Intonating without a tuner?

[McSpunckle]

K... so I don't own a tuner.

Anyone have tricks for intonating a guitar without one?

[rbtr]

Oh I know this one! Have perfect pitch!

Maybe try this thing?

[symbolique]

Yup Seventh String. His transcribe! software is gold as well.

Perfect pitch... that myth most self-taught guitarists seem to think they have except for when they have to change concert pitch or play with someone else.

[tuffteef]

u can do it by ear
get ur sing on

e........ E

[Holy Schnikes]

You can get a clip on Snark for less than $10 on Amazon, surprisingly accurate and easy to use/read. Comes in handy for string changes, helping wind strings to pitch quickly. I'm sure it'd get you pretty close on intonation.

I wish my ears were good enough to intonate sans tuner.....

[devnulljp]

Buy a tuner, they're what $20?

[adrianlee]

Hell, I might have one I can send you for free, bro. Lemme look around.

[oldangelmidnight]

Got an iPhone?
http://www.tcelectronic.com/polytune-iphone-app.asp

[oldangelmidnight]

12th fret on 6th string should be the same note as the 5th string open, I believe. Etc.

[Miesgjah]

5th fret on the E should be the same as an open A, same goes for the rest of the strings except the 4th fret on the G string should be the the same as an open B string. you can also do it another way the 7th fret on the A string should be the same as an open E string, only it would be an octave up. Same goes o all the other strings except of course the B string should be the 6th fret.

[McSpunckle]

Hell, I might have one I can send you for free, bro. Lemme look around.

Oh oh, I'm not that broke. I just didn't wanna buy one if there was a decent way to do it without buying one... Thanks, though!

Got an iPhone?
http://www.tcelectronic.com/polytune-iphone-app.asp

Alas, I'm not a faggot.

Oh I know this one! Have perfect pitch!

Maybe try this thing?

Too sensitive, it seems. I can't get anything to actually be "in tune"... I think it's from the ambient noise. All I have is the mic built into my laptop. >.>


ANYWHO. Imma try doing it by ear with matching frets, harmonics... maybe a capo. We'll see. Then I'll just buy a damn tuner.

[Gearmond]

iunno.

relative harmonics? thats how i do, and it works

[dubkitty]

when i didn't have an electronic tuner i used to intonate by comparing the fretted note at the 12th fret to the 12th fret harmonic, and was able to get things reasonably accurate. but then, i have really fussy ears.

[eatyourguitar]

12th fret on 6th string should be the same note as the 5th string open, I believe. Etc.

not really the best way to do it. if the guitar doesn't have perfect intonation up the neck, you will be tuning to a sharp or flat version of that same note. 12 fret is also very easily affected by fretting pressure of the hand. if you did the intonation setup yourself, then you know that you are using the same pressure in your fretting hand that you used when you setup the intonation. otherwise its just not that accurate. a better way is to tune open and 5 for every string, then check it with harmonics on 5 next string harmonic on 7. starting with the low E. every guitar player should be able to do an E or D by ear. if you do a lot of drop D > standard > drop D in your set, your already used to doing it on the E string by ear. only time you can't use harmonics is tuning the B string to the G string. open and 7 on the next string makes an octave so I just use open G and 8 on the B to give me octave G. you can double check it against 12 fret G but again that depends on if the intonation is correct. if you dont know, dont depend on it. I usually compare all my E's when its done. E e 12E 12e D2 d14.

when i didn't have an electronic tuner i used to intonate by comparing the fretted note at the 12th fret to the 12th fret harmonic, and was able to get things reasonably accurate. but then, i have really fussy ears.

this is exactly how you should do intonation when setting up a guitar. the only time it wont work is in the rare case of defective strings. if you go past your farthest setting on your bridge and there is nothing wrong with the guitar, you'll know that you have a bad set of strings. bring them back for a refund. it also helps to have the guitar sorta in tune when you do the intonation. on strats, you will always need to do the intonation after you adjust the action on each saddle or bridge height etc.

[devnulljp]

5th fret on the E should be the same as an open A, same goes for the rest of the strings except the 4th fret on the G string should be the the same as an open B string. you can also do it another way the 7th fret on the A string should be the same as an open E string, only it would be an octave up. Same goes o all the other strings except of course the B string should be the 6th fret.

This isn't going to help with intonation