Warning! there is a lot of talking on this video! I address the importance of playing in tune and ways to be better in tune. visit timlerch.com/le... to support my work.
The tuning advice using the 7th harmonics, 9th fretted and open strings 5 & 6 is awesome. I've played guitar for 25 years, never heard that one. Thank you so much, Tim
Tim , You come across as nothing more than a "gentleman", as well a superb musician! Excellent advice to an ol' "strummer "like me. Keep on pickin" as you are another "Titan of the Tele" !!!!✌
As an old roadie one more thing guitarist blame on tuning pegs and it's their problem. When tuning a string and it a bit sharp they just turn the tuning gear down to the pitch. The problem with that is you usually end up leaving slack in the tuning gear and the tuning peg will slip while playing. If the note is a bit sharp tune down below pitch and bring it back up, that will make sure the tuning gear is tight and no slack.
I agree. My practice, when a string is sharp, is to first tug the string, as Timothy suggests for new strings, and that will allow me to tighten it back up to pitch. But always come up to pitch in any case, absolutely.
Yes indeed. And also, as I learned many years ago in a psychology of perception class, the human ear is more accurate in tuning up to a pitch than in tuning down. This applies to singing as well.
@@d5u2ke This reminded me: violins have 'tuners' below the bridge...after roughing in using the pegs, they fine-tune using the tailpiece tuners, thereby equilibrating the friction issues. But they don't bend! I found pulling on a sharp string to settle it down to pitch effective, (similar to the violin tailpiece), as well as pressing above the nut to raise , sometimes both, while looking for that perfection... all this is not helpful in a duet, etc, mainly for solo. Tim's work on such 'arcana' is deeply appreciated, has spawned much interesting and vital discussion, as well as thought, mark of a great teacher as well as musician.
Ey man! I stumbled across your channel by accident. You are a fucking freak in a absolutely positive way! That's the best information about tuning I've ever received. I'm a studied, professional musician for about forty years and I feel like a beginner when it comes to tuning, after watching your video. I tried it, I checked it, never got my butterscotch Telly in tune that great! You cannot imagine how thankful I am for these information! All the best!!!!
I've also been using Tim's suggested tuning for a couple of years in addition to the following tuning in octaves that compare every string across the fretboard and allows for accurate note intonation at lower, mid and upper frets. All G notes. As follows: Press string 6. at 3rd fret and string 4 at 5th fret tune up. Then 4 at 5th fret with 2nd strg at 8th fret, then 2nd at 8th fret with strg.5 at 10th fret ,, hold strg5 and tune strg. 3 at 12fret, and last hold strg 3 and tune strg.1 at 15 fret. Sounds complicated but try it and you will see and hear how easy, fast and accurate it is. Cheers.
My 2 cents if I may. If nut has been cut for a set of E .08 or .09 etc. And you restringed with thicker gauges say .13s or more they will get caught when you bend - you need to refiled the nut to make room for the thicker gauges. Also rubbing a pencil tip in nut grooves avoid strings getting stuck. I still miss my 1968 blonde tele that foolishly traded for a small polytone amp. :( The Tele is the simplest and most effective musical tool ever invented..thank you Leo !
I found that using locking tunners help a lot. Using the same gauges of strings. Kipping frets nice shine clean and round. Cleaning strings after play. Pickups not to close to the strings. Low action and thicker strings helps as well. Thank you for the video!
I never owned a tele. But this talk is so useful not only for tele players. Not only useful for how to be in tune, but also very important about attitudes to be a musician. Thx for spent time sharing with us!
Great stuff! To understand why it is actually not possible to get a guitar completely in tune, read The Harmonic Experience by W.A. Mathieu. This excellent book starts with the natural resonance of octaves, fifths and major thirds -- harmonics on your guitar -- to modern modulatory harmony, in which the tuning is close enough to play in all keys. Mathieu is a cool guy -- as a young man he wrote an album of arrangements for Stan Kenton, later formed the Sufi Choir in SF.
