Guitar/Setting up the Guitar
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Advances in guitar manufacturing has solved many problems with guitar tuning, but guitars are still extremely sensitive to their environment. If you tune in a room with a set temperature and humidity, then take the guitar into another room that is hotter/colder and/or more/less humid, some guitars will go out of tune. When the guitar experiences a change in humidity or temperature, it causes the wood and strings to expand or contract. It is best to let the guitar acclimate itself in the room in which it will be played then make adjustments and re-tune it. Extreme changes in humidity or temperature can damage your guitar with warping, especially in the neck area, so you should treat it with proper care. If you have a guitar neck that is warped, some structural aspects of the guitar, like the neck, fretboard or truss rod, can be adjusted. See the Adjusting the Guitar appendix.
When fresh strings have been put on a guitar, they will often fall out of tune very easily. This is because after having been put on the guitar, the strings still have a lot of slack. It will take time to work all the slack out of the string, but the process can be sped up somewhat. After the strings have been put on, loosen them a fair bit and then bend the string gently. Turn the tuning peg up, and then bend the string again. After this, strum chords enthusiastically for a few minutes and tune again. Most of the slack should be gone from the strings, and the guitar should stay in tune.
Modern instruments use equal temperament tuning, and the guitar is no exception. Older methods of tuning have the problem of certain intervals sounding out of tune, while others did not. Equal temperament tuning is a compromise between older methods, and has the smoothest overall sound.
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[edit] Tuning the Guitar
Sound is caused by the disturbance of particles in the air, usually by vibrations, that move the air in waves. When a string is attached to two points, like the strings on a guitar, striking it causes a sound at a certain frequency. The length, thickness and tightness of the string determine the pitch of the note it produces. When a string is plucked the string is stretched to set it in vibration, and since a shorter or tighter string is harder to stretch, it vibrates faster than a longer or looser string. A thicker string produces lower notes than a thinner string because the moves more air when in motion.
There are many different tunings for the guitar, but the most common is known as "standard tuning", or E tuning. In standard tuning the strings should be tuned to the notes EADGBe. This means that the thickest string should play the low E note, and then the next thickest should play an A and so on, finishing with the thinnest playing a high E.
Standard tuning is often represented in a method similar to the diagram below. Note that the upper case E represents the thickest string, and the lower case e represents the thinnest string, which means that the lowest string on the diagram is the highest string on the guitar. This is meant to represent how the guitar looks when a player looks down on it. For further information, please see the Tablature section.
E|-----------------------| B|-----------------------| G|-----------------------| D|-----------------------| A|-----------------------| E|-----------------------|
To adjust the pitch of a string, you twist the tuning peg, and the tighter the string the higher the pitch. When doing this, it is important to make sure you are turning the correct peg for the string you are trying to tune. It is both confusing and embarrassing when you turn the wrong peg, often because you have to start all over again.
Until you have developed your musical ability, it may be difficult to know exactly what a particular note should sound like. Any guitar or music store will sell tuning aids, such as tuning forks, pitch pipes and electric tuners. When properly used, these allow you to precisely tune each string to the appropriate pitch. Almost every guitar player owns some sort of tuning aid, and new players are encouraged to purchase one. Tuning aids are important because they can give you reference notes. Unless you have perfect pitch, these methods will only tune the guitars strings relative to one another, and while this may be good for practicing, it is bad for the long term.
On the guitar neck, fingering each fret raises the pitch of the note a half-tone. In an octave, there are twelve half-tones, which means that if you play any note, the note 12 frets above that is twice as high in pitch. Any two notes are related by a certain number of half tones, which is called an interval. The guitar is tuned in fourths, meaning that the string above is tuned to the note on the fifth fret of the string below it. For example, the note on the fifth fret of the A string is a D, which is the note of the string above it. This relationship of a fourth is the same for any string and the one below it, except for the G and B strings. The note G is separated by only four half-tones or frets, which makes this interval a major third. Scales are explained in much greater depth in the scales chapter. Information on general music theory, including scales and intervals can be read in the Music wikibook.
[edit] Regular Tuning
Tuning by ear (also known as the fifth fret method) involves getting a single string at the correct pitch, and then using that as a reference point to tune the other strings. Because of this, a tuning aid is useful to ensure that the first string is properly tuned. It is best to use the A as the reference string, because it lies in the middle of the root notes of the most commonly played chords. A perfectly tuned A string resonates at a frequency of 440 Hz.
To tune by ear, begin by hitting the A string, and then the low E string. Pick the notes hard, and let the sound ring out, since the louder it is, the easier it is to hear the difference between notes. Turn the tuning peg up or down to bring the notes into unison. When the notes are close together, you should be able to hear a very fine oscillation between them. This should get slower when the notes are closer together, and should disappear entirely when they are in tune. Your ability to hear this oscillation is a skill that develops over time, and you should not become discouraged if it is really hard at first. You should always hit the string that is in tune first, so you have that sound in your mind when you hit the out of tune string. Once the two notes have been brought into unison continue onto the next string.
