Making Records with Eric Valentine - Guitar Tuning

In this episode, I dive into the confusing and frustrating world of keeping guitars in tune and intonated. I also discuss the application of "Just Intonation" on guitars in the modern world of tempered tuning with an example of how to capture guitars with the tuning sweetened for every chord. Brace yourselves for 1:40:00 of guitar tuning haha!!

[@corndogsanchez2752]

I've been playing guitar for 50 years, and this is the most thorough and scientific exploration of guitar tuning I've ever encountered.

[@giordash]

Thanks Eric! Beyond just accepting that guitars will never be in tune, these are probably the best pieces of advice for getting as close as possible to being in tune. I had the good fortune of touring with one of Eddie Van Halen’s guitar techs and he showed me a bunch of tricks for intonation and tuning stability that I still use every day in the studio. For intonation, you can get even more accurate tuning up and down the neck if you intonate from the 3rd fret to the 15th, as opposed to the open to the 12th as there is a more representative average of the incremental change between frets - I believe John Suhr also does this with his guitars. For stability, first is to stretch the absolute shit out of your strings. You want to be able to pull on the string as much as your fingers will allow and have it maintain its tuning. Second, before putting on new strings, take some super fine 1500 grit sand paper and “credit card swipe” each nut groove - the gunk that gets in there from playing has A LOT to do with why any string, but most frustratingly the g, will get caught or slip on Gibsons. Third, after you’ve got the gunk out, add a drop of nut lube to each groove to prevent further catching/slipping. Using this method on a 3x3 headstock config, I can bend any string completely off the fretboard and it stays absolutely dead on in tune. Follow the same steps on a Strat and you could throw it down a flight of stairs and it would still be in tune (although it was an accident, I can say I’ve tried this). Hope this helps! Thanks again :)

[@mark78750]

Thanks for the tips!

[@giordash]

Mark Anderson no problem!

[@ThomasLebeaumorley]

Thanks!

[@evankeal]

I agree, those 3 things will resolve most string nut and bridge binding issues, along with locking tuners to deal with the machine head point of tension.

[@evankeal]

It's always the G, why?

[@johndcoffee632]

1 hour 40 minutes on tuning guitars... Thanks Eric, you're a legend.

[@leonardtemma]

Holy crap...tuning for each chord shape! This is a revelation for me. Thank you, Eric. I've always been a fan of the sound of TEB's "perfect" sounding first album. When it comes to the guitars, I had assumed much of the "perfection" in the chords and intervals on the record had to do with Cadogan using alternate tunings and that there were more open strings resonating than would be possible in standard tuning. However, after seeing this video, I am hearing all those perfectly tuned intervals that simply aren't possible to play on a guitar with 6 strings tuned exactly the same throughout an entire song. This is mind-blowing information for me. I would venture to guess you employed this technique on TEB's first album. Thank you for putting in so much effort into your craft and for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@mesamarshall]

Hey, So I'm someone that has played for 16 years. I set up all my guitars and generally get them to what I need them to be. I thought when I saw the title and watched the introduction that I wouldn't necessarily learn anything about tuning guitars.... Oh boy was I wrong! (and glad about it). You're an invaluable source of information and inspiration. I'm really grateful for all that I have learnt watching your videos and experimenting. Cheers!

[@cidicorp]

Same here. Played guitar for 11 years, thought I knew a decent amount. Most of this stuff was new to me

[@emrahalpat]

27 years here - I was familiar with about 70% of it but still got the 30% I didnt know.

[@charlescartereau]

Hi Eric, and thanks fort this, your words and examples are perfect. There is all what is hard to "explain" to my hard rocking "play it loud and it's OK" buddies ! Tuning a guitar always drove me nuts, until some years ago I discovered the Sonic Research strobe tuners. They do what your asking for, recalling your own custom tuning temperaments. My Turbo Tuner ST-200 can store three of them, Sonic Research released newer models (ST-300) but mine never let me down even on rude stages. I do your way to average or match tunings to my needs, the Turbo Tuner is a bit rough to set (I had the Peterson Strobostomp before, much more user friendly but unfortunately died), but once done, you're set for life. Sorry for my not very fluent english, and cheers from France !

