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RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to Sr. Martins)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Rui Martins If I have a tuner at hand, I'll use it.. I aint homophobic about it :p
There is nothing human in a tuner, so there is no way to be homopphobic about it.
I use a pitchfork by the way. The tuners i had were too imprecise and when using a pitchfork you actually are using your ear, which is better than a tuner, at least the cheap ones i had.
Theoretically you can tune any note to any other note, given you know how that specific interval is supposed to sound. Tuning is a non-issue among people who play a lot. I played a lot in the past.
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to XXX)
Jeez, people. I must be getting old. This discussion seems rather silly. Oh, wait, I AM old, so nevermind. Been tuning by ear for 50+ years. Since way before there were electronic tuners. I have developed a pretty good ear. Which is useless in noisy gigs, when you can barely hear your guitar unless you turn on a sound system and treat the audience to a tuning interlude. Vibration-sensitive tuners are a godsend in a setting like that. There is a place for them.
Except, as someone noted (above) they are ugly. Which is the reason I posted pics of my li'l gizmo.
I've known a lot of guitarists who were inordinately (sometimes unrealistically) egotistical about their playing -- but this is the very first time I have ever heard anyone boast about their ability to tune a guitar.
_____________________________
"Flamenco is so emotionally direct that a trained classical musician would require many years of highly disciplined formal study to fail to understand it."
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to a_arnold)
quote:
I've known a lot of guitarists who were inordinately (sometimes unrealistically) egotistical about their playing -- but this is the very first time I have ever heard anyone boast about their ability to tune a guitar.
Chuck Norris just looks at an out-of-tune guitar and it instantaneously gets tuned, even in a concert hall with 10,000 audience members clapping and talking as loudly as they can at the same time.
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to at_leo_87)
I have nothing against people not using tuners and nothing in favor of those who use. If your instrument is in tune, thats what counts.
My only concern is people who have that "macho attitude" with tuners and end up screwing group playing because they're not in tune and constantly fidgeting with the tuning.
Anyway, this is ego-based behaviour as someone mentioned so its hard for these people to admit it.
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to XXX)
Sure he does.. but he isn't afraid to use a tuner.
If you are playing by yourself you can do whatever you want. Dont make other musicians waste their time and patience just because your male ego doesnt want you to use external devices to tune your instrument.
Of course there are players who can do a good job at tuning without a tuner, the problem is that the ones who suck at it also think that they are good and end up making excuses and upseting everyone else.
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Posts: 15242
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to Sr. Martins)
quote:
If you are playing by yourself you can do whatever you want. Dont make other musicians waste their time and patience just because your male ego doesnt want you to use external devices to tune your instrument.
Since no one that uses a tuner would have an ego.
Speaking of Paco...back in 1996 the guitar trio tour was almost cancelled because poor Al (who has tinnitus) was having constant tuning issues and Paco got in his face about it, words exchange, and BAM Paco punched his face.
Now they BOTH use tuners. But Mclaughlin's take on it is right on. He says "guitar players spend half their lives tuning their guitars, and the other half playing OUT of tune."
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to at_leo_87)
Ive noticed that fingers automatically compensate the fretted notes to proper pitch, especially when playing higher in the neck.. and this wont bother the player until he has to play chords where the fingerings dont allow for that kind of compensation, thats when he really notices that a string or two are flat.
Flamenco is full of chords so this might not happen that often within this genre.
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to Sr. Martins)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Rui Martins If you are playing by yourself you can do whatever you want. Dont make other musicians waste their time and patience just because your male ego doesnt want you to use external devices to tune your instrument.
Of course there are players who can do a good job at tuning without a tuner, the problem is that the ones who suck at it also think that they are good and end up making excuses and upseting everyone else.
Just tune it it correctly then. We are comparing tuning methods IMPLYING that they are used correctly. Otherwise the comparison makes no sense. What an unnecessarily long thread. Id never gussed that tuning is such an emotional topic for some Just tune your fing guitar dammit!!
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to XXX)
Incidentally, the same planet waves micro headstock tuner will also clip on the center wood spacer between the left and right rollers of a classical-style geared machine headstock and it will still be invisible from the front.
_____________________________
"Flamenco is so emotionally direct that a trained classical musician would require many years of highly disciplined formal study to fail to understand it."
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to a_arnold)
quote:
Incidentally, the same planet waves micro headstock tuner will also clip on the center wood spacer between the left and right rollers of a classical-style geared machine headstock and it will still be invisible from the front.
Posts: 1945
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to Ricardo)
I bought a sitar to mess around with and took a lesson. The teacher told me that the joke among the players is that it takes a year to tune a sitar and it stays in tune for 5 minutes.
quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo
But Mclaughlin's take on it is right on. He says "guitar players spend half their lives tuning their guitars, and the other half playing OUT of tune."
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to at_leo_87)
quote:
ORIGINAL: at_leo_87
when i first picked up a guitar, it was impossible for me to tune by ear. i had to wait until a friend came around and tuned it for me.
When I bought my Burguet, a really good-looking girl with a guitar came in and asked the sales person to tune her instrument, saying that it was tuned for her last time by someone else long ago and that she was playing since years already.
It felt so heroic to succesfully suppress any facial expression and to not exchange glimpses with the shop assistant while twanging along on an anemic Bernabe estudio with a ridiculous price tag on it. It would have just been so cheap to grin.
A true gentleman would had taken the time to show her how to do. Dunno why I didn´t. Neither did the sales clerk. He took a Boss tuner to her request without any further hints.
RE: a simple, elegant and cheap solu... (in reply to rombsix)
quote:
quote:
Incidentally, the same planet waves micro headstock tuner will also clip on the center wood spacer between the left and right rollers of a classical-style geared machine headstock and it will still be invisible from the front.
quote:
Photo?
My guitars are pegheads, but we tried it on a friend's Reyes with machine head and it fit perfectly on the back center, didn't interfere with tuning, easily visible and easy to reach the on/off button. But I didn't take a photo. Sorry. It DOES work, though, and even less hassle than the little gizmo I made above. Plus it costs only $14.70 on ebay. The tuner screen swivels 180 and snaps on and off the clip easily, so it is easy to remove and adjust. The screen doesn't invert, but swiveling puts it in an optimal position for viewing on machine heads, so no problem. It almost seems like it was designed to fit behind a classical headstock and be invisible, but all the ads show it on a steel string headstock. Smart engineers, Dilbert marketing, I guess.
_____________________________
"Flamenco is so emotionally direct that a trained classical musician would require many years of highly disciplined formal study to fail to understand it."
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But Mclaughlin's take on it is right on. He says "guitar players spend half their lives tuning their guitars, and the other half playing OUT of tune." 
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