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#1
03-09-2015, 07:42 PM
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Tronical Tune
Hi there,
This Tronical Tune thing seems tailor-made for my acoustic duo partner. She can't really tune her acoustic guitar...and it doesn't matter once she starts singing. It's her voice they come to hear. Even she admits she has the guitar for something to do with her hands...she can "kind of" tune and make an acoustic guitar "work" and all. It's pretty nice Gibson Songwriter model. SO...probably a go because it makes my life way easier and she could care less. Nor does it matter much if it affects the tone of her guitar. Is it a REALLY bad idea? I'll put it out there...and it looks easy enough to install. No repair guy required. Right? 
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#3
03-11-2015, 09:46 PM
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Quote:
Really - you would be spending a lot of money for more frustration and headaches when all you want is a guitar that's in tune. Just buy her a Snark and show her which way to turn the tuning pegs. I love the Tronical on most days, (and you would probably have fun with one too), but for somebody who just wants to play, it would be more trouble than it's worth.
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#4
03-11-2015, 11:00 PM
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Acme, I haven't had the Tronical tuner experience yet, and don't really care about when I finally will. But having worked with musical partners, band members, and worship group members who didn't notice/didn't care/didn't worry when their guitars wouldn't get or stay in tune, what I've observed over and over again is that the strings on their instruments tend to be old and dead and essentially untunable.
This is something that drives me absolutely batskit crazy, but a surprising number of good singers are simply indifferent to the sound of their guitars. It's like they barely notice it in the first place. What I have done in those cases, and continue to do in the case of one person who's currently in the worship music group I lead, is simply monitor how their guitar sounds and how well it's staying in tune. In this current circumstance I just tell her to change strings when they need it. She's cool with that, and does what I ask, but some of these folks will never lift a finger, and if you want to continue to work with them without going berserk with frustration it's easier to simply change their strings for them. A couple of these people I've worked with have also been tightwads, and been offended when expected to pay for new strings (why is this not surprising?) Again, rather than beating your head against the wall trying to change their attitude, if they're someone you want to continue working with, it's easier to simply take care of it yourself. One of the best musicians I've ever worked with was an incredible tightwad. He'd never change his strings, never leave a tip, never spend a nickel he didn't absolutely have to spend. We worked together quite a bit for a while, and sometimes I'd pick up the tab for our meals or buy us both a couple of beers, just because that's how I was brought up. He was happy enough to accept my generosity, but never once returned the gesture. It was kind of aggravating and frustrating that he was that way, but he was and is an incredible musician, and I thought to myself: "Okay, he's a skinflint, but it's not as though he's shooting heroin in the john between sets and nodding out slumped over in the toilet stall..." In other words, I accepted that miserly aspect of his character as a cost of doing business with and being able to share the stage with one of the best all-around musicians I've ever met. Getting back to your situation, as a rule people who are indifferent to their tuning also tend to totally neglect the upkeep of their instruments. So the tuners on her guitar might need to be firmed up, because the chances are good that she's entirely unaware that sealed gear tuners can gradually get sloppier if their clutch screws aren't kept at the proper tension. So when you put fresh strings on her guitar, you should also get the right size and style of screwdriver and firm up the clutch screws. These are the little screws that hold the tuner buttons on the tuner:  The photo shows a slotted screw being adjusted on an older Grover Rotomatic tuner. The American-made Grovers used straight slot screws, but the modern Asian-made Grover Rotomatics (which is what she has on her Gibson Songwriter, unless she's swapped them out,) will have Phillips head screws on them. Virtually all sealed gear tuners being made these days have Phillips head clutch screws. Go around and firm up all those screws until there's no slop or play. You don't want them so tight that the tuners are difficult to turn, but you want them all firmed up to an equal degree. Another thing that might need attention are the nuts on the front of the headstock:  When those get loose - and they WILL, with repeated use of the instrument - they can cause buzzes and rattles. A quick go-round with the right size wrench will eliminate that problem. As shown in the photo, a 10 mm wrench is the right size for most tuner gear nuts these days. These pictures are from Gryphon Strings' website. Here's the URL: http://www.gryphonstrings.com/repair...nnualcheck.php Frank Ford, one of the owners and a highly respected guitar repairman, also has a website called Frets.com, which is an invaluable resource. Anyway, instead of trying to get an automatic tuning device on your musical partner's guitar, I think the more pragmatic approach is to keep her strings fresh and her tuners and guitar properly adjusted for her. It's annoying, no question, but sometimes that's the cost of maintaining an otherwise rewarding musical partnership. Hope that makes sense. Wade Hampton Miller
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#5
03-12-2015, 07:26 AM
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Only thing I'd add to Wade's informative post is that you should NOT try to tighten the nuts on guitars with open-gear tuners...
They are press-in bushings, and you can mess things up if you put a wrench to those bushings. They look like they should "tighten up" that way, but they are in fact, press in.
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