I solved my tuning issues with locking Schaller tuners and a Peterson StroboClip tuner, and a StroboStomp tuner on pedal board gigs. Both tuners interact with a wide assortment of musical instruments, and feature proprietary "Sweetened" tuning, even tempered, etc. and handle any open alternate tuning you can throw at it. Quick, simple, easy to use! I also change my strings every 4-6 hours of play time.
A great lesson ! My first teacher , a friend , said I'm going to teach you how to tune your guitar so you wwon't be running to me to have me tune it for you . I never forgot that lesson . Since i have better hearung in my right ear than my left , i really have to listen tomake sure it is in tune .Open Amaj7 usually does lie what Tim does , because i know what chord sounds like in tune . zen of tuning !
I find your delivery of your knowledge to be the easiest on the ear, and mind, far and above any of your fellow presenters. Draws one into listening, as opposed to hitting the 🛑 Thank you for your goodness 😀
Sage advice Tim. I also think that focusing on your tuning as you practice is a great way to improve your ears and teach them how to pick out more subtle issues which has a carry on effect in your playing.
You talk so much sense Tim - thanks for this. For ages I was unable to work out why a fretted G on the bottom E string sounded out of tune on my Fender Stratocaster This was despite the fact that I was using a digital tuner, and the intonation was accurate according to the 12th fret against 12th fret harmonic test. After putting heavier strings on the guitar, and being forced to do a little work on the nut slot for the bottom E string, the tuning problem disappeared. Your explanation fits with my experience - the nut slot was not deep enough previously, and fretting at the lower end of the guitar pulled the string a little sharp.
Hello Mr Lerch ! About Telecasters and "TUNERS". Well, if you have a rather inexpensive Telecaster (let's say a Squier) then I can understand that a 50$ plus upgrade may become something irrelevant, BUT, if you play a real nice and expensive guitar such as the ones that you play on your videos, then I'm sure that it is worth upgrading to modern "LOCKING TUNERS", and specially for Teles and Starts to "STAGGERED LOCKING TUNERS". These tuners were a little rare a couple of decades ago, but nowadays you'll find them in any shape and form, suiting for a direct "retrofit" on most any guitar one could own. The 2 advantages of STAGGERED LOCKING TUNERS are, -ONE-, you don't need to wind many turns around the tuning posts thus eliminating absolutely all "slackness issue" (I usually tune to pitch with just 1/2 a turn around every tuning post for every string), -TWO-, as the tuning posts are STAGGERED (higher close to the nut, and lower close to the end of the headstock) then you can definitely remove the "STRING TREE" which is often a cause of "friction" and an issue when applying extra tension while bending and coming back flat after bending. You have to choose carefully while searching within the catalogs of the various companies which provide locking tuners in order to find the exact retrofit staggered locking turners for your guitar though. Once installed, tuners problem solved forever. For the nuts, nowadays, you can find self lubricated GRAPHITE NUTS in any shape and form, even in WHITE or CREAM to accommodate the original LOOK of your guitar (like TUSQ XL, for instance), these nuts are far superior than bone nuts, way harder material, insuring a perfect vibration transmission from the strings to the neck (it's not a surprise if most all high end Paul Reed Smith guitars come with these nuts), you still have to have these nuts installed by a good luthier though ... if on top of that you're careful enough to add a little drop of lubricant ("Big Bends Nut Sauce", for instance) inside each and every nut slot every time you change your strings, then these nuts may last forever. With these 2 upgrades on a Telecaster, you may never have "tuning stability" issues ever again ... and if there is any stability issue, then it will come from the bridge or a "structural issue" with your neck or a problem at the neck-joint (quite often a neck socket which is a tiny too wide for neck, and mounting screws which aren't tight enough). Best regards Mr Lerch.
