A couple of days ago, I wrote an article about how James Taylor tunes his guitars, utilizing the “cents” on the tuner to compensate for the shape of an acoustic guitar, and how the bass notes ring sharper than their tuning, and also to compensate for a capo pulling the strings sharp. Here’s the video for a refresher:
At the end of the article, I said I’d try it out and I’ll be damned if it didn’t sound good both with and without a capo!
My test of a tuning is always to play a root E chord after I tune my guitar. Usually, I get to the exact tuning, then end up tuning strings a little down because the E chord just doesn’t sound right. So I suppose I’ve been doing this by feel all these years. But now I have a fool-proof, sure-fire, and most importantly, a measurable way of tuning that I can repeat.
If you don’t want to watch the whole video, here’s the tuning (high to low):
E -3
B -6
G -4
D -8
A -10
E -12
Values are in negative cents. For my guitar, a full -12 cents on the low E sounds slightly off, so I end up using -10 to -11 (I know, it’s a tiny amount, but I can hear it). But I set the rest of the strings as directed.
As they say, it’s the little things in life… I’m nothing short of amazed at how this small adjustment makes a world of difference.