On the diagram below, each string has a number indicates the fret you play to tune the string above it.
e|-------------------0---| B|---------------0---5---| G|-----------0---4-------| D|-------0---5-----------| A|---0---5---------------| E|---5-------------------|
Also, when tuning it is always a good idea to tune the string upwards to its proper pitch. By just tuning down to a pitch, you introduce slack into the string and it goes out of tune much faster. So if the string is too high, it is best to tune it very low, and then back up to the correct pitch.
A good way to tell whether the string is perfectly in tune is to see if the other string resonates to it. For example, if you wanted to make sure the A string is in tune with the E, pluck the fifth fret of the E string (hard) and mute it. If the strings are tuned perfectly, the A string should be ringing even after the E string is muted, with little appreciable change in volume.
[edit] Harmonic tuning
Another more advanced method of tuning is called harmonic tuning. In this method of tuning, you use the harmonic tones of the strings to produce high pitch sounds, and then use these to tune. Because the notes are of a higher pitch, they are easier to tune because even minor changes in pitch are more easily noticeable. Rather than actually touching the string to a fret, simply touch the string directly above the fret. Then, pluck the string and quickly remove your finger. This should produce a high pitched ringing tone, known as a harmonic.
The easiest places on the string to produce a harmonic are on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th fret. Because of the interval between the G and B strings is a third, to tune the string harmonically you must use the low E string. For more information, please see the Harmonics chapter of this book.
The diagram below shows the frets one must his to create the necessary harmonics for standard tuning.
e|----------------------7*---| B|------------------0---5*---| G|-------------7*------------| * = Play a harmonic at this fret D|--------7*---5*------------| A|---7*---5*-----------------| E|---5*-------------7*-------|
It is also be noted that this method will not provide perfect equal temperament tuning. It is extremely similar, but a picky guitar player may prefer the previous technique.
If there is a substantial difference in pitch when tuning via regular or harmonic, the intonation on your guitar is off. The easiest way to tell, is to perfectly tune your 12th fret harmonic with a tuner, and then fret at the twelfth. If the 12th fret is not in tune, while the harmonic is, your intonation needs adjustment.
[edit] Problems with Tuning
If you try and you try and your guitar absolutely will not go in tune, be patient and remember that even the best guitarists sometimes have trouble tuning. If the guitar has trouble staying in tune, take it to a repair shop. There may be something wrong with the neck or frets, and an experienced luthier can discover the problem. Guitar intonation tuning method.
[edit] Amplifier setup
Unless your amplifier only has the preamp control, you have many other knobs you can play with to make your guitar sound great. Before you begin setting up your amp, you should always make sure that you:
- Set all the volume knobs and gains to its lowest setting.
- Set the guitar volume to the lowest setting, and plug it into the amplifier. Always plug in before you turn the amp on, so you do not make it "pop".
- Turn on the amplifier. If it is a tube-based model and has the standby switch, throw it to standby mode too, to warm up the tubes.
- If it's a tube base model, Wait at least 15 seconds; optimally you should give it 5 minutes, especially for the large amplifiers. Otherwise skip to next part.
- If you have a passive pickup, plug into "high" plug. If you have an active pickup, plug into "low". If you have only one plug, just plug it in.
After this, there are three main ways that have been used.
Method 1:
- Bring the guitar's volume knob somewhere between low volume and medium. Play a chord
- Begin to bring amplifier master volume up (if you have one), then channel volume, then gain up, to 5. This should be your basis for setting up. If it's too loud, bring down the volume, and if not enough distortion, bring up the gain.
Method 2:
- Bring the amplifier's gain and volume to 11
- Tweak the volume with the guitar volume knob. If there are too much distortion bring down the gain.
Method 3:
- Bring the guitar volume knob to its max.
- Gradually bring up the volume on the amplifier. You should not need to bring it above 2.
- Bring up the gain; bring down the volume when needed.
Aside from the gain and volume setting, you may want to tweak the EQ settings. Here's a few samples:
- Clean: Clean channel; Gain 1-5; bass 5, mid 5, treble 5
- Blues: Overdrive channel; Gain 5; bass 7, mid 3, treble 5
- Metal: Overdrive channel; Gain 11; bass 11; mid 2; treble 7
When you have finish playing, turn all the knobs to the lowest settings first. If it's a tube amplifier, you may even need to let it cool down (either on standby or just on) for another 5 minutes.
[edit] Tremolo Bar torque
One of the first things you will have to set up on electric guitar, especially if you find the tremolo bar keeps falling toward the ground. There are a few different methods.
- On a low end models like Squier stratocaster, you just need to screw in the tremelo bar, by rotating the bar clockwise, Until it tightens up. The problem with model is that you do not have much control on the bar's position during playing.
- On other models, that you merely plug in the whammy bar, you may have a capscrew, which you insert the bar through it into the bridge. Afterward, screw it in until tighten.
- Another approach for the plug-in whammy is to tighten with an allen key hole, nearby the bar's hole on the bridge. The instruction booklet will usually explain where it is, and how to tighten it.
Ideally you want the bar at a 45 degree angle toward the ground, allowing it to be easily grabbed.