locking tuners... they can 'sort of' rid one of TTS (Tuning Torture Syndrome) & definitely ARE utilitarian insofar as ease of re-stringing goes. but i agree w/ Tim's commentary in the vid above; your ears are probably the best judges of pitch & even that is subjective. i use one of those hi-tech headstock tuners myself (TC Electronic clip-on) as a "starting point" but nuts & saddles are (practically unarguably) the two primary causes of tuning issues of most any sort that i'm aware of. incidentally, just because it's black & graphite doesn't necessarily guarantee 'frictionless' either (though i am a fan of GraphTec & "Nut Sauce" as well). of course, there are various bone nut varieties available & among these, there are gradations. i saw a vid of Tommy Emanuel recently wherein he discusses the amount of time (extensive) & effort he employs TUNING his guitars before a gig - it was quite illuminating.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Tim. I have a partcaster that was built for me. The neck is chunky and solid as a rock, with very little play, so I know my tuning issues come from the nut, my best solution is to rub pencil lead (graphite) into the slots of the lower 3 strings, and Vaseline into the top 3 slots.
another great talk about a difficult problem; I have found the G string on multiple guitars I have owned throughout the years was difficult to tune, especially in a first position c chord. much of the problem improved when loosened my grip. I still have to practice relaxing my hands, shoulders, neck, etc, all the time. Another case of operator error! Tim, you really are very very good at what you do. Curtis
The Telecaster, like the Rhodes, Hammond organ and Stratovarious violin are Miracles. They seemed to come into existence right when people needed them.
Great talk. Love that 7th fret trick. Have you ever tried a zero fret nut? 1). I've heard that you should always tune up to the note. If you tune down to it the tuner won't keep tension as well. 2). If you really want to find out how far off a tuner is, try tuning a 12 string. A number of octave double strings will register as perfect on the tuner even though your ear will tell you they're not close.
Great video! I squealed a bit when you mentioned a pet peeve, the myth of tuner slippage. I try not to get agitated when I come across videos showing how to tie a Full Windsor knot or whatever so your strings don't slip. For years I considered the Glendale way out of my price range, but ended up spending just as much on a Mastery telecaster bridge, which is wonderful BTW.
Aural skill was an early problem for me (as it is for most guitarists whether they'll admit it or not) and while classes and exams forced a certain improvement I'm never entirely happy. I remember thinking that these electronic tuners might free me from that only to discover, sadly not. That horrid feeling when the guitar is beautifully in tune only to hear the bass player start again, and you just know that you're going to get another note to start from. A never-ending learning curve for those ears. Thanks Tim.
Hello Mr Lerch ! About Telecasters and "TUNERS". Well, if you have a rather inexpensive Telecaster (let's say a Squier) then I can understand that a 50$ plus upgrade may become something irrelevant, BUT, if you play a real nice and expensive guitar such as the ones that you play on your videos, then I'm sure that it is worth upgrading to modern "LOCKING TUNERS", and specially for Teles and Starts to "STAGGERED LOCKING TUNERS". These tuners were a little rare a couple of decades ago, but nowadays you'll find them in any shape and form, suiting for a direct "retrofit" on most any guitar one could own. The 2 advantages of STAGGERED LOCKING TUNERS are, -ONE-, you don't need to wind many turns around the tuning posts thus eliminating absolutely all "slackness issue" (I usually tune to pitch with just 1/2 a turn around every tuning post for every string), -TWO-, as the tuning posts are STAGGERED (higher close to the nut, and lower close to the end of the headstock) then you can definitely remove the "STRING TREE" which is often a cause of "friction" and an issue when applying extra tension while bending and coming back flat after bending. You have to choose carefully while searching within the catalogs of the various companies which provide locking tuners in order to find the exact retrofit staggered locking turners for your guitar though. Once installed, tuners problem solved forever. For the nuts, nowadays, you can find self lubricated GRAPHITE NUTS in any shape and form, even in WHITE or CREAM to accommodate the original LOOK of your guitar (like TUSQ XL, for instance), these nuts are far superior than bone nuts, way harder material, insuring a perfect vibration transmission from the strings to the neck (it's not a surprise if most all high end Paul Reed Smith guitars come with these nuts), you still have to have these nuts installed by a good luthier though ... if on top of that you're careful enough to add a little drop of lubricant ("Big Bends Nut Sauce", for instance) inside each and every nut slot every time you change your strings, then these nuts may last forever. With these 2 upgrades on a Telecaster, you may never have "tuning stability" issues ever again ... and if there is any stability issue, then it will come from the bridge or a "structural issue" with your neck or a problem at the neck-joint (quite often a neck socket which is a tiny too wide for neck, and mounting screws which aren't tight enough). Best regards Mr Lerch.
