He now tunes very close to ET on all strings and all pedals; and knee lever changes. So everthing is pretty close to straight up 440 (referenced). He may very slightly flatten (no where near JI) his thirds to compensate for any temperature drift in the sharp direction.

So does Weldon Myrick and a few others. Bill Stafford tunes straight up across the board also.

Or this is my understanding from many posts on this forum and in personal talks with him.

Unless I am mistaken this has nothing to do with BE's tuning. So we may be talking about two different things here. In the chart it shows the Emmons' company recommended temperament.

But I am almost positive Buddy does not use this temperament. This chart is almost a pure JI chart similar to Jeff Newman's chart, with the exception that Jeff uses a 442.5 reference rather than a 440 reference as shown in the Emmons Company chart.

Note how very flat the F's are on the F lever. Also note the D note on the 2nd string. Note how sharp the F#'s are. If one tunes this way and does NOT compensate, those F#'s will be WAY out of tune with the C#'s when the A pedal is engaged. This is typical of JI shifts from 440.

Again, Unless BE has changed recently I KNOW he tunes to mostly straight 440. Of course, I stand corrected if I am wrong.

quote:

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If you tune to straight 440, does this not drive you crazy to hear the 3rd...

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I've found that when I can tune by ear, which I prefer, and then check with a tuner afterwards, that's basically where I end up. I think I play in tune pretty well.

I also believe that good players play in tune intuitively, given that the guitar itself is reasonably close. Playing in tune is not a purely mechanical excercise IMO..

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It DOES drive many of us crazy. But strangely there ARE players who tune this way. Both Weldon Myrick AND Buddy Emmons tuned JI for over 30 yrs only to migrate to ET (straight up 440). As far as I know, my dear friend Bill Stafford has always tuned straight 440. I know he does now in any case. And there are others who tune straight up 440. Some of the western swing type players like Noel Boggs often tuned straight 440 on tunings like E13th. This is because this tuning can NOT be tuned straight JI using ANY two strings. It is the same problem, E9th players have trying to make the F#'s in tune with pedals up versus down when tuning JI.

I think MOST players tune some where more or less towards JI from ET. I personally tune dead on JI wherever possible. A few cases on C6th (B6 on U-12's) and in one case on E9th, I tune ET. But mostly JI everywhere else. But then I don't play in a band. And that can make a big difference.

I get a lot of flack and flames for saying this, but in my heart and soul I beieve ET is the ONLY correct way even though I can't stand it personally.

God bless you all,

ET is often explained as 12 notes equally spaced apart in tonal width (not physical width such as on a fretboard).

JI is often explained as being harmonically pure. That is; NO beats between given harmonics of any two notes (or strings in our case).

Volumes have been written on it. For hundreds of years it has been debated. It has been hashed and rehashed over and over on this forum for years. Like many things in life, it a scientific mystery that will NEVER be solved. Not on earth anyway. In heaven EVERY thing will be perfect. Praise Jesus.

Chet ATkins said it best on the stage once when he said,

"If I EVER get this Git' tar in tune I am going to solder it!!"

The answers to your other questions would be tooooo subjective for me to respond to.

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Steelin' Greetings
Marco Schouten
Sho-Bud Pro III Custom; Sho-Bud LLG; John Pearse bar; Emmons bar; Panther amp

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[This message was edited by Bill Terry on 05 March 2003 at 11:09 AM.]

I flat the G#'s about 4 cents; C#'s 4-8 cents; and F's 8-12 cents -- AND tune the E's with A+B down. Everything else is pretty much 440. Works for me.

And, by the way, Buddy Emmons DOES use a tempered tuning. ET (the T stands for Temperament).

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro

[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 05 March 2003 at 01:09 PM.]

As far as tweaking the G#s with pedals down, what I'm talking about is actually tweaking the A's at the tuning machine, not the changer (like a P/P), to sound in tune in an A chord, then re-checking the pedals up G#s by ear again. I'm sure that sounds strange, but it's how I do it... Obviously if your changer is out of tune, that process will never converge .

BTW, I have a P/P and a LeGrande, and I use more or less the same 'method'(?) for both.

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Buddy currently tunes to 440, (with the thirds at around 438.5,) and has for quite a while.

I'd love to hear someone prove me wrong, but, like others, I've tried it and 438.5 was about as close as I could come and keep my dinner down. I believe Buddy said something similar.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 10 March 2003 at 04:20 PM.]