Why does a guitar strum sound better when the G,B & E strings are flat?
When I tune a guitar, electric (luthier intonated) or acoustic to a Spark (black) tuner it doesn't sound right when strummed (always below 12th fret).
(All good guitars including Epiphone Texan Masterbuilt, Fender Tele, Guild M-75, Dano 12-string)
But when I make a chord and play each string from low to high, and tune it by ear, harmonizing each higher string to the previous one, I always end up lowering the G,B and E strings and when I strum it sounds much much better - the strings are harmonizing far better ... is it just my ear?
If a simple answer isn't available I'll create some sound samples.
ADDENDUM ... the entire instrument, any position, sounds better ...
1 Comments
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First, how hard are you pressing on the strings when you make chords? Sometimes it's your finger pressure causing the 'out of tune' feel. If the guitar has neck issues, even setup issues, that could cause them to sound out of tune. First sight down your neck and make sure the guitar has good relief, bows up a little past the 7th/9th fret. Do you have any dead frets or dead notes? That could mean a truss rod adjustment, I recommend taking it to someone who has experience with truss rod adjustment, it's not for first timers. You might get a crash course in truss rod adjustment from someone, so you can do it yourself, if the need arises. Always use a digital tuner to tune the guitar, they give you a -+cents readout so you can fine tune the guitar.
I've had this problem with an acoustic guitar I had, having to tune certain strings a little off to get it to sound right. The truss rod was the culprit, you really have to know what your doing when it comes to truss rod adjustment. I tried adjusting it myself, but I was a beginner then and didn't have a clue what I was doing, ended up taking it to a guitar luthier, and he gave me a crash course on truss rod adjustment. Man, that guitar played totally different when I got the truss rod right. Chords sounded better, could tune it by ear or tuner, they both gave the same result. An in tune guitar, with good fingering intonation.
Well I've spoke enough on the matter, simple things can cause a sound difference in a guitar, their precise instruments! Good luck!!
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