I agree that getting a quality set of aftermarket saddles is going to make your Telecaster intonation and tuning a whole lot better; it's well worth the money spent. One thing that always bugged me about the stock Tele saddles is what Tim mentions here-once you intonate and adjust them, very often the string will touch the height adjustment screw which is unacceptable because it will destroy the tone of the string and make it sound like a sitar instead of a guitar. Many of the aftermarket saddles (Glendale, Callaham, Mastery, &c.) solve this problem.
Wow! This is fantastic advice, much of it is brand new information to me. Thanks Tim! I had never seen that trick about the harmonics and open string combination and neither about the Eadd9 chord. Instantly useable and helpful.
Very informative video Tim! You are a "gentleman" and another "Titan of the Tele" , in the estimation of this ol' strummer! Keep on pickin' and teachin' meastro!✌.
Good info Tim. There's so many variables which must all be minimized for consistent tune performance. Thanks for the video intended to make us think... jp
i think (??) it was Jeff Beck who once said that a Tele is "an adult guitar". regardless, i do sorta' tend to think that a Tele takes a bit of "fight" to play it well (like Tim, for example). appreciated this 'Tele Talk'... learned a bit here - thank you!
I always found that strats were a struggle and tele necks were spaced more comfortably for my hand. Older (and just a few newer) p-basses were 1.75 at the nut with J-necks at 1.6 something... that is a.big difference to me. 1.75 is a slower neck, but my pluckin hand can articulate better with with just that little bit of extra spacing.
Tim, I am with you on the Glendale (slanted) compensated saddles, I have found them to be the best for consistent intonation vs. others out there. I have tried a lot. Some are very similar looking to the Glendale design but are not as pitch correct for intonation. Only downside is they are probably the most expensive out there.
anything re: your thoughts/ opinions about harnessing Zen Tone is groovy w/ me, Tim. your vid of awhile back about the subject is quite good & it definitely aided me. but IMHO, discussions about how to improve Tele tone is always interesting/ compelling to we Tele players... whether it's parts 'n pieces, playing techniques, relationships between the guts of the guitar & achieving better tone (i.e. aftermarket parts or whatever), etc. would, i think, be of value. thanks for asking! enjoy your vids tremendously & appreciate your taking the time to share. cheers, man!
When you talk about tuning, one thing I always wondered was the alternative tunings to 440 A. For the life of me I can only think of historically accurate renditions of baroque music as the only time this applies. Do you ever work with altered As and if you do, what is the motive behind it?
@@xushen540 one context where you'd tune differently would be when you're playing with a fix-pitch instrument that is tuned differently. For example if you ever end up playing with a bandoneon or even an accordion, they are often tuned way sharp. Like 443 or 444. Of course, European orchestras tune a little sharp too, but bands there do not. Another reason might be that you have some cosmic feeling that tuning differently feels better for you. That probably won't work when you go to sit in with a local blues band though. ;)
another option especially in noisy situations was for me to feel the tuning with the left hand on the neck. you can feel, when things get out-of-tune too much, i.e. the interference of the two frequencies. Certainly not a 100% replacement for the your ear, because it only works for the base tones and not for the harmonics. But it can get useful, when listening is just not possible (e.g. in a brass band). I have to admit that I avoided electronic tuners for years and still stick to a tuning fork. Sometimes I use them to analyse my tuning afterwards, so basically for ear training. Never use them as a replacement for it!
This was great! Don't mind hearing you talk guitar at all! Matter of fact I enjoyed it and learned a thing or two! Much appreciated and please do more like this!?