[@adammenczykowski]

This is deep. I had no idea. I just thought I was bad at tuning, but it is a master craft to maintain tuning, and everything, EVERYTHING affects everything else! As always, thank you Eric!

[@BD-me4nk]

Eric is amazing. The attention to detail is so beyond average and the content so good that he does not have to do all the click bait and gimmicks to hold peoples attention. I watch every one of these videos start to finish or come back if I can't watch one in it's entirety.

[@floydolivermusic]

The major third part absolutely blew my mind. I'd been thinking for two decades that something was wrong with my ear... Wow. Thank you.

[@zekebeckman]

Saaame

[@Journeymanlive]

great episode ! can't help but be amazed again by the genius of Allan Holdsworth with the headless guitars with only one bridge pick up ( less pull, no head so minimizing mechanical issues, fantastic tuners). Her knew what he was doing!

[@chasetheacewest]

Watching this made me realize that I’ve instinctively stayed away from playing major thirds. I’ve always been neurotic about tuning. Glad there’s others out there that feel the same!! Lol

[@Youturnswillie]

Extremely informative, thanks for simplifying all of these tuning issues we all come across

[@crestiferj2689]

tuning the g string slightly flat is a trick i've used for years in the studio. it has always driven me nuts too that the major 3rd is that far off. you nailed it all as usual, eric. so many hours and days in the studio trying to get guitarists to play in tune. most of them would fight me but then when they'd hear the end results they were always happy.

[@DanielGlenTimms]

Eric, yours is my favorite production channel on KZbin. I appreciate what you are doing. I know if must be time consuming. Your generosity is appreciated. I recently bought a Gibson J45 progressive with the G-Force tuning system. Many people hate the system, but since I use many alternate tunings on acoustic, it is great for quickly switching tunings without ear fatigue. Once you learn the quirks of the system, it works great. Having high quality instruments has made my tuning issues much less of a problem when recording. Live is another animal altogether though. Thanks for your vids!

[@jameslehmann3598]

Who knew watching a man tune a guitar for 1.5hrs could be so fantastically engaging. And I'm not even a guitarist! Thank you Eric for sharing your knowledge, humour and expertise. Quick question - what methods/tricks are available for suppressing the buzzing that often happens when you take your fingers off the strings?

[@kelvinfunkner]

absolutely the most definitive guitar tuning video I've ever come across...I'm a session guitarist and have been doing these things all my life...just didn't know the "why" behind it! Great to find out the history behind the "just" science and have confirmation that I'm not just insanely picky (or just insane...as some clients may think haha!) Thanks for an amazing place to point people to...especially young guitar players in bands that want to book a recording session and need some schooling ahead of time 🙂

[@timjonesguitar]

Never thought I'd watch a 1:40 long video on guitar tuning, but this very informative and very helpful. Thanks Eric!

[@bernoulli1]

Hey Eric: Peterson tuners website allows you to create your own custom sweetened tunings for a bunch of their tuners. The stroboclip can do what you are requesting in your video. I have a peterson tuner for my peddlesteel and created a bunch of desired tunings for each string and each peddal and each lever. Makes it way easier to tune that monster. I also just recently purchased a peterson stroboclip for string instruments like guitar. It has a USB jack so you can connect it to your computer and simply go to their website and create tons of custom sweetened tunings just like you requested in your video. I just did it a couple weeks ago. The stroboclip is the bomb for what you are desiring.

[@tristanpaxton51]

Never thought I'd watch 100 minutes of guitar tuning and be completely mesmerized. Thanks so much!

[@EDEN-LIMINAL]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Mr. Valentine. Another kind of people charge for even saying hello with much less knlowlege, displaying arrogance and self importance and caring only for the money. This is appreciated and needed, I must say. Gold information and very well put, you are a great communicator.

