Here’s a little secret. Tune a guitar like this, and you will be happy. Remember that a guitar is equal-temperament… so it’s always a compromise. A tuning method has to respect the compromise, and not make major mistakes.. That is all you can hope for, and it is enough.
This method has worked magic for me on just about every guitar I’ve picked up…. even junkers with bad intonation can be made playable.
A digital tuner is helpful, but not required…
– start with the high E string. Tune the open string to pitch. That will be our reference note for the following. You’ll be working your way from “thin” to “thick” strings (opposite of many methods).
– fret the B string at the 5th fret, and tune that to play in unison with the reference E.
– fret the G string at the 9th fret, and tune it to the reference.
– fret the D string at the 14th fret, and tune to reference.
– tune the low E string by playing the 5th fret harmonic, and matching it to the reference pitch.
– fret the A string at the 7th fret, and tune it to match the 12th fret harmonic of the low E string.
I learned this method from an article by luthier Paul Guy many years ago, and it hasn’t failed me yet.
He has a good write-up about guitar tuning methods on his website… including a discussion of why tuning by matching 5th to 7th fret harmonics is such a nightmare.
Go forth, and play in tune.
-Garret
