Tuning a thumb piano?

We've made a couple of thumb pianos, one from a cigar box, one from a gold pan.  They sound okay but are not tuned to any scale. The tines are made from fish wire and were cut to sizes convenient to the size of the box/pan.  How would I adjust them to a scale?  Trial and error?  Would I adjust the length of the tines with them all in place or do it one at a time?  Any advice or links?

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by chevytrucking on November 1, 2012 at 10:06am

I don't know if it would work for you or not, but I bought a tiny little clip on guitar tuner on ebay the other day. It works off the vibration of the neck or headstock. It has a chromatic function, as well as standard guitar tuning. I only paid like $4 for it with free shipping, but it works pretty damn good. I was impressed.

Seems like you could clip it onto the thumb piano, pluck a note, trim the wire, check again, and so on. Might be worth trying for only $4 or $5. Good luck.

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