[@jamescassidy4045]

Wow, I never realized how much it can change depending on the position you hold it in, and the strap vs no strap! Thanks for that tidbit and this video Eric!

[@mjespo125]

Always so excited to see a new video

[@KrisMuhly]

Amazing stuff. As someone who's been recording mostly guitar based music for 10 years, learned lots of new tricks to try. Bonus points for the use of the Control + Option + V shortcut for comping in playlist mode :] Love the videos, looking forward to more!

[@illbelieveanything]

I restrung 4 Floyd Rose guitars the other night and I almost had an aneurysm.

[@davetbassbos]

Haha, true but Floyds do have some advantages especially elimination of the nut issues he mentions with Gibsons, of course if a string breaks on a Floyd it's a mess but the saddles are usually not prone to strings breaking. I think it's still the best option if you need a trem and not just for shredders, lol! also after watching him tuning reminded me a Floyds fine tuners are right at your finger tips.

[@twobearshighfiving1631]

I'm so sorry dude

[@Dirge4july]

Install a Floyd Rose Tremolo Stop Lock . It makes a world of difference. Ive had Floyd guitars my entire life and Once I discovered how much easier it makes the whole process I’ll be installing them in every Floyd equipped guitar from here on out.

[@axeman2638]

Floyd Rose' went out sometime in the 90s. why would you torture yourself with that? you can't do SRV trainwreck bends on a floyd rose, you bend one string, all the others go flat.

[@michaelcarey9359]

I'm guessing you're still using the locking nut with the FR? In the 90s, Fender released the Strat Plus Deluxe with a Fender/Floyd Rose trem that was "double locking" but no locking nut, only Locking tuners, locking bridge, and frictionless nut.... use a trem stop for the same "decked" effect. Works like a "normal" FR, just easier to string and tune... I have tow guitars with the non-fine tuner FR, locking tuners and LSR, and it takes two minutes, if you don't hurry. I got no nuts, but the LSR is "The Balls".

[@SamPura]

Yay!!! I love you Eric!!! Hahahaha.

[@GoldenNuggetRec]

This is explaining a lot of insanity in my life as well. Tuning the g string by ear using chords and the tuner telling me I'm out and then adjusting to the tuner and not liking it etc. Never realised I wasn't crazy tho! Amazing. This is also interesting because I recall hearing about John Lennon tuning his g string a little flat on purpose.

[@wyrlismike]

im about to record my record and i had searched for this kinda thing for a bit and never found it, knowing i had to step up my tuning game for the album. thanks EV!!

[@johnvcougar]

You never thought you'd do this vid, but it's SO FREAKING IMPORTANT!!! So many rookie players don't get this. Drives me nuts (pun intended).

[@declanwhite]

god, this makes me appreciate all of my evertune guitars even more.

[@secondslate7158]

Literally came here to say this myself haha. Years and years of having to punch random chords in are now gone forever!

[@BrandonWhalen]

SAME. I can't stand picking up an out of tune guitar anymore. I only use my standard guitars for leads.

[@declanwhite]

Brandon Whalen yep! Leads only

[@ChrrZ]

oh yeah, gotta love my evertune guitars as well

[@jollytuber00]

dudes in search of the perfect tone. do not forget, if your song is shit, evertune guitars still wont help you. ;)

[@thundercrap]

Your exhaustive is my inhalation. God bless you sir.

[@GusAndrade]

Damn... As an "experienced" guitarist, I've known about almost all of these problems for a while. THANK YOU SO MUCH for actually giving us some amazing solutions. Mainly I've been really suffering with the major 3rd issue, specially when recording live guitar. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[@ChrrZ]

100% agree on tuning up the the not as well, always!! and another tip, if you take the guitar, and the note is a little bit sharp, i alwas pull the string and not turn down the tuning peg.. usually by just pulling the string, takes the tuning a little bit flat and you can then massage it back perfectly to the note with the tuner and you are well set for playing and bending.