One note--lubrication of the nut slots is very important when you bend strings. Otherwise this a wealth of truly useful information. Your years of experience truly show--always.
Hi. can i ask what would you use to lubricate the nut? I have heard of people rubbing a pencil tip in individual slots and graphite powder? are these relevant ? thank you
Hi Tim - thank you for sharing your tips & tricks on tuning. I’ve been playing for a long time too but found things in this video that I didn’t know (e.g. the relationship between a dented string and tuning issues). Something that I, and maybe others, would find useful is tuning tips & tricks within a band context. Maybe also include altered tunings i.e. anytime the strings are not tuned to 440. Thanks for your consideration.
Hello Timothy , merci pour tes vidéos , et surtout de partager ton expèrience sur la Télécaster , je pense avoir trouver la bonne configue de jeu de cordes 10 52 filet plat , ceci dit je partage ton état d'esprit sur la tele qui est une guitare simple d'apparence , mais que nous pouvons configurer selon notre quête sonore ... En fait c'est l'instrument avec qui je vibre réellement et ça c'est vraiment cool ... Merci a toi porte toi bien et fais parler ta Telecaster
I was looking for something to disagree with, but I found nothing. My 50 years of playing has taught me the same thing. Use a tuner (or a tuning fork, for that matter) to get your root note, then make the guitar sound right with itself. This is the same method used by all concert violinists etc. The guitar is inherently imperfect (so far as intonation is concerned) across the length of the fretboard due to the dynamics and harmonics of varying string diameters. Those wavy fret "just intonation" necks fix this, but they sound really weird to my ear. Also, FYI, I have only seen one tuner slip. It was on a 1950's vintage classical guitar. The gear was loose on the shaft. But, I have seen lots of imperfect bridge placements, fret placements, divots in fingerboards, etc, etc. Great Video, thanks.
Sad part about THIS is... 95% of the People you play for... Don't know the Difference... After watching this video in it's entirety, I have come to the conclusion, if by chance you can't play guitar anymore, you could definitely be a Rocket Scientist. Great stuff, thanks for posting.🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
I thought that the only truly in tune harmonics were at the 12th fret. Aren’t you asking for trouble when you tune to harmonics anywhere else on the fretboard? Keep the Tele Talks comin’!
Thanks for the tips Tim! Some things I didnt even think of like pulling the neck at low fret notes/chords. There's a Squire Tele I really want to get at this local shop but also a Samick tele so Im going to try them both. My guess is the Samick has 500k pots though I heard Squiers and Samicks are both made in the same factory so 🤷♂️. I'll have to try them both and see what is better though I def want to get a Fender 52 reissue one day. Thanks love your playing!
I have also found that Callaham makes an excellent compensated saddle for Telecaster and difference between the standard telecaster saddle and a compensated saddle is AMAZING!!! Musicians!! It’s so worth the $57 dollars it can not even tell you!!!
Callaham is good stuff. I have one of their vintage-style trems on my partscaster Strat and you can abuse it pretty hard without knocking it out of tune (not that I do that kind of playing - but it's good to know I can).
Excellent choice for a video Timothy, and much appreciated here - thank you! Rather than using my "Snark" (improved version) to tune, I tune my guitars first, and then use the electronic tuner to see if my ears were close to accurate. I usually arrive at a place slightly flat compared to than the electronic tuner, which is tuned to A=440 HZ. I naturally tune closer to the 432 HZ, which is considered more accurate for generating maximum harmonics. Stradivarius violins were tuned to A = 432, and compposers like Motzart used that frequency reference too. Playing along with other music may require tuning to its frequency, of course.
Yes, all dead right, for me and thanks Tim. Only one comment re the nut, which is where most tuning probs emanate: what's the downside of a zero fret? It seems a perfect solution to low position intonation, you could have a six string tree screwed in at whatever height one prefers behind the zero fret and overall only add a few quid (I'm English) to the cost. In fact, roller nuts are ideal, reasonably easily fitted and cheap from China, they work perfectly and I use a B-Bender.
