the Myth of Guitar Tuning with Tom Bukovac and Joe Glaser

Tuning is the one thing that will take down a player. There is an expectation for perfection, and it can destroy players mentality when they get to recording. Tom Bukovac and Joe Glaser break it all down for us. Perfection is boring, and intonation is a fallacy.

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[Guitargate]

THIS is the stuff that needs to be talked about. Instinctively avoiding a 3rd on top. Man, I can’t tell you how huge of a thing that is.

[dezertson]

Hilariously, you don’t learn any of this when you first start learning guitar, and if your teacher is very traditional and theory oriented, you’ll be playing all the notes in a chord every time wondering why it sounds bad, or at least not like the artist played it, for years. New guitarist are very lucky to have the resources they have today and are able to learn about triads, double stops, and videos like this right from the get go.

[TheSoundCoop]

This is just epic! Pure honesty. No BS. Two of the best 🙌♥️

[raosos]

Paul Rothchild and I had a similar talk. He had just informed me he was giving up his side gig as musical instrument distributor of which I was his west coast rep..[Taylor, Alembic, Larrivee, Augustino, Travis Bean, Bartolini]. I trusted his advice and always took it, except once. He urged me not to work for Stills. "He's a great guy, but simply too demanding". After a few months I realized he was wrong. We got along beautifully. Then, under the hot lights of the Hollywood Bowl, he stopped mid tune, looked over at me and loudly asked, "Who tuned this guitar? Helen Keller?"

I was mortified, but it still cracked me up. I turned to Slack, Finnigan's keyboard roadie "Guess what, you're our new guitar tuner." He didn't need a scope..his ears were perfect. Everyone was happy. Great channel here.

[paulndorosh]

Like in most situations...context is key. The out-of-tuneness of a guitar can add character, but can also ruin things. It all depends.

[justinguitarcia]

This is what makes some of the gospel singers so compelling imo, they will sing those natural overtones, the sweet ones, that ‘technically’ are out of tune if you were to measure in equal temperament. Same with bending or slide, its a super fine line between out of tune, in tune but out with the interval (like a third) and sweetened or in tune with the natural harmonic overtone

[anthonypanneton]

really fascinating discussion. I'm almost 70 now, and I've been playing guitar since I was 13. I've never played anything perfect, but in the last year I've finally got to the point where sometimes I'm good with a track even if there's a blatant mistake in it, as long as I like the rest of it. I've realized that if I'm happy with something I played except for one (or even two) little hiccups - I'll just keep it now. Because those little mistakes and imperfections are what makes it human. it gives the music character. I remember back in the '60s people ragging on about The Rolling Stones' singing. But it sounds great!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[stratcat]

Wow! This came out of nowhere and it's a fantastic conversation between two professors of the guitar. So much knowledge to unpack.

[scottbaxendale]

Jorma Kaukonen told me once that these very imperfections in the guitar are exactly what gives it it’s charm.

[gitarmats]

So true... and once you start listening closely for it you can drive yourself nuts sometimes.

[someguywhosold]

Another thing I found over many years is some guitars like different tunings. I have a 50’s Stella 12 string i rebuilt the tuners and bridge. It still didnt’ hold tune well. Then I tuned it to open G, it loves it! My LP seems to like half step down. My Guild Acoustic has so far never been out of double drop D. I don’t know why some guitars like different tunings but have found it true!

[kostisk]

Yessss! Just pulled the tuner off my board. Got room another transparent drive now!

[thegatorgar]

Wish this was 20 minutes longer! Such goodness!

[sao]

Two good dudes; they ain't nothing but interesting and kind. We love you guys.

[kylemoran]

Awesome Joe ! 1:37 you mention Chuck Berry, and that was the first person that jumped into my brain, as uncle Larry was talking about the importance of in-tune. Chuck made $$$$ not knowing if he was in tune or out of tune (mostly out) Rock'N Roll, and WE LOVED IT !

[WickBeavers]

Buzz Feiten work for you? I have a nut on one of my guitars and it sure fixes things nicely. Even tuning a guitar without the Buzz Feiten System brings it closer to perfect.
Tried it?

[GreenDistantStar]

I get the math of temper and intonation. Microtonal frets are one solution. I also get the frustration of losing tuning mid performance. The EverTone bridges seem to have sorted this problem out, so all hope is not lost.

[tobe]

Man 100%! Great topic. I've had to 'educate' a lot of pple in the studio over that issue, over many years. Gits actually sound better with the normal tuning issue, if they're not wildly out. If it was pure, it wouldn't sound like a guitar anymore. But even if you get open strings spot on, a little pressure between the frets bends the string slightly sharp etc anyways. It's just unrealistic to expect perfect tuning. Even on a compensated saddle or Feiten set up. And that's ok. It's esp rough on acoustics, and esp with 12 strings or exotics, like a Coral Sitar. Fuggetaboutit. And if there's a modulated synth in the track, ughhh. I always tune to the track, rarely use a tuner anymore. Except as a starting point. Get it as close as possible, and hit record. I've had guys tho after the fact take single notes and retune them in melodyne. That's fun. 😅

[MichaelAntus]

Thanks for the insight. Much respect...

[nickfry]

My friend, neighbor, jam partner and great bass player Rick Lojacono invented the Earvana string compensating nut. I don’t really understand the science behind it but it really does work. He personally put one on my Tele and you really don’t even notice it’s different from the stock nut and he didn’t have to alter the original nut slot.