[@henrylunetta]

Super helpful and informative as always (even for me as a guitarist)! On the mention of The Story So Far record, would love to see a mix deconstruction of one of their tracks. Love what you did with "Keep This Up" and "Out of It." You're the man, Eric!

[@zekebeckman]

All my music-life I've been thinking I'm crazy when intonating and tuning guitars. It makes me so happy to hear you say the frets aren't made to work justly. 😅

[@premeditatedukulele8525]

👍on tuning "up" to the note... if I'm sharp, I'll drop below the note and slide up. The process reminds me of the sport of curling 🥌:) as you're tuning up to the desired pitch like sliding the stone down the ice toward the target. Makes me giggle :) Such great videos! thanks!

[@Ramplcro]

Cool video. Very nice to see the detailed view of tuning instability and how to approach it. Thanks Eric. I have never gone that deep about it but i do tend to adjust tuning (by ear) by chord shapes song requires. Sometimes individual string bending in a cord helps (if you can pull it of). If you want to record a player by not giving him his instrument/s a good idea would be to let him acclimate to that particular instrument/s. Different guitars, different fret heights and string gauges influences how you play (same thing goes for the amps) and it's going to influence his confidence and his performance. Extreme example would be giving a "regular" guy used to 10s a scaloped jumbo fret guitar with 8s and expect good instant results. :D Other thing i would add is that no matter how much guitar costs going to a luthier and let him set the nut slots properly will improve tuning in the lower frets- nut set lowest possible, without string pinching sound+string grabbing. Remember to clean your nut and saddle slots (old string wrapped in soft cloth/paper) and to lubricate if necessary with led pencil, clean your string regularly and change them accordingly.

[@jimtippens]

Awesome Tech Info. The DNA Of Tuning Mastery. This Is Great. I've Been Playing 41 Years. Toured 10 of Those Europe, America, About 1982 I Got The Floyd Rose Fever Had To Have It On Almost EVERYONE Of My Usual 17-27 Electrics Fender Mostly Though Ibanez, Schecter, Jackson For 7 Stringers. Wow It Took At Least 20 Years To Learn Half The Stuff To Be Able To Quick Change Strings, One String Off One String On, Always Leave Tremolo With Last Push Down 🔽 About 20 Tips I've Learned To Still Love The Floyd Rose System. This Documentary Lesson Really Gets Way More In Depth To Issues I Hadn't Even Considered?🙄 Thank You For Pure Awesomeness. ❤ Ps: New Subscriber.😁 Burbank Ca WB Union Worker.

[@johnmerrifield1047]

Wow Eric - I din't think anyone could teach me much about tuning I didn't already know but you've taught me some cool stuff - thanks!

[@Jefffdale]

Great content as always. Tuning guitars in the studio provides some pretty profound life lessons with the most dominant being just go with the flow, life ain’t perfect.

[@Folk661]

Solid info dude!. Definitely wish musicians would learn to tune their instruments by ear, and touch more. When people come into the studio with hi quality instruments and tune with the good strobe tuner, then act surprised that their instrument isn’t jiving with the piano, or bass tracks, I always just try to advocate to get it close, use your ears, and feel your instrument. Thanks Erik!

[@niallhanley4815]

Fantastic video, loved the hairdryer demo on the string :D I've been playing electric guitar for 20 years..and struggled with the tuning issues most of that time. Trying to fix that sour major 3rd especially on the the A D E open chords..Grrrrr I recently bought a book ' Tuning the Guitar - The science and the Art ' by Brian Capleton ( a piano tuner guy) which is 122 pages (!) Well worth a read and he has a few methods to get optimum results quickly. cheers!

[@williamramzel8728]

Hey Eric great video!!! A helpful topic maybe for a future segment would be accessorizing a song. I know a lot of people over look this area while you exceed in this department. Shakers, Tambo, keyboard stabs, hand percussion, etc... what’s the secret to get a great Take? I know some say to play behind the beat while others say right on top? Best mics to use? Up close or room? Best rhythmic patterns to apply to beats and sections? Secret percussion tricks to reinforce drums? Example, I’ve observed shakers filling in a lot over hi hat parts over the years. You wouldn’t eat a cake that wasn’t decorated, so show us how to put the final touches on and accessorize a song!

