How do you tune?

  • My main guitar has an evertune, so neither striking hard, nor depressing the string a bit too hard in the heat of the moment affects the pitch. Love it for both live and recording.

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM

  • My main guitar has an evertune, so neither striking hard, nor depressing the string a bit too hard in the heat of the moment affects the pitch. Love it for both live and recording.

    Some day, someone I know will have one of these that I can compare to my guitars to see if I like what it does to the tone!

  • I hadn't thought of that, but you are right. With the low E string tuned to D that string will be more "flabby" and vibrate more when plucked than it will when tuned to E (thus making it go more sharp). Neat tip!


    Why tune the G string 3 cents sharp? What does that do?

    If playing live. sure. But if recording it's much better to use a thicker string like a 52.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

  • I use the Kemper strobe tuner.

    I use the bridge pickup which is usually a Duncan JB.

    I pluck the string (D'Addario XL110 set) with a pick (Dunlop 1.14mm Tortex) and tune on the attack, always tuning up from flat to in tune, never from sharp.


    Years ago (decades, really) I always used the neck pickup simply because my old Peterson 450 seemed to prefer that. After I switched to the BOSS TU-2 I started using the bridge pickup. One thing I have noticed is that not only do I need to warmup before I play so does the neck of my guitar. I usually warm up a little bit to let the neck and strings to warm up a bit before I tune up. If I tune it cold I usually have to retune a little after I play for a few minutes. Then it stays in tune. My primary guitar is a 1984 Gibson Explorer. I cannot stress how important it is to have properly cut nut slots that are clean, polished and lubricated a little bit. Big Bends Nut Sauce or plain Chap Stik are my go to lubricants. A little dental floss works wonders to polish things up smooth.

  • I always pluck medium force the strings and tune.


    In my opinion you should never tune your pick attack.


    What happened when you want to plays softer? You’re playing with flat tuned strings ? Never ever lol.

  • I use the Kemper strobe tuner.

    I use the bridge pickup which is usually a Duncan JB.

    I pluck the string (D'Addario XL110 set) with a pick (Dunlop 1.14mm Tortex) and tune on the attack, always tuning up from flat to in tune, never from sharp.


    Years ago (decades, really) I always used the neck pickup simply because my old Peterson 450 seemed to prefer that. After I switched to the BOSS TU-2 I started using the bridge pickup. One thing I have noticed is that not only do I need to warmup before I play so does the neck of my guitar. I usually warm up a little bit to let the neck and strings to warm up a bit before I tune up. If I tune it cold I usually have to retune a little after I play for a few minutes. Then it stays in tune. My primary guitar is a 1984 Gibson Explorer. I cannot stress how important it is to have properly cut nut slots that are clean, polished and lubricated a little bit. Big Bends Nut Sauce or plain Chap Stik are my go to lubricants. A little dental floss works wonders to polish things up smooth.

    Agree the nut is the most overlooked by most guitarists becuase of lack of knowledge. Most guitars have a too high nut. The guitar brands don't know what string gauge or tuning the user will use. Filing down the height will solve that problem for most guitarists. If using thicker strings the slots might need to be filed down or both slots and height. If tune to 0 on open string the third and fith fret should read 0 too when pressed down. If not the nut is not correct.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

  • I always pluck medium force the strings and tune.


    In my opinion you should never tune your pick attack.


    What happened when you want to plays softer? You’re playing with flat tuned strings ? Never ever lol.

    Either you tune to the attack or decay. There's no right or wrong way.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau