The Steel Guitar Forum

On the SE9 preset (sharp Es)-Do you tune the Es with the pedals down or up, and how do you tune the rest of the open strings (pedals down or up)? I,m new to tuners in general so any input on this tuner would be welcome.
Thanks
Ray

Ray,
It is My understanding that You do not put the pedals down when tuning the E's.
The settings on the tuner are supposed to allow for cabinet drop(if any)
Best regards
Billy

Hi Ray
Billy is right. The Sweet E9 setting already puts the E"s sharp so do not tune with pedals down using this setting.
If you do that you will sharpen them more

Sharp + sharp = very sharp

Bob

Thanks guys-makes sense.

I prefer the 0E9 with pedals down.
Es are at 440 instead of sharp.

I had one of these, and when I tuned to the presets, my steel sounded terribly out of tune to me. I sold it and went back to me old Korg AT-12, and my personal system.

Es (pedals up) and As (G# strings with the pedals down) to 440

B and F# strings to 439

G# strings (pedals up) and E-F and E-Eb changes to 436.5 - 437

Compensators (first string on A pedal, 6th string on B pedal) to 437

2nd string (which I tune to C# and raise) to 437, raised to D = 439, raise to D# (on a different knee lever)= 437

F# to G (vertical ) and B-Bb (wrist lever) 439

Interestingly, I keep one everything on one of my steels tuned to 440. This is the one I use with my classical music trio. The other players insist on it, and it does sound more in tune with them, but it sound out of tune to me when I play by myself.

I have the tuning I just described on the one I use to woodshed, which is also the one I took to the L.A. steel jam last month.

Thanks, Mike, but it's hard to believe your guitar sounded "terribly out of tune" using the E-9 preset. Do you mean out of tune with itself or with the band?
Those presets are supposedly based on Jeff Newman's tunings. Or could be your particular tuner was out of whack? Or maybe it's just evidence of how we all hear things differently! But you've got my curiosity up--I'll try your tuning and see how it sounds to me.

Ray McCarthy wrote: Do you mean out of tune with itself or with the band?

Out of tune with itself Ray. I play the steel tuned to ET with the trio.

0E9 for me
tune my Es to 440 with pedals down
then enter those settings on tuner
release pedals & then tune by harmonics, entering each setting as you go along
that way the tuning will be specific to your steel

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... highlight=

imo, the Newman & Emmons charts are references than can be used but won't be specific to one's steel
also useful : verify cabinet drop

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=177685

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=164485

last but not least : Compromise will nevertheless be essential

If the Strobo Flip guys would have put a usb port in the unit, like a GPS or Cell phone. Then written a little program that would allow you to input what ever you wanted as off sets in to the program on your computer and up load it into your Strobo Flip. IMO, much more user friendly, equals more sales and fewer X Strobo Flip owners. The reason I've considered getting rid of mine. The only reason. APITA$$! Could store many steel off sets in your computer and up load the one for the steel you are going to gig with that week. Makes sense to me... Maybe the next generation Strobo Flip?

Billy, just got a stroboflip, like you I thought that you would tune with no pedals down as you are tuning E's high, but on reading instruction book(after a course from a lawyer) it says " generally strings are tuned with pedals down unless you have minimal cabinet drop".I don't particularly like what I am getting doing it this way.I know a lot of players swear by their Peterson, at the moment I am just swearing at it.Will keep trying, but wish I had just bought a TU12 to replace my broken one

I just had to get in & try to bolster what I think is the very high quality of Peterson tuners. I don't have the Strobo-flip, but I have the Strobostomp2 & I just love it!

I see that a couple of you guys are having some trouble & I too am finding it hard to believe. Now, the manual is vague, so it forces you to fool around with different inputs until you get it right. Also, from the start, I choose to program my settings--a real job, but I enjoyed doing it. Once the tuner is programmed, you go back to the tuning mode(S1,S2,S3 & S4) & tune normally. This is where you can get into trouble. If you're not in the correct mode, such as S1-S4, it will seem out-of-whack. I've mistakenly done it, so you have to pay attention, where you're at!

On my settings, I tune with A & B pedals down. And, again, all I have to say is my Peterson tuner works extremely well. With the large strobe & note indicator, along with precise accuracy--it can't be beat!

Butch Pytko wrote:I just had to get in & try to bolster what I think is the very high quality of Peterson tuners.

Just to clarify,, I did not have a problem with the tuner itself, but rather with the steel guitar presets.

If the tuner had my presets, or if I had known how to program them in, I would have kept it.

Malcolm
Do you get frustrated with this tuner. It is extremely accurate and will do just about anything that you want it to. BUT you have got to figure out how to operate it


When you said that the book says to tune the E"s with the pedal down..what setting did it say to use with this method?
Some one can correct me but I believe the SE9 sweet setting you do NOT tune with pedals down

The Equal setting or the OE9 setting I would tune the E"s with pedals down.

I too have a tu-12 tuner and I do like it alot. The needle tells you how much flat or sharp you are. The strobto is more sensitive and accurate and it picks up harmonics better..Its a great tuner

Bob

Some one can correct me but I believe the SE9 sweet setting you do NOT tune with pedals down

Correct Robert -

the preset Sweeteners such as 0E9 & SE9 tune the Es w: no pedals down
(0E9 & SE9 use the Newman settings, right ?)

now if you use the programmable Sweeteners such as S1,S2,S3 & S4, the reference for E at 440 will be w: pedals down
that is the E you will enter in your settings
then when tuning E : no pedals down & tune to that value
Obviously, Ideally, Whateverdly, using the programmable Sweeteners, is the way to go to get one's steel tuned specifically

knowing the value of one's cabinet drop : ( did y'a get any on ya ?)
the diff between ; E at 440 w: pedals down (MINUS) the value of E at 440 w: no pedals down

The Peterson is a superb tuner. There's not question about that. I got one when I failed to resuscitate my old TU-12 after a bad fall onto the stage floor from the top of my amp. I did find it interesting to fool around with the Peterson and I can see why a lot of people like it. My biggest problem is that my singer always borrows my tuner to tune his acoustic guitar. He was totally unable to operate the Peterson and tuning by ear for him is out of the question. The band was not happy. So I got a replacement TU-12 which ought to last for another 20 years. I use the tuner to tune my E to 44 (pedals down) and tune the rest by ear. The Peterson was surplus to requirements so I sold it.

This might be a silly question, but here goes--
What's that little number to right of the key?

Ray,
It tells You that the note You are playing is above middle C by that number of octaves
Billy

Robert the book does not specify either OE9 or SE9,it is in the section "tuning pedal steel guitar", it just says "generally pedals are down when tuning strings".Pretty vague!I think I will give Crowbears system a try, after spending all that cash I am determined to get the best out of it.

I had a Petersen tuner and I think they are great - however, after I tuned my steel with it - I plugged in my old Seiko ST757 and it gave me the same numbers for less than $30.00!! - I think it is the best tuner I have ever used for the money...

My Korg multi-electronic tuner stopped working about three weeks and I am considering purchasing a Peterson tuner for two purposes. 1) Tuning my Fessenden U12 and 2) setting up the intonation on six strings guitars I am building.

What is the better choice, the Strobo-Flip or the Strobostomp2? Pros /Cons? Do both have the steel sweet tuning options?

just bought one to try and tune an old MSA RED BARON I picked up. Having a hard time getting used to the tuner and beginning to think I made a mistake on the steel. It has 3 pedals and one lever. The strobo flip has everything on it that you would need, just hard to get used to.

I agree that it's a bit difficult to get used to, but if you plug the guitar directly into the tuner (so the tuner doesn't hear any extraneous noise) it's much more used friendly.

I've never used any of the Peterson tuners, I use the Newman settings, them maybe make slight adjustments if needed. It seems like the thing most like about the Peterson, is that the settings are stored in it's memory. If you have been playing a while, you should be able to remember the tuner settings that you use. Any chromatic tuner will work just as well if you know your desired settings. Why make a big deal out of the stored settings feature?

With a Peterson tuner you can tune however you like and then save it as you own personal tuning.