UK
|
Posted 3 Sep 2015 4:33 am
|
|
The more common scenario is tuning to some other musician in the band.
Which I never do again because our instrument has its own tempered tuning and pitch.
So I stick with my tuner on my multi effects pedal. Enables me to tune in between songs or also while performing.
Tuning forks are really old school. I expect that steel players who did that still used the back of a knife or some odd shape steel object to slide. 
That was nearly 100 years ago. 
_________________
Stefan
Bill Hatcher custom 12 string Lap Steel Guitar
E13#9/F secrets: https://thelapsteelguitarist.wordpress.com
"Give it up for The Lap Steel Guitarist" |
|
|
|
Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
|
Posted 3 Sep 2015 4:54 am
|
|
| Stefan Robertson wrote: |
Tuning forks are really old school. I expect that steel players who did that still used the back of a knife or some odd shape steel object to slide.
That was nearly 100 years ago. |
...and I'm in my early 60s, and prefer Zirc bars
I have used high-res frequency counters from back in the late -70s, as electronic tuners were no good until the -90s or so. Find it quicker to use a tuning fork these days, and fine-tuning a string or two while playing doesn't require any tuning device. |
|
|
|
Chris Sattler
From:
Hunter Valley, Australia
|
Posted 3 Sep 2015 5:59 am
|
|
Well George I purchased a Korg WT-12 back in the 80's which I still use to this day. I think it is fairly accurate. Mind you the reason I still use it today is that it cost me a weeks wages back then.
now I have a tuner on my phone which cost nothing and probably does a better job.
I used a fork for my six string guitars before tuners came out but I had a better ear then. We get lazy. |
|
|
|
Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
|
Posted 3 Sep 2015 6:12 am
|
|
Like most of you, I used a tuning fork until the electronic tuners came out.
I still have the tuning fork and use it to check
the accuracy of my electronic tuners.
When they all agree, I'm comfortable. |
|
|
|
Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
|
Posted 3 Sep 2015 9:04 am
|
|
I think I still have a couple tuning forks around here buried in a box - but it's been so long since I've seen them that in trying to locate them I likely have a much greater chance of winning the lottery.
_________________
Mark |
|
|
|
Thiel Hatt
From:
Utah, USA
|
Posted 3 Sep 2015 1:43 pm
|
|
| I have both the electronic and a tuning fork. I'm one who prefers the fork. It's what I am used to and it works well. |
|
|
|
David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
|
Posted 3 Sep 2015 1:46 pm
|
|
I use a tuning fork to tune my fiddle, or the A strings on my steels when I change strings and tune up for the first time. But the thing I hate about battery devices is all the toxic stuff we throw into landfill.
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
|
|
|
Stefan Robertson
From:
Hertfordshire, UK
|
Posted 3 Sep 2015 11:53 pm
|
|
About battery devices:
Get a multi effects pedal that has a tuner and just plug it in. Use electricity not batteries.
Tuning forks
Great for their many applications but not that accurate over time. Metal even steel can bend by a fraction and then on you out by a few cents. If everyone else is using electronic tuners its best in a band situation especially that you all agree on A at 440hz or whatever you decide. That way you are all on the same page.
If everyone uses electronic tuners and you use a tuning fork it won't be that accurate. Also if you are trying to tune in a live venue it's not that practical. Are you going to ask the audience to be quiet. you might cause a riot.
_________________
Stefan
Bill Hatcher custom 12 string Lap Steel Guitar
E13#9/F secrets: https://thelapsteelguitarist.wordpress.com
"Give it up for The Lap Steel Guitarist" |
|
|
|
David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
|
Posted 4 Sep 2015 1:32 pm
|
|
I have been using my tuning fork for twenty years and it agrees with my electronic tuner. As for a multi effect pedal, it may be practical, but it symbolizes everything I hate in guitar playing.
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
|
|
|
Jim Bates
From:
Alvin, Texas, USA
|
Posted 4 Sep 2015 7:36 pm
|
|
Yes. I still use an A=440 fork (or sometimes a C=523...).
For me it's quicker than fooling around with a tuner. All the rest I can use harmonics or just the plain old method of
putting the bar on the 5th fret of the B string and tune the B string to sound like the open E, etc. It's very accurate.
When I was a 12 yr old beginner, I used a pitch pipe, but it varied depending how hard you blew. Then I learned that the NBC radio station would play the NBC chimes, which are G-E-C (open strings) on a C tuning. Later on discovered that the WWV time station would play the A=440 tone every hour on the hour (many musicians at the time would use this for the standard.)All of these tones gave me a 'standard' for those notes on my guitar and I just tuned the rest as I said above.
Thanx,
Jim |
|
|
|
Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
|
Posted 5 Sep 2015 10:49 am
|
|
I just get an "E" from somewhere (guitar player, piano, tuner, fork, etc) ... And tune the rest from there ...
When I taught physics ... We had these big tuning forks attached to a resonating box ... A "sliding clamp" on one tine ... To vary the frequency of one unit ...
Talk about hearing "beats" ... I could get beat frequencies so loud ... The students would cover their ears and beg me to stop ...
No need for detention, whacks or sending them to the dean ... It they acted up ... Out came the forks ... 
They were great for demonstrating constructive/destructive interference also ... Fun times  |
|
|
|
Jim Wilmoth
From:
California, USA
|
Posted 5 Sep 2015 12:13 pm
|
|
Still have my tuning fork from when i was 15 but it's definitely been awhile
A year or so ago somebody I know who is ~30 asked me how it worked and how you could tune a guitar with it.
Sigh, the next generation does know how good they have it
|
|
|
|
David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
|
Posted 5 Sep 2015 4:57 pm
|
|
| Jim Bates wrote: |
Then I learned that the NBC radio station would play the NBC chimes, which are G-E-C (open strings) on a C tuning. Later on discovered that the WWV time station would play the A=440 tone every hour on the hour (many musicians at the time would use this for the standard.)All of these tones gave me a 'standard' for those notes on my guitar and I just tuned the rest as I said above.
|
I love it! Period novelists out there, take note! (No pun intended)
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
|
|
|
Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
|
|
|
|
Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
|
Posted 8 Sep 2015 1:42 am
|
|
| The hardest thing about using a tuning fork was holding it between my teeth. |
|
|
|
