intonation questions

[cerrem]

Intonation is something every musican should learn to do...
It is fairly simple to do... The key is to have the PROPER tools.. A regular chromatic guitar tuner is not up to the task and has too big an error for proper intonating... ALso learn about temperment... Guitar players such as Jimmy Page, Angus Young on thier studio recording have good temperment on thier tunning, this is because the guitar is not a perfect instrument, there are ways to tune it so it falls in the sweet spot for harmonics...
First things first get one of these....
CONN Strobe Tuner..... Ebay# 7406672039
Or go get the new Peterson hand-held strobe tuner...
I have seen many times friends come back from repair shops after paying big bucks complaining the guitar is still not right...well I put it on my strobe tuner and the guitar was nowhere close to being intonated... Of course I took care of the adjustments for a mere couple of beers and a shot of Tequila

Chris

[daffy]

Interesting point raised earlier - you can set up your intonation to be correct between any octave notes.

So is it better to set up your intonation using the open and 12th fret, or say, your 5th and 17th frets? Would picking a different intonation adjustment point give you better tempering across the whole fretboard? In other words, if I used the 5/17 to adjust intonation, would it mean the notes would be less 'out' across more of my fretboard?

Would you even notice?

[Steve]

The guy is, IMOHO, a flake.

You do however NEED some type of strobe tuner if you're serious about it.

Your instrument would have to by WAY out before you would be able to hear it go sour up the neck under most gigging conditions

[vic_6]

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macos...robetuner.html

so this is what a stobe tuner is huh? well, the basics of it?

are all peterson tuners strobe tuners?

[rumblinbass]

besides that, a used strobe tuner will be well over $100, probably close to $200

[Bobster]

I have both 35 and 34" scale, 24 fret, bass guitars and I am interested in what's an acceptable intonation number in cents.

For example, I use AP Tuner in "Equal Temperment" mode, and calibrate at the 12th and 24th fret. I'm typically able to get within a .3~.5 cent variance at the 12th fret and around a .5~1.5 cent difference at the 24th, while maintaining the 12th.

Is this considered well tuned, or would this be considered an undesirable variance?

How many cents out of tune is considered bad?

I'd like to know when it's safe to put down the allen wrenches and screwdriver and stop being anal.

Thanks

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by Bobster

I have both 35 and 34" scale, 24 fret, bass guitars and I am interested in what's an acceptable intonation number in cents.

For example, I use AP Tuner in "Equal Temperment" mode, and calibrate at the 12th and 24th fret. I'm typically able to get within a .3~.5 cent variance at the 12th fret and around a .5~1.5 cent difference at the 24th, while maintaining the 12th.

Is this considered well tuned, or would this be considered an undesirable variance?

How many cents out of tune is considered bad?

I'd like to know when it's safe to put down the allen wrenches and screwdriver and stop being anal.

Thanks

Hey man, I know that AP tuner and let me tell you my experience with that (and I'm going to say this from the deepest): ES UNA SOBERANA PORQUERIA (the biggest piece of crap I know).

I can't believe that a software that claims to give you accurate readings can be so inaccurate. I recommend you to get rid of that thing inmediately and get a good, "real" tuner.

[RaTTeR]

Originally Posted by MattMPG

Some times when you play, you press down harder, pluck harder, move your hand a little... it all changes the pitch slightly. When I hear a great bass player, I don't think about sound waves.

I couldn't agree more. There is something so beautiful in the chaos of nature. Great players may be in tune but I think the true art is when people are so swept away that they would never guess that a note was written as a sharp and played flat.

That said; There is a reason why players trying to recreate some of the free form bass lines of Flea, Peter Hook and Roger Waters will never sound the same. You will never really know just how in or out of tune the bass was when it was originally recorded and even hearing the same song live may seem to be missing something... It's a kind of magic.

[Akami]

That guy that wants your money and allegiance any time you need anything done to your guitar is a spiritual relative of the kind of doctor that does unecessary operations to buy a new boat.
No straight answer, just mumbo jumbo to make sure you know he's the man, in his own eyes.

He may actually be a decent technician, but he's also full of more than just an inflated sense of ego, he's full of something else too...

[Chasarms]

Originally Posted by Joshua

. . . A good chromatic tuner that registers in some way when the note is spot on (not just a needle floating), as well as a patient approach, will certainly get you awfully close . . .

I set the intonation on all my basses with a $15 Korg tuner that I got in my Christmas stocking about 5-6 years ago.

[Bobster]

Back to my earlier question, what's measurably "bad" intonation?

How many "cents" off is generally considered an unacceptable variance?

Also, does everyone using a 24 fret scale length, calibrate at the open position, 12th, and 24th frets?

Thanks

[rumblinbass]

I use open and 12.

[vinny]

So have I been doing it right or wrong all this time? I tune the open then adjust until both 12th fretted & 12th harmonic match the frequency of the open. After a few times through they get very close (how close I guess I'm not too sure of) then call it good.

[Akami]

Originally Posted by vinny

So have I been doing it right or wrong all this time? I tune the open then adjust until both 12th fetted & 12th harmonic match the frequency of the open. After a few times through they get very close (how close I guess I'm not too sure of) then call it good.

That's how I've been doing it for 30 years too. I believe it's more accurate than electronic tuners but now that we've got them I'll sometimes use one to get close, then finish up by ear.

I think we'll both end up better even than some techs and as good as most of the rest without having to drop off the instrument and pay to do what we're capable of doing ourselves.

[lonote]

I compare the fretted note with the harmonic at the 12th and 19th fret and if I can't get it perfect at both places, I split the difference. I started doing this 7 or 8 years ago and it works for me. I use a $50 Korg and my ears.