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James Taylor's tuning method

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2019 4:05 pm
by Randy Carone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2xnXArjPts

I tried it and like it. Anyone else tried it and/or have comments.

Re: James Taylor's tuning method

Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2019 3:21 pm
by DavidLesage
Hello Randy,

Thanks thanks for sharing this with us. I just tried it on my 27 year old Takamine and it actually works. You can out a capo without retuning and it still stays in tune.

I can’t wait to try this tuning on my new Collings OM3 Adi cutaway sunburst short scale. Will be getting it next week...
I have been waiting seven months for it.

david

Re: James Taylor's tuning method

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 12:26 am
by elambo
It's such a drastic deviation from what I'm accustomed to, but it does seem to work for him. My typical tuner doesn't show cents so I'll need to break out another to try it.

How does this method hold up against other instruments which tune more faithfully to A=440? Does it feel underneath them?

Re: James Taylor's tuning method

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 8:18 pm
by Randy Carone
I have a cheap Cleartune app on my iphone that makes it very easy to nail the cents deviations. I haven't played with others who tune 'normal', but I know some Peterson tuners temper some strings by flattening them in some tuning modes. My buddy asked why JT didn't start at ZERO and I surmised that it may be so that the guitar IS in tune with others in standard tuning. So far, it sounds really good to my ear.

Re: James Taylor's tuning method

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 4:21 am
by elambo
Oh, right, the Cleartune app. I love that thing and forgot I had it. I'll give it a go.

Re: James Taylor's tuning method

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 7:07 pm
by DaveBCC
I have the JT tweaks as part of the Airyware tuner app. It works great for all my guitars, including my Collings, which has the Feiten nut and bridge, so go figure.

As an aside, the Airyware app is *by far* the most accurate and stable tuner I have (one of my luthiers hipped me to it).

Re: James Taylor's tuning method

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 12:03 am
by dadgad6strings
Thanks for the tip on the "Airy-Tuner". I just DL it and it's a pretty cool app. It's very sensitive for sure. I have a strobe tuner and this seems to be as accurate. I tried the JT sweetened tuning it does indeed seem to sweeten the over-all tuning. Thanks!

Re: James Taylor's tuning method

Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:25 am
by kurtdrum
The Sweetened Acoustic setting on the Peterson tuners (accurate to 1/10 cent) accomplish this too.

Re: James Taylor's tuning method

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 2:24 am
by elambo
kurtdrum wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 12:25 am The Sweetened Acoustic setting on the Peterson tuners (accurate to 1/10 cent) accomplish this too.
It's been awhile since I saw Peterson's "sweetened" temperaments but I remember them being only a couple of cents sharp/flat; not anywhere near JT's tuning. That said, my ears do tend to prefer that Ac GTR setting on the Peterson vs. the standard tunings. It provides a more cohesive sound and feels more in-tune up the neck. JT's tuning doesn't work as well for me, but I don't generally respond as well to such a wide tuning. Maybe if I was a better player. :D

Re: James Taylor's tuning method

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2019 3:45 am
by pto
i guess it depends on what key one plays in most of the time.