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Tuning Settling Period
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Tuning Settling Period |
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Subject: Tuning Settling Period From: GUEST,Deskjet Date: 02 Feb 02 - 06:21 PM I own a Lowden 025 cutaway which I play in standard and DADGAD tunings. I find it takes days for me to be fully satified that that the guitar has settled in when I switch from one tuning to the other. Is this a feature of Lowdens or of cutaways in general? |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: Amos Date: 02 Feb 02 - 06:25 PM I would guess it is a feature of many different guitars, cutaway or not. My old Martin takes days, while my younger one settles down in a few hours. A |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: Sorcha Date: 02 Feb 02 - 11:30 PM I do fiddle, not guitar, but it seems to me to be related to the type of strings used. Steels settle very fast, maybe in an afternoon. Gut or a synthetic gut core can take weeks. I had a set of Helicores that took 3 months to settle. Thomastik Dominants (perlon core) usually take about 3 days. |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: Kaleea Date: 02 Feb 02 - 11:38 PM Imagine yourself being stretched a couple of inches. How soon would you recover? Be kind to your strings. If one needs to change tunings during performances, it is best to use extra guitars. Tommy Emmanuel once said that he and Chet Atkins were the only guitar players he knew who played only in EADGBE. ( he confesses to using the "dropped D" on occasion. I also use only EADGBE. I varied around a bit when I was a teenager, but settled into the tried & true, and I have never run out of new tunes or new ways to play old tunes. |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: Tweed Date: 03 Feb 02 - 09:53 AM Use an electronic tuner and pull your "tuned" new string out away from the twelfth fret about and inch and a half then retune and repeat till they stay where you want 'em. Take care when wrapping, use three or four wraps and with no overlaps. Works everytime. (Except on nylon strings which IMHO should only be used when fishing...) |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: van lingle Date: 03 Feb 02 - 10:32 AM my L 27 F lowden stays in DADGAD or open D most of the time but when i do take it up to drop-D, standard or CGDGBE it usually takes a few fine adjustments over the course of a half-hour or so to "settle in". for a long time now i've put graphite (pencil lead) in the grooves on the nut and this seems help considerably. vl |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: JedMarum Date: 03 Feb 02 - 11:27 AM I can't imagine why any guitar would take much time to "settle in" when retuned, even significantly. I would suggest being sure you wind plenty of string onto the pegs when you change them next ... I find this can help with reducing 'slippage' ... I'd also suggest when you are retuning that you try a firm, but gentle pull up on the string, one at a time, and refine its tune ... I find this helps strings 'settle in' better ... if you still have trouble I'd have a luthier look into it. You shouldn't be having too much problem, there might be soething amiss. The electronic tuner idea is a good one. As good as anyone's ear is, the electronic tool is not affected by our tendency to 'sweeten' a tuning and make slightly imprecise settings which are only compounded when we tune the next string/s. |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: Jon Freeman Date: 03 Feb 02 - 11:52 AM I can't work out why either but like Amos, I have noticed that some guitars seem to take longer than others. My Fylde is one that settles quickly and my Yamaha was one that could take a day or so... Jon |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: GUEST,Russ Date: 03 Feb 02 - 12:02 PM My guess. It might not a function of the strings or the guitar but of your hearing acuity. It seems to me that some musicians, like dogs (no insult intended), can hear things I cannot hear. I have listened to performers continue fiddling with the tuning long after I (or anyone else in the audience for that matter) could detect any discords or even hear any changes produced by knob turning. I would guess that my ability to detect pitch differences is average. There seem to a few people at the far end of that bell curve. |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: Jeri Date: 03 Feb 02 - 12:39 PM Not stretching the strings can cause a real problem with them going flat after you get them to pitch. It seems worse on fiddle than guitar, and worse with the fatter strings. Perhaps they take longer to flatten out along any surface they happen to touch. As far as tuning - some people do it as a nervous habit. They'll mess around with one string, and I'll sit in the audience and think "no, man - your 5th string's out! Why didncha screw with that one!" Jed, aren't you supposed to be somewhere else? Michigan, maybe? |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: Murray MacLeod Date: 04 Feb 02 - 09:13 AM It is perfectly possible that some guitars behave in the manner discussed simply because the neck (and maybe, to a lesser degree, the soundboard), are not reacting instantaneously to the change in tension caused by the altered tuning. It is impossible to say where and why this delayed reaction might occur, but one thing that might be worth trying is loosening the truss-rod,( with the strings fully detuned ) putting some tension on the neck by bringing the guitar up to say, two tones below concert pitch, detuning again and tightening the trussrod to its original tension. This just might get rid off any pent-up stresses in the neck which may be causing the problem. Murray |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: JedMarum Date: 04 Feb 02 - 09:21 AM Jeri .. on my way to MI/Toronto. I leave on Tues AM. I'm stopping in Fayetteville AR to play some music with some folks who runs folk club/venue there, then I'll spend some time at Pea Ridge battlefield (Civil War, Mar 7/8 1862). I'm hoping to connect with some more venue folks in St Louis, though time looks short now to complete the arrangements, then it's on to Big Mick's for music/fun in MI and to Mr. Fielding's for more o' the same. You comin'? |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: mooman Date: 04 Feb 02 - 09:34 AM My Flambeau/Lowden changes regularly between DADGAD and EADGBE (and occasionally EADEAE) without any settling time at all (except with brand new strings but I use the gentle pull method described by Jed to help them settle more quickly). It is however 18 years old and has been played hard and regularly all through that period so the guitar is pretty stable. My Lakewood has only ever known DADGAD so I can't comment on its properties in this regard. Peace mooman |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: Jeri Date: 04 Feb 02 - 05:25 PM Jed, Rick is my friend and I don't want him to have a breakdown, unless it's on a banjo. I don't think he can handle 3 strange people in his house. ("Strange," but not strangers.) Oops - 4 if you count Rick. And now, back to our regularly-scheduled thread topic... |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: 53 Date: 04 Feb 02 - 06:59 PM I've been playing for 37 years and i've always used the standard tuning, guess i'm just chicken to try something new or either, don't fix it when it's not broke. |
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Subject: RE: Tuning Settling Period From: Clinton Hammond Date: 04 Feb 02 - 07:06 PM All my Seagulls have taken the changes in tuning quite nicely, from standard, DADGAD, Open G and Open C mostly... I've never even expereinces a 'setteling in' period... Regarding multiple guitars, I thingk that while it's handier to have a guitar for each tuning, it is in no way a harad fast rule that you HAVE to... Watch a GOD like Don Ross, Or Stephen Fearing play a show on one guitar and be changing tunings all night... No setteling in period there either... and no excessive wear and tear on the guitar or the strings... |
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