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Topic: Tuning Thirds On A Reso |
Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 14 Oct 2002 8:07 am |
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There has been so much cussin' and discussin' about how to tune the thirds on a pedal steel. What about the "standard" G tuning for bluegrass "dobro" picking? Should the B's be tuned "straight up" or a bit flat (using harmonics)?
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Lee, from South Texas
Down On The Rio Grande
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 14 Oct 2002 10:01 am
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Lee, I'm no expert at Dobro playing or tuning but I tune my thirds flat...about the same as the steel....Just doesn't sound right to me straight up.
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Stephen Gambrell
From:
Over there
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Posted 14 Oct 2002 12:34 pm
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| Yep, just a tad flat. I really don't know how many cents, but a little. Why hasn't somebody built a reso with a compensated saddle, anyway? I understand why it couldn't be done with a pedal steel, but a reso saddle isn't suppose to move! Anybody?? |
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Jim Heffernan
From:
Haddon Heights NJ
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Posted 15 Oct 2002 1:35 pm
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Chime your third string at the fourth fret(Like you would at the 12th, 5th and 7th, with your left hand)and chime the B string at the 5th fret in the same manner. Tune the B string till they match (When the beating stops!)
Chime the third string at the fourth fret and watch your tuner and you will see where to tune, so your don't need to do the chiming in loud places.
Of course you can repeat the same thing for the 5th string, or just match it to your second string by ear, or tuner.[This message was edited by Jim Heffernan on 15 October 2002 at 02:36 PM.] |
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 16 Oct 2002 1:07 am
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Or you can chime your 2nd string(B note) at the 7th fret and chime your 4th string(D note) at the 9th fret and they match unison.
Some guitars chime better at different frets...I can never get mine to sound out enough on the 4th fret....so I use the techique above to get the 3rd tones in tune with the 5th tones.
Oh and by ear too...just like the way someone would sing a note and someone else would sing a harmony note to it..."if someone sang a root note 440 pitch and the harmony singer sang a 3rd tone at 440 pitch" the singer of the root note would throw a brick at the singer of the 3rd tone....ha  ....so sing in perfect harmony has to blend or you'll get a brick in the head...or fired...or maybe just an awful look.....so tune your dobro or steel...just like the way you would sing in harmony.
Ricky |
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John Kavanagh
From:
Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada * R.I.P.
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Posted 16 Oct 2002 6:59 am
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If I remember right, a true major third is 386 cents, and one in equal temperament is 400 cents. The cents system is based on equal temperament and looks like an even number, so it's easy to think that the pure third is "flat" to the "real" third on your tuner.
It's really the other way around, of course - the third that you want to sing, the one that doesn't beat, is in tune in the mathematical sense, and so your ear likes it better; the one on your tuner is 14 cents sharp, which is really quite a lot.
It makes sense to me to tune an instrument tuned to a major chord to pure intervals, but if you do a lot of chording you won't be in tune with any fretted instruments in the band. A constant problem when you mix temperaments. (there's some play on words there... I'm sure someone will find it...) |
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