[@noiseinthebasement8139]

Good job & good discussion, Eric. Thanks! (Cool t-shirt, too!)

[@matiascova]

His experiments were mind blowing. This guy KNOWS.

[@pijon2955]

Good to see you swear at your phone/computer etc.; glad I'm not the only, find myself doing it on a daily basis. Thanks for the good stuff, Eric. So much learned from these videos.

[@Ulti]

Very interesting video, and I have to say I appreciate that you picked an affordable guitar with that headstock to illustrate your points. I think most guitar players at some point become very familiar with what a fucking nightmare those can be.

[@ChrrZ]

such a fantastic video, so much details and interesting aspects!! thank you very much Eric, i also love the evertune system and really hope that more and more brands will be offering factory installed evertune bridge on their guitars as an option. btw, i do intermediate fasting(16/8 hours) and it works great for me , the biggest (only) challenge was to align my eating times and the eatings times of my wife together so that we both fit into the 8hours were we are allowed to eat, have you tried that one out as well Eric?

[@mr_starbeast]

Eric, I have a question for you and hopefully you even see this. In an earlier video you mentioned you prefer mixing into the limiter so there’s no surprises in compression or frequencies. Does this still apply if you’re not going to be the one mastering? Would a limiter affect the master, or is it better to have a track with no clipping/no limiter to send off for Mastering? Thanks 🙏🏽

[@mrwev]

Even if I am not mastering I feel it is still beneficial to mix into a mastering chain. Weather I am mastering or someone else the results will be similar. There will be a loss of transients and dynamics either by clipping or limiting so I feel your will better fortified for the loss if you’re hearing it while you’re mixing. Good question!!

[@timepaintertunebird8160]

My friend, just getting into music: how do you tune a guitar? Me:

[@inlovewithshadows]

I'm not even halfway through, this is an invaluable video. amazing, amazing knowledge, thanks for sharing

[@pianoatthirty]

Thank you for making this video! No need to get frustrated anymore with my guitars!

[@bootlegnjack]

Thank you! I’ve been running my G string slightly flat forever and now I actually know why I prefer it that way.

[@hotmilkcrewberlin4475]

I've been a live and session player for over 20 years (The Voice etc), and this is a very good and informative video. I need tune to parts all the time actually...Great stuff Eric! Also context is a real issue as you mentioned. Out of key stuff gives character and can be great if the performance is great. However, as soon as you play with keyboarders, especially in a "modern" pop context its very unforgiving. Which of course brings up the subject about how much people have gotten used to and are striving for flawless "perfection" these days. A social toping way bigger then just in the music context.

[@hotmilkcrewberlin4475]

Another thing that many players do not know is that Gibson measured the placement of the frets slightly inacurate back in the days. This will make you go sharp above the 12th fret and flat below. They have kept the formula to this day on the Gibsons and changed it only on the Epis. When you think about how much great music was played with this "flaw" however.....does it really matter?

[@boglot]

Hey Eric, massive fanboy here. Your videos have helped me immensely as someone who produces using a minimal setup in my bedroom. I’ve recently become obsessed with Third Eye Blind’s debut album because not only is the songwriting top notch, but the way you produced the album is absolutely magical. My favorite song on the record has to be I Want You. Very cool, laid back, sexy song in terms of the songwriting itself, but the way you got the song to come out of the speakers is a highly emotional experience for me. The whole album has plenty of moments where the production choices make the emotional content of the songs just scream out of the speakers. I’m certain that if anyone else produced that album, that band would not have blown up to the extent that they did. When I listen to that album I often think “Man, how genius is Eric Valentine?” instead of “Third Eye Blind really nailed it on this record”. Ok enough ass kissing. Any chance of a breakdown of any of the songs from that album? I’ve read the comments you posted about the album years ago on Gearslutz and found the information fascinating. Apologies if you’ve already discussed this in a video.

