Kemper tuner to set intonation?


  • Intonation, which is why I mentioned having the 12th fret harmonic sound the same as the fretted note at the 12th fret. I'm not aware of tuners that help you do this, since I do this process on my guitars by ears to ensure that they have the same pitch, which means that there will be no dissonance when playing chords or even at various frets on different strings.


    I was talking about intonation and tuners because that was the thread topic. I have no idea whether tuners can help with this, as mentioned.

  • Of course that tuners help with intonation .
    ST 200 has 6 offsets , so I always set up one offset for intonation .
    Since it is BFTS , notes during intonation (12th fret) differs than tuning (open strings) .

    1988 Branko Radulovic Hand Made Strat in Macedonia (SFRJ)

    2006 Steve Vai vwh moded with SS frets and Sustainac 2006 (Japan)

    2008 Fender YJM , moded (USA)

    2010 Tom Andersons Drop Top 2010 (made in California)

    2017 Charvel GG sig Caramelised Ash (USA)

    2022 Gibson ES 335 2011 Custom Shop Cherry of course ( Memphis)

  • Of course that tuners help with intonation .
    ST 200 has 6 offsets , so I always set up one offset for intonation .
    Since it is BFTS , notes during intonation (12th fret) differs than tuning (open strings) .


    Sounds promising. As mentioned, I've never had a high end tuner, usually used the one on my GT-8 processor and now the Kemper. As far as intonation, it's always been a manual process for me, a bit of trial and error based on educated approximation.


    That said, I wonder whether I'd ever take the plunge for a tuner that has such advanced features. I've always got by and relied on whatever knowledge I could pick up. Since this is largely a set and forget thing once you've got your neck angle, string gauges, etc, I imagine that I wouldn't be using a feature like that too much.


    Then again, what do I know. Very little exposure to technology. Take that statement with a pinch of salt, because I own a Kemper ^^

  • Well I just put in an order for the Sonic Research stompbox. Called in first and the guy who does the tutorial videos picked up the phone! It's a bonus when you can get real help without having to go through a dealer or wait a week.

  • In my opinion, one of the primary reason I'm a fan of the Turbo Tune is its ability to lock on quickly to the pitch. I used to use a Peterson VS-1 for general tuning and intonation but that was replaced by the TT. The quickness, accuracy and ability to handle offsets e.g. I have one guitar fitted with a True Temperament neck which requires a unique set of offsets, make the TT a winner. I also don't consider the TT a "high end " tuner unless you are comparing it to a Snark or a Tuning fork.

  • Hey guys, apart from BFTS guitars, is a tuner suited for intonating an instrument intrinsically better than another one?


    Don't think it would be. I don't think there's any difference in the pitch of the harmonic note and the fretted note when you're intonating a standard guitar, so it should show the same reading when you're "there".

  • I wonder if there's any precise intonation at all because a fretted note is involved. There's no way to always fret a note with the same strength and therefore there's no real reference. Or am I talking BS?

    I could have farted and it would have sounded good! (Brian Johnson)

  • No, this is correct :)


    OTOH, when I intonate a guitar I simply fret the 12Th position for each string and read the tuner.


    Of course, the harmonic is always "tuned", by definition.
    :)

  • In my opinion, one of the primary reason I'm a fan of the Turbo Tune is its ability to lock on quickly to the pitch. I used to use a Peterson VS-1 for general tuning and intonation but that was replaced by the TT. The quickness, accuracy and ability to handle offsets e.g. I have one guitar fitted with a True Temperament neck which requires a unique set of offsets, make the TT a winner. I also don't consider the TT a "high end " tuner unless you are comparing it to a Snark or a Tuning fork.


    That's helpful. :thumbup:

  • FWIW, I recently used my KPA to do a "rough" intonation adjustment on the guitar in my avatar. "Rough" because I was pretty anal about making sure the bubble wasn't even a pixel off from dead center. When I double-checked it against my StroboStomp, it was almost dead-on, with some minor deviations. Come to think of it, my StroboStomp was set for "sweetened" guitar intonation, so I wonder if that might account for the very minor discrepancies I found. Has anyone answered how precise the KPA tuner is in +/- cents?

  • Fellas, the lot of you do know the Peterson software, stomps and clip ons are not strobe tuners, right?..


    The Kemper does great. It's got a bit of delay to the tracking, but that shouldn't affect intonation setting.
    Generally speaking, faster-tracking tuners are less accurate. A really accurate tuner will be a pain to tune with because the frequency of a string changes from when you pick it to when it decays.
    A really fast tuner, (non-strobe, like the Peterson stomp-types) is generally one that doesn't "work" as hard


    The Kemper is a good spot in between.

    "But dignity is difficult to maintain
    stamina requires constant upkeep
    repetition is boring
    and you pay for grace."

  • yeah, the peterson are simulations of strobe tuners. you're right


    as a matter of fact I'm also a tech consultant in stroboscopic illumination, with real stroboscopic lamps (for a german company by the way, named Drello situated in Moenchengladbach). so I do know what strobo means.


    I tried to use one of my strobo lamps for tuning. and it worked incredibly. problem is that the lamp flash speed for the 12th frets are so high that the lamps cannot cope with it.


    I even asked the company in moenchengladbach to creat a guitar friendly micro strobo lamp to start a new way to tune. so far, nothing. guess my friends are too busy with other projects.

    "...why being satisfied with an amp, as great as it can be, while you can have them all?" michael mellner


    "Rock in Ecclesia" - new album on iTunes or Google music

  • Sure a real strobe tuner is going to be better for setting intonation, but the Kemper tuner is pretty good and heck, you can even use a boss pedal tuner to set intonation - it will get it close enough for most of us. I'd rather use a Kemper for intonation and play accurately than have a .001 cent -/+ intonation and have ham fisted technique that pulls and pushes strings out of tune. I've even set intonation by ear before and was damned close.

  • When I'm too busy or too far to go and turn the knob on the Kemper to tuner, or see it if I go volume down on my pedal, I rely on those little lights above the chickenhead knob to tune. They work quite well when you're slightly off tune. Of course, to know this, you have to have a good ear for tuning in the first
    place.


    Intonation aside, it's just easier visually, on stage at four to six feet distance, to freeze a spinning circular graphic than it is to center a needle, led, or bean. Unless you've used a Turbo Tuner it's kinda hard to imagine how easy it is, but it is. I don't know if it's ultimately "more accurate" than the Kemper, but it's definitely as accurate and a lot faster. But ... it's not inside the Kemper, which is a major major strike against it. :)


    Nah, you have to be practical before arguing for the inclusion or exclusion of something like a graphic on the screen of the Kemper. It is a simple display intended to serve a limited range of functions. I don't see this as a major shortcoming, given that the tuner is accurate enough to within a few cents tolerance. I don't think it takes too much time either... You only have to slowdown and look at it when you're in ballpark range. And I say that as someone that tunes and intonates Floyd Rose and Kahler whammy equipped bridges.

  • anyways.....i stand with all of you: while I use for liuther activity like intonation I use a strobo like tuner, for the rest the kemper tuner is just fine. overall the liuther intonation process is, except for some cases, done once which is valid for a long time (of course it depends on how someone treats his guitar/bass).


    on the other hand, the general use tune, like the kemper one, is used the most majority of the time. I would say I use the peterson for a 5% while the kemper's 95%.


    michael

    "...why being satisfied with an amp, as great as it can be, while you can have them all?" michael mellner


    "Rock in Ecclesia" - new album on iTunes or Google music

  • I recently had to set the intonation for my bass while I was in a bind. I used the on-board KPA tuner. A couple days later, I checked it against a Peterson and was on.