Tuning On The Fly

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
Don't you still have to reach up and turn the peg of the out of tune string?

Maybe there's a device that gets a signal from a tuner and even turns the peg for you.o_O
 

JPsuff

Blackstar Artist
There really is no scientific or technical way to do this.

It boils down to feel and a little deductive reasoning.
Say you're playing a Blues in Gm and you like to bend strings.
The most common bends occur on the G string (fifth fret) and the E string (eighth fret) and since bending stretches the string it stands to reason that either one or both strings have gone a bit flat and so you tweak the respective tuning pegs on each and you're good to go.

It's not rocket science.
 

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
Don't you still have to reach up and turn the peg of the out of tune string?

Maybe there's a device that gets a signal from a tuner and even turns the peg for you.o_O

Do you want Skynet? Because that's how you get Skynet. :eek:
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
Yeah, I have a polytune pedal and if I kick it in, it mutes the guitar (as a tuners should)
I also have a head stock polytune which seems redundant, but maybe worth it.
The thing about the poly tune is that as far as I know, you can't be playing a chord for it to really work. and you can't just strum open strings in the middle of a song, so hearing it and knowing what to do seems best to me.
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
I use a DigiTech ht-6. I think these go for like 50 bucks on reverb now.

But doesn't that have the same draw backs?
1) Kick the tuner on and all sounds dies so it won't work in the middle of a song
2) It expects open strings not a chord in the middle of a song.

Just about ANY tuner will work before you start the song, but after s solo full of big bends strings sometimes go out of tune, but you gotta keep playing. Plus if you are like me, by the time you get to the end of the song I'm thinking about the next song or a request I just received so I for get to tune between songs.
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
Houseflies beat their wings at about 200 Hz. A slightly sharp G.
 
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Al Holloway

Devizes UK
Yeah, I have a polytune pedal and if I kick it in, it mutes the guitar (as a tuners should)
Is it a 1 or 2? The Polytune 3 has a built in bonnafide buffer. If you set the dip switches to engage the buffer you can have the tuner always on without muting the sound. I have mine in this setting. Great to see if a note is in tune as you play and excelent for practicing bends.

cheers

Al.
 

Crossroads

Thump the Bottom
But doesn't that have the same draw backs?
1) Kick the tuner on and all sounds dies so it won't work in the middle of a song
2) It expects open strings not a chord in the middle of a song.

Just about ANY tuner will work before you start the song, but after s solo full of big bends strings sometimes go out of tune, but you gotta keep playing. Plus if you are like me, by the time you get to the end of the song I'm thinking about the next song or a request I just received so I for get to tune between songs.


Do you normally turn down your guitar volume between songs? If so stepping on the tuner would replace that.

If not, you might want to build it into your practice routine. Stick it right with your (Thank You very much, or Please stop throwing fruit) whatever you say between songs.

After a while you will become like Pavlov's dog, every time you say thank you very much, you will be looking for a tuner to step on.
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
Is it a 1 or 2? The Polytune 3 has a built in bonnafide buffer. If you set the dip switches to engage the buffer you can have the tuner always on without muting the sound. I have mine in this setting. Great to see if a note is in tune as you play and excelent for practicing bends.

cheers

Al.

I have one of each. I completely forgot about the switches on the Polytune3!
Of course one answer leads to another question. I can set it to be True Bypass or Buffered Bypass...
I know that @Griff was talking about buffering during our last AAP session and said that I probably didn't need to worry about buffering, but now that I have an easy option, what are the pros and cons of True Bypass vs Buffered Bypass?
 

Iheartbacon

Blues Junior
If you have a long chain of pedals cables and connectors you will lose a ton of tone unless there is a buffer up front, preferably in the first pedal or on the guitar. If you have a short simple chain or you have a ton of buffers already, you may prefer true bypass.

Ideally, I want every pedal to be true bypass except the first one.
 

Griff

Vice Assistant General Manager
Staff member
I have one of each. I completely forgot about the switches on the Polytune3!
Of course one answer leads to another question. I can set it to be True Bypass or Buffered Bypass...
I know that @Griff was talking about buffering during our last AAP session and said that I probably didn't need to worry about buffering, but now that I have an easy option, what are the pros and cons of True Bypass vs Buffered Bypass?
Truly, the best thing to do is try it one way, switch it, and listen to it the other way. If you hear a difference, go with the one you like better.

If you don't hear a difference, flip a coin :)
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
Truly, the best thing to do is try it one way, switch it, and listen to it the other way. If you hear a difference, go with the one you like better.

If you don't hear a difference, flip a coin :)

With my ears I think it's coin time.
 
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