Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on January 10, 2018 at 11:52am

It may be you are chasing the wrong 'g', ie, the wrong octave, a good rule of thumb way to overcome this is to tension the string [any string], until it just begins to sound full, and not sloppy, from there the next g or d you arrive at is the one you want. 

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Permalink Reply by Richard Dean on January 10, 2018 at 12:10pm

Depending on the sound you want, if your just after a GDg, why not use the A,D,G strings, just stop at G before arriving at A, for the base string, and the other 2 are designed to achieve the correct pitch. I do believe like stated by Daryl, your going past one g and heading for the next. And if you use the Ernie Ball strings, your g will be an unwound string still. When I use their strings, I use their custom/hybrid light strings, which starts at .009, I've actually went past the first g (using the .009) and actually hit the next one without breaking, but it was awful tight and hard on the fingers which is how I figured out what I did.

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Permalink Reply by Roland Wood on January 10, 2018 at 2:44pm

Thanks Richard, I should be heading out in the next few days to get a 12 string acoustic guitar, I'll be sure to grab a pack of strings when I do and give the ADG a shot .

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Permalink Reply by JL on January 11, 2018 at 12:51am

also make sure your tuner is in "Chromatic" mode and not Guitar mode, since you are not tuning a standard 6 string....

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Permalink Reply by Titch the Clown on January 11, 2018 at 1:35am

Sounds like you may have a sharp point somewhere. I would look for sharp edges especially around the tail piece. 

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Permalink Reply by Paul Cezanne on January 11, 2018 at 1:54pm

I was tuning up a string, (low C from a cello string) and I was E-flat and going upwards and I got to thinking. Man, I've got a ways to go. So I found a "cello tuning" video on YouTube and, yeah, I was going for the octave above!

So check the dumb things first.

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Permalink Reply by gary herget on January 11, 2018 at 4:39pm

Like Richard says, use a .009 for the high G and it should work fine. If that breaks then you have a sharp edge somewhere.

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Permalink Reply by Korrigan on January 12, 2018 at 2:13am

I've broken stings trying to tune an octave too high so I went and found a tuner app that displays the note name, frequency and octave number, no problems since.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bork.dsp.datuna&a...

Standard guitar tuning is: E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4.

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Permalink Reply by Nick Lanciano on January 12, 2018 at 3:21am

High G can sometimes be a real pain when trying to tune up, particularly if you are using a .09."

There are a couple of things you can do here, the first would be to examine the break angle of the string at the nut and the bridge. If it is too severe, it can cause additional pressure to the string which will cause it to snap.

If you want that higher pitch sound, try finding a string gauge in a .08". with that thickness you should be able to tune it up to G without worrying about breakage.

Also check out the article listed below. It can help explain some of the string gauges, why they are used, and what to use for different octaves.

https://www.cigarboxguitar.com/knowledge-base/open-g-gdg-tuning-on-...

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Permalink Reply by Kigar on January 13, 2018 at 5:58am

There are a lot of ways to get gdg tuning but my favorite is the 345 strings. The strings are close to their "natural " tension when using a scale around 25".

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on January 13, 2018 at 1:06pm

I prefer the 25" scale myself. Easier to bend strings on scales shorter than 25.5", but harmonics are better above 24.5". So the 25" scale is a good compromise.

I always use a pitch pipe to tune unless I was tuning before a gig. It helps train your ear to hear those notes better.

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