8:55 - Tim, if you have a drummer, or a snare drum handy, you can play those ringing harmonics close to the drum head with the snare drawn tight. If there is a string out of tune, the dissonance will cause that snare to rattle.
Forgot to say that it's also important to make sure that the other players in the group, if you are so blessed, should all be in tune with each other. There must be some kind of routine for this. Like the person with the best ear gets to call it or something like that.
Hi Tim, you play beautifully, and I am enjoying your channel! I have had a lot of time on my hands since the CoVid quarantine, so I decided to pick up the guitar again after many years of being away. I just bought my first Tele last week, and I was so happy when it arrived. It is a butterscotch "Squier." Unfortunately, it is one of those "$200 Chinese junkers," and my heart sank when I heard how you felt about them. It was all I could afford, so I was wondering. Am I waisting my time with a guitar like mine? I have only had it for about five days, and I already feel like I have learned a whole bunch. I was having trouble getting the bottom "E" string in tune, so I watched several videos on intonation, and learned how to use an adjustable bridge. Perhaps new strings will help? Anyway, I could listen to you strum and talk about the Telecaster all day! I hope I can play half as well myself one day-especially in low-tune mode.
Just terrific stuff. Thanks for hard won knowledge freely shared. So a comment and a question. Because I try so hard to be perfect on every song I need to fight to prevent the death grip that is the killer of speed smoothness and intonation. Relaxation while playing is for me the key Overgripping with the Left hand pulls strings out of tune and slows fingering. The picking hand digs in and speed is lost. It is a lifetime struggle for me and only gets worst in concert. Fatigue sets in and it only gets worse. Light touch is the only answer. The question is how deep is the nut cut really supposed to be? Each string varies in size so is the cut the same or the relative depth the same? If the cut is the same the larger strings will be higher. If they are different each one must be a little different depth to end up with the exact same height. Or does this not matter and something else is critical?
Shalom Seltzer I leave the cutting of the nut to my luthier Mike. Each string is different since the larger string vibrate in a bigger arc etc. all I know is cutting the nut is an absolute art and many luthiers just aren’t very good at it. I’m lucky to have some one who is.
Is why I can't play a short-scale like a Mustang. No fault of the guitar, but my fingers push the notes around too much to maintain tune. Seems much less an issue on "full scale" necks. Thanks for video, I have two nuts to adjust because I've up-sized the strings and the grooves are too narrow. CHECK(for us commenters not you Tim, no sirree!) for nut binding by bending your strings on the headstock (pick-hand bend)--if they don't slide right back into tune, then the grooves of the nut are binding the string and need relief.
I think on the tele with a properly cut nut, a lubricant isn’t necessary. sometimes if the nut is catching i used to use graphite powder mix with Vaseline and just put a little bit in there every once in a while
What I've been doing for 40 years is. I use Fender necks with small vintage frets. I scallop all the frets except for the first four. I've tried to work on my heavy grip but with little success. I have listened on RU-vid for years and I hear people squeezing the open chords sharp. But with vintage frets that doesn't happen very easily. So in essence I've tailored my neck instead of my playing. Always if there is a will there is a way. If I use jumbo Frets I cannot play an open D chord and have it not go sharp.
I still can't get over the Tim's saying in another Tele video that the Tele is more consistent in tone than his arch tops, but he has to use an arch top with his Jazz group because of the look.
Tim, I'm happy RU-vid put this video in my suggestions. You and I are of the same mind on every point you made. I need to share this one without coming off as an "I told you so" asshole. I'm subscribing, thanks.
Hi Tim, thank you for all the precious advice, the great music, and your so warm and kind personality. I was surprised to read elsewhere that you use a plain G 3d string. I play standard tuning a whole step lower, my nut is optimal, i have compensated barrel saddles, and yet i gave up on the plain G because of bad intonation in some places. A thicker plain G like .020 was actually worse than some .017. Any information about why and how you use a plain G ? If you wouldn't bend, would you still use a plain G ? Or is it also because a CC pu or a regular tele neck pu doesn't have adjustable pole pieces? Thanks.