[@mrwev]

I'm trying to find a time to do that. Stephen is in possession of the masters so I'm organizing it with him. Hopefully in 2021 :)

[@boglot]

@@mrwev looking forward to it!

[@EDEN-LIMINAL]

@@mrwev Mr. Valentine, is the 3EB breakdown still on the works? Thanks for all of these fantastic info!

[@Kidneybean666]

Hey Eric, I would love to see a mixing deconstruction of a track from that The Story so Far record! I hadn't realised you mixed that, and I always thought it sounded outstanding. Thanks so much for what you do!

[@antonnordmark4316]

Hello Eric, just passing through to say my thanks for all the incredible insight. You must have accumuluted an incredible amount of intuitive decision-making over the years of doing this. It would be incredible to hear you try to explain some of those gut feelings; how about a video topic where you delve into how you usually start up a fresh mix session and proceed with its later stages of prioritizing and/or problem-solving? Is there a typical 'Eric Valentine' mixing workflow? That would be wonderful. I realize such topics are multi-faceted and hard to express in a way that is not - hum, shall we humorously say - 'reductively contemptful' for us in the audience. Regardless, thanks! :)

[@Khmissa]

thank you soooo much this video is really helpful

[@johnvcougar]

EV vlogging in his PJs! 😆 💙

[@RedMedicineRecording]

As I mentioned when I met you at NAMM, Evertune is a game changer, especially for rhythm guitars. I know those guys would love to get you one to try. Stay safe!

[@TheToolshedStudio]

The way the string are mounted does affect tuning stability quite a lot, I don't think you mentioned it and I see a lot of guitar players who make knots and like a bazillion turns around the tuning pegs and then complain that their guitar goes flat all the time. Thanks for this very long and informative video, that last part punching every single chord with their proper tuning was quite scary I must say !

[@OwixTV]

I composed a concerto for Organ (baroque), clavicembalo, spinetta etc and electric guitar. I had to lower the tuning to 416. The experience was so gratifying and acoustically pleasing that since then I have used lower tunings (432, 416). the singer also appreciates it. Thanks for your wisdom Eric.

[@OwixTV]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJusamaJZqd2g8k

[@cidicorp]

Do you have any recordings you have done in 432 hz? I also tune to 432, it helps the voice remain healthy!

[@hipnoise_studio]

Gotta love that sound fx Eric does when doing the guitar comp... tchu tchu tchu :-D

[@youknowwhoiam1714]

This is insane information! Thank you ❤

[@snapascrew]

Can’t wait for your next video!!!

[@nilsguitare]

Thanks! after all these years i know now that im not crazy !

[@Himynameislarry]

this is amazing. kinda explains why power chords are/were so popular in rock music

[@patrickdziurla5341]

Hey Eric, thank you so much for sharing this and all the other stuff. As always I learned so much (even though I've been playing guitars for years, shame on me haha!). One further question: Do you do these tuning marathons even when you record on tape? Or do you use the average tuning to prevent tape cutting marathons. Greets from Germany!

[@zach1113]

E. Val always has solid advice

[@elnyoutube123]

I find if you play (or have) 1 guitar, it makes figuring out the tuning for that guitar much easier. I have a 7 string Washburn with a Floyd Rose that sounds totally out of tune when you hit the strings open (no chords) but then when you play chords the guitar is suddenly in tune. When I tune it to be perfect tuning for all the open strings, all of a sudden all chords are out of tune. Its slightly different for all my guitars but sticking to 1 guitar for a while and learning it's tuning really helps. I imagine it's more of a pain in the ass when youre dealing with other peoples guitars all the time.

[@johnmorrison8618]

Did you forget to mention nut height and the 1000th of an inch nuance to cutting one properly? That is why at 57:24 the D strings going sharp. You were correct in your assessment of the prior A string being flat from bad fret placement, I would add bad fretwork to the list off possibilities. Nut lubricant goes a long way with those hang up issues you were having at the nut and finally - scale length attributes to string tension which is a huge factor as well here I don't think you touched on here.

