When was the electronic tuner invented?

Now you just need a tuner that you plonk on your guitar, and it's straight forward. Or, in a gig you have a tuner pedal, but how did musicians tune before that in the 60's, 70's?

You got the Sun, You got the Moon,
and you've got
The Rolling Stones

In the 60's they tuned to a harmonica or a piano backstage.

___________________________
The Brian Jones Experience

sometimes they didn't tune them. Listen to The Singer Not the Song.

The tried and true method. By ear. Tuners are great for on stage tuning but the problem with the technology is that one can become too dependant on it. And yes mitch, sometimes they don't tune (or it goes out of tune)

The Conn Strobotuners appeared in the mid Seventies (although they were invented much earlier).

one string at a time

A 440 pitchfork.

Yeah how?




I was driving home early Sunday morning through Bakersfield...

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mitchflorida1
sometimes they didn't tune them. Listen to The Singer Not the Song.

God yes - that 12-string. But I love it anyway.

What did they tune to at Hyde Park?

Tuning is for girls.

Real men don't tune.

In France, you can use the telephone to have a A

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71Tele
What did they tune to at Hyde Park?

They TRIED tuning to a harmonica. You can see pictures of Keith, stoned out of his mind, desperately trying to tune up

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Well, they didn't really, and that was what was so rock-n-roll about it--until people could hear them. But, that was the problem when the New York Dolls played Morrisey's Meltdown in 2004--Sylvain having to do a (9-month) pregnant pause to tune [digitally] his Gibson in between each and every song, so that David Johansson would have to tell Proustian stories about the Scissors Sisters between each and every song. Sometimes, [perfectly anal] tuning just gets in the way of a good show, y'know?

video: [www.youtube.com]

First song at Hyde Park?





Sounds OK.

I think heat affected later stuff.

Out of tune on the second one (a bit)





Still good though.

The heat would have affected things, as would Keith putting on and taking off capo.

___________________________
The Brian Jones Experience

Keith sometimes used to tune Mick's guitar on stage whilst he was playing it.
Made me laugh .
In the days before electronic tuners and proper tech sations back stage, it was all a bit hairy !... with lots of fiddling and retuning going off between numbers.

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jpasc95
In France, you can use the telephone to have a A

In the US it's an F right?

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dcba

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jpasc95
In France, you can use the telephone to have a A

In the US it's an F right?

Correct. Just checked the speaker phone at my office with an app on my cell phone and it said it's just a few cents sharp of an F. Close enough for rock & roll though!

Peace,
Mr DJA

Now I understand why Country Joe said to the Woodstock crowd : "Gimme an F!!!"
He was trying to tune his guitar!

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dcba
Now I understand why Country Joe said to the Woodstock crowd : "Gimme an F!!!"
He was trying to tune his guitar!

hahahaha!

Anyway, I was thinking of Ladies and Gentlemen, I think it's right after Gimme Shelter, Mick says "We're just gonna t-t-tune up." Is Keith really checking it with the piano?

Jimi Hendrix though, I read somewhere he could tune and play by ear, but I really doubt any of the Stones could.

You got the Sun, You got the Moon,
and you've got
The Rolling Stones

That's what roadies are for.

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Claire_M
That's what roadies are for.

Indeed Claire, nothing like a perfectly tuned guitar handed to you on time with a smile.

I remember tuning forks and pitch pipes being in most of the cases of all the old timers when I was in my guitar buying streak. Usually they would tune one string with the fork or pipe and then tune the guitar to itself from there.

But the most important thing is OBVIOUSLY tune to EACH OTHER and especially the piano if there is one because he has the whole spectrum to be out with you and that is a disaster. Pianos are almost always tuned by ear to a place where they are "close to where they were". This is usually something somewhat below 440A perfect pitch.

Expensive Strobe tuners were the tools of choice for the late 60's musicians who could afford them and when the hand held tuners took over after Roland made that great 707 white tuner with the orange face, it all became very easy. That one was great because it has a human-like response and worked better than anything before it. They sold millions of 'em.

Pro guitarists in the USA today usually have a tuner built into their pedalboard, attached to their mic stand or clipped onto their guitars, in addition to a tech backstage with a strobe tuner.

What really made the whole process easier especially for acoustic musicians was when the transducers to pick up the vibration were able to be attached to the instrument. No more "Hey, Shut Up so I can tune this thing please" amoung band members. The first to use 'em were the horn players but they beacame ubiquitous pretty quick.

As yes in the USA where I live the standard dial tone has always been pretty damn close to 440A.

It is all so important because if you are out of tune, you lose all the musicians in the audience after the first few notes.

My question still is, Say you start a song and realize you are out of tune, is it better to stop and retune or carry on and try the best you can to correct with technique or mid song adjustments? I personally perfer 18:1 ratio Gotoh tuners on my guitars because quick adjustments can be made on the fly. Super accurate 24:1 or greaters tuners just take too many quick "in song" turns to make a significant change. peace

Either by ear or looking at...a tuner?

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Naturalust
Pro guitarists in the USA today usually have a tuner built into their pedalboard, attached to their mic stand or clipped onto their guitars, in addition to a tech backstage with a strobe tuner.

I feel bad for the pro guitarists in other countries who don't have that luxury.

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Koen

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Naturalust
Pro guitarists in the USA today usually have a tuner built into their pedalboard, attached to their mic stand or clipped onto their guitars, in addition to a tech backstage with a strobe tuner.

I feel bad for the pro guitarists in other countries who don't have that luxury.

Pro and amature guitarists worldwide with $25, a 9 volt battery and a 2nd guitar cable can have an inline tuner. Some friends and I were joking the other week that the free cell phone app we use from time to time (mine's called gstrings and it works great in quiet environments) may actually be more accurate than the $100 version that we use on stage. As microchip technology progresses, the technology is becoming more and more accessable to all. May be more difficult to find in developing countries but, thanks to the internet, it can be had by almost everyone these days.

Peace,
Mr DJA

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Koen

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Naturalust
Pro guitarists in the USA today usually have a tuner built into their pedalboard, attached to their mic stand or clipped onto their guitars, in addition to a tech backstage with a strobe tuner.

I feel bad for the pro guitarists in other countries who don't have that luxury.

I didn't mean to assume or imply that was the case, just this USA scene is all I'm knowledgeable about.

My current favorite tuner is a Fishman FT-1 , clamp on style. The one where the whole face of the tuner turns green when the note is on, great for dark venues. In addition it has several instrument modes including one for Ukelele, an instrument that seems to suffer when the tuning isn't spot on, in my hands anyway. I think it was $35USD, pretty amazing. Certainly this is one area that digital technology has helped us in leaps and bounds. peace