[GuitarCanuck]

I tune my guitar every time I pick it up with a $10 chromatic tuner.

It sounds OK to me, but, If I try and confirm the tuning by playing an "A" on string 6 (fret 5) it often sounds slightly different to the open 5th string and if I play this "A" note, the chromatic tuner says that it is out of tune (slightly sharp). The same goes for the other strings if I continue in this way.

What is the problem here.

1) My cheapo guitar is not keeping tune further down the neck

2) My cheapo tuner is no good

3) I'm doing something wrong

Help appreciated.

[GuitarCanuck]

Originally Posted by YouToo

Hi, this may be a stupid suggestion but are there any other background noises that may be picked up by your tuner when you are tuning your guitar

Hi!

No background noises as far as I know.

[OldG]

We are talking about a steel strung acoustic here, I take it... so I doubt if the bridge/saddle is incorrectly set.

Is the action high? Or maybe the nut is cut high and needs taking down and/or the neck has too much relief.

It sounds like the strings are having to travel too far down to the fingerboard and so being pulled sharp when fretted.

I'm guessing a good setup will put things right and make your guitar much easier to play properly and sound sweet at the same time.

[GuitarCanuck]

Originally Posted by OldG

We are talking about a steel strung acoustic here, I take it... so I doubt if the bridge/saddle is incorrectly set.

Is the action high? Or maybe the nut is cut high and needs taking down and/or the neck has too much relief.

It sounds like the strings are having to travel too far down to the fingerboard and so being pulled sharp when fretted.

I'm guessing a good setup will put things right and make your guitar much easier to play properly and sound sweet at the same time.

Action is a little high, so you could be on the money there. Cheers.

[TwistedLefty]

may be an intonation problem.
check if the strings ring in tune at the 12th fret.

[GuitarCanuck]

Originally Posted by TwistedLefty

may be an intonation problem.
check if the strings ring in tune at the 12th fret.

How do I do that?

[tina_]

Originally Posted by GuitarCanuck

How do I do that?

The 12th fret notes are the same as the open notes (EADGBA) (its a full octive between open and 12th). If you tune the A string so its a good A open (as your tuning now).... then see if the 12th fret on the A string is also a good A. Do the same for the other strings.

This is checking the intonation. If there is a small difference between open and the 12th you might get away with it. If the difference is large then a setup should sort it out (presuming everything else is ok). To sort it out they change the tension on the strings by tightening/relaxing them across the whole fretboard. Its not a major job and they usually like to do it with new strings.

If that doesn't make sense, say so. My guess is that someone else can describe it better

[GuitarCanuck]

Originally Posted by tina_

The 12th fret notes are the same as the open notes (EADGBA) (its a full octive between open and 12th). If you tune the A string so its a good A open (as your tuning now).... then see if the 12th fret on the A string is also a good A. Do the same for the other strings.

This is checking the intonation. If there is a small difference between open and the 12th you might get away with it. If the difference is large then a setup should sort it out (presuming everything else is ok). To sort it out they change the tension on the strings by tightening/relaxing them across the whole fretboard. Its not a major job and they usually like to do it with new strings.

If that doesn't make sense, say so. My guess is that someone else can describe it better

Okay, I understand, thank you for taking the time to help, much appreciated.

[csason]

not sure if you know what a setup is, but there is a lot of info
out there about it.

but that's what it sounds like to me.

[Kirk Lorange]

Hi, GuitarCanuck.

Age of strings: As strings get older, they get very difficult to tune because they flatten out where they keep hitting the frets. New strings are nice and round in cross-section and ring true. So, if your strings are old, that may be the problem.

Tuners: Guitars are never really in perfect tune, they can't be. It's just the nature of the instrument, so you'll never get perfect read-outs from an electronic tuner as you test out various positions for the same note. Tuning guitars is always a compromise.

Intonation: each string has its own ideal length, which is why bridge saddles are set in at an angle and electric guitars have little adjustment screws down at the bridge to tweak each string individually. Cheap guitars are often lacking in this department.

Action: the higher off the fretboard the strings are, the more descrepancy there is between the open string notes and fretted notes, and that becomes more and more pronounced as you move up the fretboard.

That's all I can think of!

[737blues]

If what you're saying is the fretted note is slightly sharp, then you're probably just using too much pressure on the string, especially if you have large, (jumbo type) frets and/or a high action. Try using just enough pressure to cleanly fret the note and no more. Experiment, you don't want to be pressing harder than you need to anyway. As Kirk said, tuning a stringed instrument is always some sort of compromise.

[Dewy]

All Kirk said plus one more...

When you fret the chords make double sure your not "bending" a note out of tune. I'm bad about that in certain positions and blamed various guitars for years.

FYI, I have found "wiggling" the string slightly helps if your caught live with a slight tuning discrepency.

Generally its:
a) Bad Strings
b) bad fretting
c) intonation (length of string) is off

one of those

[Stratrat]

Originally Posted by 737blues

If what you're saying is the fretted note is slightly sharp, then you're probably just using too much pressure on the string, especially if you have large, (jumbo type) frets and/or a high action. Try using just enough pressure to cleanly fret the note and no more. Experiment, you don't want to be pressing harder than you need to anyway. As Kirk said, tuning a stringed instrument is always some sort of compromise.

737blues hit a good point here - if you fret a note/chord too hard, you'll pull it sharp and it'll sound out of tune. I particularly notice it with the open 'F' chord, but you can easily do it to any note or chord if you really "gorilla grip" the neck. As he said, experiment with your guitar to make sure you're using only the pressure you need to cleanly fret the note/chord....any more than that can ruin the sound, tire your hand out prematurely and/or slow your chord/note changes down.