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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on December 5, 2014 at 2:21am

Were your strings marked A (.042) D (.032) G (.024)?

If your .042 is an A (which it normally is in a set of medium acoustic phosphor bronze strings, for a 25.5" scale), then you need to tune tha A DOWN two half steps to G, not up.

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on December 5, 2014 at 2:48am

Ron is right.   String should be a good size.   Tuner could be bad.   Maybe you are tuning an octave too high?   Do you have access to a standard guitar in tune?  If so, use the 2nd biggest string on the standard guitar as a guide.  It is an A and you want a G just a little lower in tone.

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Permalink Reply by Honsik on December 5, 2014 at 4:15am

I used a tuning device and the order on it is E-A-D-G-B-E. So the same as an acoustic guitar.I did instaal the string and gave a little tension and the readin was E. Gave more and it lit the A and more tension did turn the light on of the D. So in my opinion more tension would have resulted in G (the next light). But the string broke.

I'm a bit confused about the answer to tune down...What reading would that be on my tuning device?

When going up to D there is a lot of tension!

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on December 5, 2014 at 4:29am

Once you get the tuner to register A, slowly loosen the string to get it into G. Sometimes a digital tuner needs a chance to think about it before it will display a correct tuning (I have seen this before on my tuner). As an alternative, you can tune by ear if you pluck the smallest string that you have tuned to g (one octave higher than the bigger string will eventually register) and then adjust from the A down (loosen not tighten) to the G. Not everyone can do this, but if you listen carefully, the two strings will sound very familiar to eachother, just in a different octave.

If that doesn't work, here is a link to an audio guitar tuner. When you see the site, it will show a depiction of a guitar neck with strings EADGBe. Select 'Open G" tuning, and the string display will change to GBDgbd. Then you have some audio reference to get your strings tuned in that manner.

http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/onlinetuner.html

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Permalink Reply by Honsik on December 5, 2014 at 5:06am

I did start with A and loosen it a bit. But my tuning device lights A and a bit down altough the sound is about right.So I can only tune by ear the G string.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on December 5, 2014 at 6:10pm

Honsik,

Strings are made in different gauges, or diameters, for different scale lengths and tunings. Your.042" diameter sounds like it is an A. But when you first put it on, with zero tension, then you tension it up just a little, it shouldn't be reading E initially. You should be able to tune your string up to A, let it rest for a few minutes, then gradually reduce the tension until your tuner reads G. Or you can tune it by ear.

The issue Scott mentions I have seen happen with all my digital and analog tuners, and I have a bunch of them, from different manufacturers. On a standard git, when tuning the E string up to pitch on a .052" E from a Light set, or a .056" E from a Medium set, I often see the tuner wobble back and forth between E and A. On a standard git, that's because the guitar's natural resonating frequency is very close to A. But that isn't your problem.

Uncle John's vid link is a good one. Makes me think I need to set up a variable scale jig, cannibalize a bunch of string sets, and show people different tunings for different string diameters, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 string setups, and video it all so that they can see, as well as hear, what's going on. Hmmm. I was planning to brew today...

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on December 5, 2014 at 6:18pm

I wonder if this will help you understand string gauges, pitches and string tension:

http://www.alanhorvath.com/stringauges.php

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Permalink Reply by Daryl on December 5, 2014 at 4:42am

I use the "guitar tuna" app for my phone. Free app and I bought an "open" selection fo like $1.99. Easy and acurate.

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on December 5, 2014 at 5:38am

Go to youtube.  Find Mike Snowden's How To Play Slide.  He is playing a GDg guitar and demonstrates the tuning early in the video.   Link:   http://youtu.be/A-1tjj0K3mo

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