posted 30 November 2000 02:50 AM         

I finally got round to learning the harmonic tuning from the Winnie Winston book and guess what - the pedals were way out of tune.

I then tuned them at the end plate and the whole guitar sounds totally different.

From now on its harmonic tuning all the time!

posted 30 November 2000 07:49 AM         

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LC. WILLIAMS U12, SHO-BUD PRO1,CARVIN TL60

posted 30 November 2000 08:01 AM         

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Regards,

John

Steelin' is a way of life!

My PSG website-Carter SD-12-U, 8p/5k, Nashville 1000

posted 01 December 2000 12:37 PM         

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Basil Henriques
Emmons D-10 1970
and
Emmons D-10 1970 "Anniversary"
1949 "Leilani"
1949 Dickerson
RICKENBACKER "Olde Uglie" Twin 8
"Fender 1000"

quote:

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Steel players do it without fretting

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http://homepage.tinet.ie/~basilhenriques/

http://www.stax-a-trax.com/

posted 02 December 2000 10:17 AM         

Here is some "long winded" information on tuning:

"Tuning the Beats Out" refers to obtaining pure intervals between strings. It is usually referred to as "Just Intonation Tuning" or "Harmonic Tuning". For instance, if you have a root "E" string tuned to 164.8 Hertz (Cycles per Second) and you wish to tune your fifth interval, ie. "B" string pure, you would tune the "B" to 247.2 Hertz. When you do this, the second harmonic of the "B" and the 3rd harmonic of the "E" are the same (494.4 Hertz) frequency. These are the only harmonics of these two notes that are close enough in frequency to interact with each other in such a way that the human ear can detect a dissonance.

As an example, if your lower "E" string was tuned to 164.8 Hertz (this is the frequency of the E9th lower "E" note relative to the Equal Temperament "A"=440 Hertz tuning, which the rest of the band is using), and your "B" string was slightly mistuned flat to 245.2 Hertz, the second harmonic of the "B" note would now be 490.4 Hertz. Your ears will hear a third tone of 4 Hertz (494.4 - 490.4) when you play the two strings together. This is called the beating tone. As you gradually tune the two strings to each other, the beating tone will diminish in frequency until it is gone completely. These Hertz values are given as absolute frequency values. On a typical tuner, the "E" would be straight up and the out of tune "B" would be -2 Hertz (-8 cents). In a "Just Intonation" tuning, the thirds (i.e. G# on the E9th) are tuned considerably flat(-3.5 Hertz) to an "Equal Temperament" tuning.

A major triad is said to be in "pure tuning" when the three pitches forming it are in the frequency ratio of 4:5:6 i.e. no beats. "Just tuning" of a major key is defined as that tuning which puts the three primary triads in "pure tuning". Even though tuning the beats out on a PSG is "just intonation" to an extent, there are several diatonic intervals other than the primary triad's i.e. 2nds, 6ths, 7ths, and minors, that are usually included in a steel guitar tuning. Since it is impossible to tune the beats out of all these intervals with a reasonable fixed number of strings and stops, compromises are always made.

Because of the differences in pitch of some notes as referenced to A=440, some chord positions have to be fretted sharp to the fret marker when using JI tuning. Luckily, the steel is not a completely fixed intonation instrument and allows the player to adjust most notes to best fit the situation. Some players who play extensively with keyboards and guitars have chosen to tune in "equal temperament" to simplify the adjustment process. In a live situation, the sharpened thirds are hardly noticeable.

A good rule of thumb for converting Hertz deviation from standard tuning (i.e. A=440) to cents deviation on each note is 1Hz = 4 cents. For instance, if a chart says tune your G# 3.5 Hz low, then you would tune the note 14 (3.5 x 4 = 14) cents low on your tuner. This conversion will let you convert any chart that you want to try into cents deviation. This will convert Jeff Newman's or Scotty's readily available charts and if you want to try some of the other guys "split the difference" charts, just make the conversion from their Hertz values and write down the cents deviation into your own chart. The chart values in Scotty's books are in Hertz deviation even though they aren't labeled as such.

A harmonic at the 7th fret on a root string produces the fifth note of a triad. The harmonic at the 12th fret produces the first octave. Harmonic at the 5th fret to get the second octave. A harmonic at the 4th or 9th fret (hard to hear) produces the third note an octave up. Compare it with the 5th fret octave of the string that you want to tune to a third.

The best way that I know to get a good Just Intonation tuning is to tune the pedal/lever combinations to the open strings that make up part of the chord that you want from that combination. Tune the "E"s first to a reference standard. Harmonic the eighth string at the 7th fret to get the "E" chord 5th tone "B". Tune the beats out on the fifth string to this note using the harmonic at the 12 fret. Next, harmonic the root note string (E) at the 4th fret and tune the higher pitched string with the 3rd of the chord (G#) to it using that string's harmonic at the 5th fret. This harmonic combination is hard to hear, but it will give you a true 3rd note for the open "E" triad.

The seventh and ninth strings are usually tuned to a "D" triad using the pedal down "A" on the sixth string as the fifth tone and the seventh string "F#" as the 3rd.

Tune the pedaled "A" as the root of an "A" chord using the open "E" note as the 5th of the triad. The pedaled "C#" is then tuned as the 3rd of the "A" chord.

The Emmon's setup "C" pedal is usually tuned as a "F#" minor using the seventh string as the root. Since the seventh string "F#" is already tuned to match the "D" triad with the ninth string instead of the open "E" chord, the "F#" raise on the fourth string will not match the first string "F#". The "C#" will match the regular "B-C#" raise.

The "F" raise is tuned to be the 3rd of a "C#" triad using the pedal down "C#" on the fifth string as the root note and the open sixth string "G#" as the 5th.

The Eb lower is tuned to be the 3rd of a "B7" chord using the open string "B" notes as the root.

The G split is tuned using the fourth fret harmonic against the open B on the fourth string.

The C split is tuned using the fourth fret harmonic against the open E on the third string.

The fifth string Bb lever is tuned using the 12 fret harmonic against the fourth fret harmonic of the first string. Tune the tenth string to the fifth by harmonics at the 12 fret against the open fifth string.

Many players use a similar process, but set their benchmark as the pedals down "A=440" note instead of the pedals up "E". The same theory works to tune, but you just have to rearrange the steps. This results in your "A" notes being dead on to equal temperment and your "E" note slightly off. It is a user preference as to which pedal position that you want the root dead on.

The same method works on the C6th neck.

Twelve tone "Equal Temperament" tuning is a logarithmic tuning method that was developed to allow fixed intonation instruments such as the piano to play in all keys. The fretboard on standard guitars and pedal steels is calibrated to the equal temperament scale. This method distributes the out-of-tuneness equally among all intervals. Most electronic tuners are calibrated to tune 12 tone Equal Temperament with A=440 Hz as the reference.
In a triad, the EQ thirds are 14 cents sharper than a pure Just tuning. Tuning straight up to a tuner will give you an ET tuning. All notes are fretted directly on top of the fret marker using this method. Most musicians agree that the triads produced by an ET tuning are not as pretty sounding as those produced by a JI tuning. Each method slightly colors the music and each has it's proponents.

Hope this helps you,

Bill Rowlett