Confession time.
I just came from JKās thread on sloppy snarkiness, thinking Iām pretty lazy when it comes to tuning.
(I probably tune about once a week if thereās not much temperature changes.)
When I do tune, itās usually with my Pod Go pedal, which has a line that moves up and down around the target note.
Now hereās the weird thing-
I can never leave it below the desired frequency, but am fine with, and often intentionally settle for ājust a tad aboveā the bullseye
Itās as if I was filling the car with petrol or cutting myself a slice of cakeā¦
Sighā¦
Once a WEEK?!? I tune every time I play. Unless maybe Iāve tuned in the last couple of hours and picking the guitar up again. I find that with temperature changes where I live, my guitars will go sharp at some times of day and flat at others - itās the neck adjusting. If weather is the same day to day and I play at the same time of day it will still be in tune, but I check anyway.
The snark is driving me nuts, I can hear itās not in tune and the stoopid thing tells me itās in tune. And then it willā¦ eventually show me itās out of tune. At least Iām getting better at tuning by ear because of it.
FWIW, sometimes I am OK with one dash above the bullseye as well. Sometimesā¦
These days I only tune if I can hear itās out of tune, and with my ears, thatās not as often as it should be! I will tune if Iām recording, especially if thereās a capo involved.
Interestingly I err on the side of just a hair flat rather than just sharp (but I do aim for bang on), but Iām quite heavy handed so thereās a risk a fretted note goes noticeably sharp otherwise.
Bad Brianā¦about lesson one is every time you pick up your guitar
And not to much off topic ( i hope )
ā¦ we talked about this (or about some like this) onceā¦ a bit lazy, opening a new topic
with @nzmetal Jeff ā¦There was quite a bit of interest in thereā¦ but I think this is now becoming far too serious and you just want to emphasize that you have an OCD in this areaā¦sigh
Greetingsā¦
Briaaaaaan!!! Now Iāll give you my reasons why I tune all my instruments everytime I pick them up, maybe theyāll make you think and lead you on the right track
I tune my Classical Guitar because itās already a long process to build mental pictures of my loved melodies and to build a connection ear-fretboard: no need to make it any longer!
I tune my Uke with the children because itās a good ear training lesson for all of us: I play the note on the Tuner App, we sing it, silence, I play the uke string and they have to say if the note is the same or needs to be adjusted so that the uke will sing joyfully
I tune my Acoustic Guitar becauseā¦oh manā¦my beginner playing is already bad enough to irritate my own ears
Hope Iāve been convincing you, though I must admit a little tiny bit sharper is better than a little tiny bit flatter!
Hehe, I love the way some of you think I need to be persuaded that tuning up is a good idea (for all sorts of reasons)
I did start the OP with the word āconfessionā
Itās the fact that I would be happier with a little āmoreā frequency that blows my mindā¦
As ever, nuggets come when called for and I did take a peek down @Majikās rabbit hole, without venturing in, but
might make me change my tuning to a slightly lower freq, as I donāt beleive I have a light touch either.
Although I do not have OCD, I have had certain āquirksā in the past; e.g. if I turned around 360 degrees, such as walking around the block or the kitchen table, I would have the urge to āunwind myselfā by rotating the opposite direction on the spot. (Only if no one was present of course )
Knowing this was ridiculous, I never told anyone until I discovered my cousin did exactly the same
Anyone else with weird guitar habits/superstitions?
Oh gosh, not sure I should say, but a lot of times, in my younger days, if someone spoke, I would repeat what they said in my head then say it backwards, also in my head (something like that anyway, just tried it and I couldnāt do it). I just realized I havenāt done that in years! At least I broke the habit. I still have imaginary arguments in my head with certain people who I considered obtuse on certain subjects, I need to stop that, it just stresses me out because I know Iāll never āwineā if these happened in real life.
But if weāre confessing, I have to admit, I think I am worse than @brianlarsen about tuning. I donāt think Iāve checked in over a week. I do think I am getting better at being able to tell if itās out of tune (itās the 6th string fret buzz thatās driving me nuts!) Iām hoping that humidity thing is more for acoustics? Both my guitars (yup, just a little GAS so far) are electric.
I really need to figure out the buzzing, and no, there are no real luthier types anywhere near me so Iām pretty much on my own.
Now, thatās a worry Brian. Hereās hoping your hygiene regime is more regular than that. Now go tune your guitar.
I share this pathology, but mine is the reverse. Go above that line, even by a % of a cent, and I start to sweat. I think it stems from my very early days of being heavy handed, and over sharpening notes. Plus, I reckon that looney tunes G string is always better slightly flat than sharp.
Electrics are definitely affected by humidity as well.
I owned a relatively inexpensive Strat many years ago, and every heating season the neck would shrink, and the ends of the frets would start to stick out. Usually had to adjust the truss rod as well, IIRC.
I donāt know if this is causing your buzzing problemā¦have you described the problem in another topic.
Interesting read, I feel like Iāve got some (scary?! ) insights into the minds of you (equally) mad guitar folk!
So I tune only when I change stringsā¦ but I have an Evertune bridge on my (primary) guitarsā¦ so
Although, when not using those guitars, I do tune each time I pick it up, and during whenever I feel it goes out of tune, which drives me nuts! Hence why I was so keen on the Evertune
Brian, perhaps this is the way forward for you too??
Would be nice to have strings never go out of tune! But isnāt bending & vibrato a bitā¦ different?.. on evertune? Apparently it requires tweaking to do either etc? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9fukCz1PO4
So I guess thereās a tradeoff to never having to tune? Or is that not much of a hassle at all.
Not yet, Iāve not had any time to really investigate it. However, what I do know, is I bought it used and it sounded great in the store, but when I got home it was tuned to that double D thing Iāve heard about? And of course, I retuned it and thatās when the buzz became obvious. So, I think t shouldnāt be too hard to figure outā¦?
Bad Brianā¦about lesson one is every time you pick up your guitar
)
Hence why I was so keen on the Evertune 