[@johnmerrifield1047]

In my experience you don't need anything fancy to put on your guitar to keep it in tune but you do need to take it to a place to have the slots on the nut custom cut. You don't even need a special nut - just needs slots to be re-cut by a pro. I've heard so many people say they bought a guitar and struggle keeping it in tune because they won't pay a pro to set it up for them. There is a shop in Phoenix called Bronson Guitars I've gone to years and every guitar they've set up for me stays in tune to the point where it's insane. I even have a trem system on one that stays in tune all day. Having said that I still check tuning for good measure on almost every pass before I record. 9 times out of 10 for me it's not necessary but sometimes my tuning needs a slight adjustment. Also rather than rely on what my tuner tells me sometimes I find it's better to just hit power chords and octave shapes and tune until they sound really good. For some reason power chords really tell you if it's really really in tune. Maybe it's because as you bang out chords tuning changes slightly, so what better way to tune than doing it by hitting chords as you tune?

[@t_n8435]

The hair dryer was a very nice touch 🤣🤣

[@latheofheaven1017]

You could try True Temperament necks. I've got one on my Strat. Really helps. One day all guitars will be made that way!

[@lifeisreal212]

We had some great tips for tuning here. Thank you for all your work. I was pretty amazed by the bass tone you used at 1:19 for instance. It almost sounds like a big sub-synth. Would you mind explaining how you achieve that? Maybe it is a synth actually ^^ ?

[@AdamGotheridge]

Great vid, thanks so much. Couple things to add - VH Run-in' With Devil, b string tuned flat to make the major 3rd work. To get there fast manually, play open G and B string and tune the B so that it sounds like a car horn with the G, that's in tune. AC/DC Dirty Deeds, the low E is tuned flat so that the attack is in tune and as it settles and goes flat, it has a sinister quality about it that is cool. Lastly, I had to download the PayPal app on my iPhone for the qr code to work, didn't work in just safari. Maybe just add the PayPal.me link in the video comments would make it a little easier from the computer. Thanks again!

[@cary3428]

Bang on! There’s a lot to it. This Eric kid is pretty good!✌️🙏🎸💛

[@ChrrZ]

tuning to the context (chords, riffs, etc) makes really a difference!! i also find, that on most of my guitars, if i dont tune the open strings, but tune the fretted strings (5th or 7th fret), the tuning of the whole instruments resonates better within each other. On the tuner the open strings may be a little bit flat but the played open chords and played powerchords ultimately sounded a bit more cohesive, if you havnt tried this out yet, please give it a try!

[@cidicorp]

Gotta try that!

[@thejoshuatree03]

Similar to the question about tuning vocals to match the "fixed" tunings for certain chords... Every time I've tried this method, it starts to fall apart when we lay down leads over these chords or a second guitar playing maybe a variation of the chord somewhere else on the neck.... any tips for dealing with that kind of thing? Amazing video though, thank you so much!

[@promoted738]

It is an insane endeavor for sure. I only have trouble with electrics with light neck sets like SG's and recently a '66 Rickenbacker 360. I keep them for the studio - on the road it's a Tele or a Strat - no issues and I just don't have to think about all this crap. When I purchased the Ric I noticed how fragile the neck and tuning were and the shop owner said -"It's all about how bad you want that sound". He was right.

[@FrankTheAranda]

Awesome as always, Eric!

[@Dani-El.]

Intonation = 3 Fs ; if the Fretted note is Flat, move the saddle Forwards.

[@mrwev]

Good memory tool there! Thanks!

[@Dani-El.]

@@mrwev No worries, you just have to remember which way is Forwards! Kind of like the Hi-Pass / Low-Pass filter phenomenon - doh! Thanks for the reply X

[@zekebeckman]

Which way is forward 😂

[@infinaneek]

Thanks Eric! I learned a lot.