Not all of us are good at hearing pitch. I for one am not good at it. I can hear when a string is out of tune, but I cannot tune a string bye ear very well. Just like people have different hands that move in slightly different ways, people have different ears that work differently.
I have a Squier Classic Vibe that's 3 years old now, & I just love it. Hey Tim: Do you prefer a Maple or Rosewood fretboard? I thought I always preferred the Maple, but I'm starting to lean towards a Rosewood fretboard because I feel like I can "dig in" more.
I find on almost all guitars I have to tune my B string about 6 cents flat relative to the E, or it just sounds off when playing cords. Tuning everything to "0" on a snark almost never sounds right. I tend to tune my low E to a tuner and wing the rest of them from there.
The incorrect nut cut thing is a real pain. Almost every guitar I have ever bought has had this issue, even AVRI's and Gibsons. Why can't they just cut the nut properly? Any one can tell if a guitar is fretting sharp in the first three frets.
Tuning has been a bear for me long time, (since 1959, when I could barely hear critically ), esp with the light steel; when it's spot on the entire neck plays true. I need to play and test out several chord shapes, like open Gmaj, C and esp E, F, Am, an Amaj barred at the 5th fret,then barre at 10th fret; if it's out, this will disclose the offending ones... Then play a bit to ferret out other discordance , problems don't show themselves so easily. Also tuning a cold guitar well is nearly futile until it hits 'running temps". I guess the wood expands as well as the strings, differentially, as the instrument approaches your body/ambient temp., causing inaccuracies, every string dosen't behave the same . AND, if you watch Berta Rojas' performance where she allows the audience to wait while she tunes, retunes: What seems to be going on, IS The neck etc responds to tightening by BENDING! a hair. The lighter (unwound G, the banjo sounding ) strings present this worst, and the effect may be more dynamic in low tunings. So each string as it is made tighter, drops all the other 5 very slightly, resulting in your needing to raise them all, for a few rounds. Tele's are possibly the worst, and the long taper, thin profile and deep radiusing conspire to offset your efforts, BUT the desired endgame is: after you have chased down all this, chords have a delightful iridescence, RESONANCE, and sustain. Tuning stays cool for days, even weeks, with a little tightening of the G, B and high E .The greats, (Bream,Ted, ) always seem in tune; and early rockers, Stones especially, their Sound is recognizable by the characteristic peculiar dissonance, making it feel a bit 'sour'. I like the digital tuners to show internal problems, like a stethoscope, but need touching up here and there, to get it closer to "Tempered", to play well in any key , requires experience, a cultivated ear and good gear. To make matters worse, it is suggested that as we age, our perception of tone changes,so what was great at 21, will actually offend at 65! (ARRRGGGGGH!). And the lighter gauges are trickiest, heavy bronze acoustics are very easy in orchestral tuning. But you will ENJOY playing more if you are well-tuned, but it may take time. Many roadies are profficient at handing off the front man a well-tuned rig at a long gig. will talk about bends later...ciao!
As a fellow tele player, I prefer the six saddle bridges. I am curious as to why you are not a fan. Great tele players like Brad Paisley and Julian Lage stay with the barrel saddles, and others like Brent Mason and Jimmy Olander go individual saddles. Paisley, for example, emphasizes the tonal difference, and the latter two speak about intonation as a more paramount concern.
Some people simply prefer the tone of heavy brass saddles. But there are products out there that I understand give players the best of both worlds: individually-intonated saddles and heavy brass, like the "Armadillo" style aftermarket brass bridge plate which players like Keith Richards and Andy Summers use.
the polyclip clip-on tuners are pretty good for accuracy . . I have a heap of tuners , but I often do my intonation with it, which most clip ons arent really up to doing . . but you pay more of course. . I have tried the cheap ones like Snark , they are not to be trusted, really
