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>.You guys better watch out about this tuning system, because it was meant
to
keep guitars in tune with pianos...but...pianos by definition are not in
tune. And there tuning constantly fluctuates. You simply cannot keep a
piano, guitar or any other string instrument in a perfect tuning. Believe
me, i correspond with about five or more microtonal theorists, and they
know
the truth.
Check out anything on the web about tuning or just intonation, perhaps
freenote records and you to will know the truth.
Jeff Collins
Hi Jeff , I gotta disagree with you there , buddy..........
I see many flaws in you reasoning here:
1. "its meant to stay in tune with pianos" does this mean that the
guitar sounds out of tune when played with a piano? Are the sounds "wrong"
and out of tune when Jim Hall plays with Bill Evans?? I dont think so. but
my second fret sounds wrong when I compare it with the 14th fret.
2."pianos are by definition not in tune" What do you mean by the phrase
"by definition"? Is the definition of "in tune" according to the Western
tempered scale or
the correct theoretical measurement of pitch(overtones)?? If its the latter
then nothing has been in tune for centuries....
As we all now , the Western tempered scale is sort of a "compromise" in
order to get all the octaves the same(and thereby allowing polyphony). This
is not a problem for us , its been done for centuries.
If you mean that the piano is not in tune even in the tempered scale ,
than you are probably correct , if you study the subject in a "laboratory".
Any string that is beeing struck by anothr object (pick , finger , hammer
or wrenches) will be a bit sharp the first few micro seconds , before it
stabilizes..... But after the string has been set in motion it WILL reach a
"core" where the note will ring out in pitch. On pianos , as on every other
stringed instrument , all this sounds fine. there is no problem.
3. "I correspond with 5 or more microtonal theorists , and they know the
truth"
They know the truth about microtonal theory. They don`t know the truth
about guitars. I think its easy to forget that this wonderful instrument is
not something to
be taken so lightly and say "hey , its just a guitar , its been around for
ages".
Well , its been out of tune for ages , its been bothering ppl for ages that
its impossible to tune consistently. The goal is not to get a stringed
instrument that is perfectly in tune , but rather to get an instrument that
is not seriously FLAWED.
The problem , in this particular case , is that the guitar does not work
properly INTERNALLY. It has nothing to do with the piano. It has to do
with the fact that the guitar is not possible to tune properly. Therefore ,
its constructed wrong. There is no way we can get the guitar to be in tune
on all the frets ,on all the strings SIMULTANIOUSLY. Things are always a
bit sharp/flat somewhere(not the most scientific deascription , i know.) If
all the strings are Perfectly in tune at the fifth fret on your strat you
can bet your whammy the 2nd or 3rd frets are a bit sharp.
So the problem is much , much worse than merely "beeing out of tune because
it`s a stringed instrument". The problem is rather: "beeing out of tune
SOMEWHERE on the instrument all the time , because the instrument is
wrongly constructed". A violinist can counter this problem because there
are no frets. On a guitar something must be done.
Buzz Feiten seems to have solved all this. Bringing only a couple of axes
with this system he has convinced a quite impressive group of people:
The whole staff at Guitar Player Magazine , Tom Anderson (which , to me ,
seems like a fella whos got his head on straight) washburn guitars(Grover
Washington??) and god knows how many more.....
He was able to do this because his guitars sounded better. Bottom line. On
its own , this fact should be enough to convince us all.
here is the fact that he based his system on: (and this is what convinced
me)
- string tension is not constant: When you press down at the 5th fret it
reqiers more
downward pressure than when you play at the 12th fret. And the 4th fret
requiers even more than the 5th fret and so on.......
I didn`t mean to get on your back , Jeff , but your response provoked me
(and thats a good thing in my book!)
See, the type of response you gave reminded me of all the looks , comments
and people gives to new technology and ideas. Wether its a Roland VG-8 or
the quadrophonic sound system , most people
are sceptical. And , if the tuning system works , I would certainly hope
that it be common knowledge and on EVERY guitar ever made , instead if
beeing dismissed my microtonal experts or oldfashioned blues-guitarsits
("aint nobody gettin`near ma` Fender!!!")
Yours truly , Thomas W