[@dykaneshiro]

With my Peterson Flip, I can change the temperament to "Just Major" and change the root note to whatever I want. From there I hold the chord shape I want and tune from there. I'm sure you could do the same with the software version. Great video.

[@MegaMixking]

great video - cheers from vegas

[@johnmerrifield1047]

You know what drives me nuts? How different tuners are calibrated so much differently. My Korg handheld tuner is completely different than what I get from the tuner I use when I am working in my DAW (made by Waves). I don't know if it's Korg being off, or it's because of Waves, Apple, or who to blame (if anyone is to blame) but it means I have to re-tune every string before I record - which I guess I would do anyway though. But then later I have to re-tune them again back to where they were, all to satisfy my Korg tuner! Argggh!!

[@zeusturquoise171]

Great video ! Very informative!

[@AshleyEWyatt]

Great video Eric

[@gravelandstudio]

maybe an episode about "TIME - JOE SATRIANI" ? What you've done in your younger years is amazing. Since I was a kid it struck me that that particular song/sound/production was different to the rest of Joe's work (and to my ears,..better sounding ;-) Turns out you had something to do with that. A lot of cool stuff in the production/mix etc

[@ChrrZ]

currently there is a trend with roasted maple necks, and my impression of those are, that due the extra-stiffness of the neck, the guitars also stays quite better in tune. i have one guitar, an old ernie ball musicman axis which sounds phenomenal, but this neck is so sensitive, its really an issue on the tuning, you literally have to adjust the neck to the weather outside, the good thing on this guitar though is, the access to the trussrod is very easy :D

[@thehowlingterror]

Oh that ending was fantastic.

[@TheFelineEmpire]

String Butler helps a lot on 3+3 headstock guitars.

[@rawkinj6609]

Tune up to a note, not down. Because tuning down to a note creates a tension in the nut slot that wants to release '' some more '' string when you start playing. Thank you Eric!

[@Richard_P_James]

How Mick Ronson ever kept his Les Paul in tune is a miracle when you see what he did with extreme pitch bending on the G-string from behind the bridge.

[@LaminarSound]

Ive been playing guitar 25 years. Ive been pretty OCD about tuning up until recently. Ive played on stage for years and the last couple of years ive been realizing that being a bit out of tune doesnt affect me much. Obviously Im talking just a little. Before I would literally check after every song, and sometimes MID song. But ive just realized i cant tell Im out of tune most of the time when Im actually out just a bit. So instead of chasing it constantly to be perfectly in tune, Im not just letting go of the OCD thing with tuning and paying more attention to the sounds coming off the strings, MORESO than what the tuner says.

[@max8591]

Incredible video!

[@matiascova]

loved the intro Eric!

[@chrismorrison5497]

Great video! Did not know about a few things, like positioning. Question, do you tend to tune to the attack or sustain of the note? Or does it vary?

[@mrwev]

I generally tune for the sustain. It is mostly because it is way easier for me to accurately tune the string. If I know I'm gong to be playing very hard or the guitar is tuned down and will be more likely to go sharp when playing, I'll offset what pitch I am tuning to. Maybe tune everything 20 cents flat. I also feel like the sharp attacks are usually pretty brief and don't register a pitch to your ear as clearly as the sustained notes. Ultimately, it always comes down to whatever sounds the most in tune to your ear and I always trust my ear over a tuner.

[@chrismorrison5497]

@@mrwev thanks for the response! That all makes sense. I can instantly tell when a guitar moves out of tune after the initial hit but not always the initial hit.

[@MrPatrickstreet]

You're an absolute king

[@timlovegrove1097]

A band once burned 2 hours of their weekend recording session with me because their guitarist brought in a brand new £3k Les Paul that hadn't been set up. Simply didn't stay in tune above the 5th fret, so was completely unusable and was the only guitar he'd brought with him. After discovering this several hours into getting the band set up, we had to break while I spent another couple of hours getting the intonation and action set up on the thing.

[@chrismorrison5497]

Just started but love the new theme!