How to tune an electronic guitar: step by step instructions

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Guitar, most likely due to its availability, has long been the most popular instrument in the world. And this is not surprising. With it, you can easily play music anywhere, in the yard, in the company of friends, in the apartment. You can take it on a hike and spend pleasant evenings by the fire. It can even light a fire! Joke!

History

Without delving too deeply into the history of the creation of the guitar, we note that this is a fairly ancient instrument. Its homeland is considered to be the countries of the Near and Middle East. Mentions of the first instrument, similar in shape to a guitar, are found in ancient architectural monuments, and it was called nablu. The modern guitar is, of course, very different from the nablus and many other ancient instruments that bear any resemblance to the guitar.

Design features

At the heart of the design of any guitar there are the same details. These are the neck, body, strings and pegs with which the instrument is tuned. They have different shapes, colors, but the principlealways alone. When you pluck the strings, you produce sound. As a rule, the sound is emitted by the soundboard of the guitar (body). And here we find the first differences. Enclosures come in acoustic, semi-acoustic, and one-piece enclosures, also known as "boards".

It's pretty simple with an acoustic cabinet. You're playing, and depending on how you're playing, certain sounds are coming out of the hole in the body of an acoustic guitar. But semi-acoustic and even more so “board” require a different approach. Despite the fact that semi-acoustics are generally similar to acoustics, there is a significant difference. You will not find in it the so-called rosette, the hole on the top of an acoustic guitar, located close to the neck. This hole carries a large functional load.

It is from it that the sound comes out, transmitted by the strings to the body and enriched with overtones. Therefore, in order to achieve a pleasant and loud sound on semi-acoustic guitars, pickups are installed that remove the electromagnetic vibrations of the strings and transmit them to the amplifying equipment. And these are already signs of an electric (electronic) guitar. It will be discussed further.

Turn on the lights

Being one of the most common and popular instruments, the guitar, despite its structural simplicity, today is presented in many of its varieties. In the twentieth century, thanks to the development of electronics and the need to amplify the sound of the guitar in orchestras, electric models appeared. Some call them electronic guitars. About the fundamental differences between the electric guitar (electronic)we will tell briefly.

This is the absence of a hollow body, instead of which there is usually a one-piece body, made both from one piece of wood and stacked. One or more magnetic pickups (sensors) are installed between the neck and the saddle (bridge). And they are the ones who make the guitar electronic. With their help, the acoustic vibrations of the strings are converted into electrical ones and, transmitted to the sound amplifying equipment, appear before us in one form or another.

Tuning

I would like to note that tuning an electric (electronic) guitar is not only tuning the strings, which will be discussed further, but also bringing the instrument to the desired conditions, for yourself (tuning). And the design makes it possible. Unlike conventional acoustic guitars, on an electric guitar, you can change not only the neck deflection, but also the height of the strings above the neck, as well as its working length, called the scale. The correct tuning of the guitar often depends on these parameters. Despite the fact that this process is available to anyone, you can contact the master for the first time.

Why the guitar doesn't build

So, with the help of the master, you brought your pet to mind, tuned the strings and became the happiest person! For a while. After some time, or even on the same day, you hear not quite favorable sounds after the extracted chord, and the melody that you only played on different strings suddenly became out of tune. And this is not surprising, because the strings tend to stretch, stretch andas a result, do not build. This happens for various reasons. From novelty, from the manner of playing, from temperature, etc. But do not be afraid. Do you know how to tune a guitar? Not? Then read on.

Unforgotten old

So how do you get the guitar to please the ear again if you just started talking to this beauty? There are many ways, and we will start with the old, proven for centuries. We pinch the second string at the fifth fret with our finger (the frets are such metal inserts on the fretboard) and pull it and the empty first string alternately. If you hear a difference in sounds, then proceed with the tuning. Turn the peg of the corresponding string in one direction or another. Carefully, first of all, not to overtighten or break the string. If the second string sounds higher (thinner) than the first, the string should be released, if it is lower, tighten it. And so to achieve the same sound. We perform similar procedures with all strings. 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6. Only, when tuning the third string, it is necessary to clamp it not on the fifth, but on the fourth fret. If your ear is able to distinguish the subtleties of sound, and the guitar is well tuned technically, then you can count on excellent tuning. You can recall another "grandfather" way - a wind tuning fork. If you have it, or found it in someone else's hands, blowing certain notes and manipulating the tuners can also produce an acceptable result.

Electronics in life

But what to do if your hearing is unaccustomed to not being able to distinguish sounds to the right extent? Tuning an electronic guitar by ear is not an easy task for a beginner. But don't be discouragedor every time to run to friends, a neighbor or pay for it to the master. Modern realities are such that, having bought the appropriate devices, having read the instructions, everyone is able to become a master of tuning an electric guitar. And one of them is called electronic guitar tuner. As a rule, this is a fairly simple device that is attached to the headstock with a clothespin. In some cases, you do not even need to press any buttons, the device will turn on by itself. The display will light up on the screen, which has a certain scale, and an arrow. Since the device is electronic, its arrow is also not an ordinary mechanical one, but a light one. Usually this is a bar that moves along the scale, in one direction or another.

If the device is monochrome, then its color is green in most cases. If color, then different colors will signal you about the degree of compliance. So, having pinned the device, we proceed to the electronic tuning of the guitar. And here everything is simple. Based on the principles of manipulations with pegs described earlier, we achieve the desired indication, which replaces our hearing. In the vast majority of cases, the center of the scale is used for this. If the glowing arrow is in the middle, you have achieved your goal! In addition, a color indication comes to the aid of the tuner. For example, with fine tuning, the color changes (it was red - it became green, or it was green - it became bright green).

And another important addition, especially for beginners, are the letters! These are Latin letters for notes. C - do, D - re, E - mi, F - fa, G - s alt, A - la, and B - si. Sometimes the note si is written as N. A letter hint will help you choose the right direction for setting up. Often, beginners turn the tuning pegs chaotically and, even with an electronic guitar tuner, are far from the goal. At best, it's a detuned guitar, at worst, broken strings and nerves.

Gadgets

With the penetration of computers and gadgets into our lives, a lot of software has appeared to facilitate our electronic guitar tuning. This and the aforementioned tuners on the screens of your smartphones and PCs. As well as an electronic tuning fork for tuning the guitar. The principle of operation of the latter is extremely simple. Especially when you consider that we discussed the main setup above (where to turn and how).

So, running the program, select the button corresponding to the selected string, press and tune the string in unison (equally) with the sound that appears in the program. By doing this with six strings, we get the desired result. I hope you have fully understood how to tune an electronic guitar using a tuner and other useful tricks. Play and don't be upset! After all, you can still customize!