Keeping The Yamaha GL1 Guitalele In Tune?

[PortlandLeo]

Hello,

Sorry if this is the wrong category for this:
I notice a real difference between how well my Oscar Schmidt Tenor and my Yamaha Gitalele stay in tune. My tenor has Akila strings with the low G wound. I have gone through several sets on the Yamaha, and settled on Classical Guitar medium tension strings, a recommendation I saw on here and at the local music shop. The Requinto strings recommended on the Classical Guitar forums, made by La Bella, just didn't have the same depth.
Anyway, my tenor stays in tune really well. My guitalele, not so much. And, it seems not to tune with itself that well, if that makes any sense. The scale sounds right, if you go up a single string.
Maybe it's my ear having atropheed. I can't use a digital tuner because I'm blind, and those require you look at a needle or digital read-out.
I have had some success using a pitch pipe app on my iPad, and doing each string's note rather than tuning with itself.
Anyone else found this, or have any ideas?
Thanks, and thanks for putting up with a rambling post.

 

[Booli]

Hello,

Sorry if this is the wrong category for this:
I notice a real difference between how well my Oscar Schmidt Tenor and my Yamaha Gitalele stay in tune. My tenor has Akila strings with the low G wound. I have gone through several sets on the Yamaha, and settled on Classical Guitar medium tension strings, a recommendation I saw on here and at the local music shop. The Requinto strings recommended on the Classical Guitar forums, made by La Bella, just didn't have the same depth.
Anyway, my tenor stays in tune really well. My guitalele, not so much. And, it seems not to tune with itself that well, if that makes any sense. The scale sounds right, if you go up a single string.
Maybe it's my ear having atropheed. I can't use a digital tuner because I'm blind, and those require you look at a needle or digital read-out.
I have had some success using a pitch pipe app on my iPad, and doing each string's note rather than tuning with itself.
Anyone else found this, or have any ideas?
Thanks, and thanks for putting up with a rambling post.

Hi There,

I have the same guitalele from Yamaha, and I use the D'Addario EJ27N normal tension strings on mine and like them a lot. They hold a tune, are easy on the fingers and sound very sweet with a good amount of sustain. These are considered 'student' grade strings, but I feel no difference between them and the Pro Arte or the La Bella. With tuning up a fifth to A on the guitalele you will have more tension, and I think these strings are great at that pitch.

On my full size classical guitar I have taken to using the D'Addario EJ27H, which are the same strings, but 'hard' tension, and due to the scale length and tuning reference differences between the full size classical guitar and the guitalele, it feels to me like they have the same string tension.

I am kind of a bit if a nut for higher tension strings in order to DRIVE the wood top of the instrument and also have a longer, ringing sustain.

Most of the online vendors have the D'Addario EJ27 series and they average around $4.75 per set of strings.

Maybe you should try these out. Also how long are your strings on and being retuned before you are feeling that they cannot hold pitch?

Also, remember that nylon classical guitar strings are a very different composition than the Aquila Nylgut strings, and as such take longer to settle in and stop stretching, and during the settling in time, you have to play the instrument as opposed to just tune it to pitch and let it sit in the corner for a week, for if you do that it will seem to never settle. When the strings are vibrating from your playing, you are helping them stretch.

After I install strings on any of my ukes or guitars, I am trying to play them at least 20 minutes per day, and all the while I have to constantly retune when I am playing, and then at night, if I remember, I will tune the strings up a whole step, and then by morning they are stretched a little, and need retuning, and then during the day a few times per day I will pick up the instrument, retune and play a few minutes and then retune again as necessary.

Doing so on the uke with anything OTHER than nylon strings it takes me about 2-3 days for the the strings to pretty much hold pitch, and nylon strings typically take about a week to ten days before being settled enough for my ear.

I refuse to pull at the string perpendicluar to the fretboard like you are pulling and archery bow in order to stretch them. I see folks swearing by it, but I tried this a few times and it caused premature breaking of the strings, and also problems with tuning as stretching them this way causes them to stretch NOT along their length as intended, but in 'pinch spots' where you pull at the string, and causes that small area to stretch more so than the inch or so of string on each side of where you are pulling.

When I started with guitar decades ago, I only had a tuning fork to tune the A string, and then I tuned the rest of the strings relative to the A string using the harmonics and on the 4th and 5th frets. I maintain that doing so is probably the best way to train your ear, as well as holding true to the equal temperament of the instrument's design.

Please let me know if this information is helpful to you.

Booli

 

[Condor]

I also have a GL1 guitalele and it stays in tune really well, better than my ukes do. I have D 'Addario Pro Arte strings on it and no problems with the tuning since the strings settled. Are the strings perhaps slipping a bit due to too many windings on the tuning pegs? Might be worth detuning and resetting the strings.

 

[PortlandLeo]

Thanks. I just need to be patient then. They go out pretty quick, maybe 1 or 2 strings in half an hour, but it's getting better. Thanks for all the tips, it really does help.

 

[Booli]

Thanks. I just need to be patient then. They go out pretty quick, maybe 1 or 2 strings in half an hour, but it's getting better. Thanks for all the tips, it really does help.

No problem, Anything you need, just ask and somebody here will be able to offer some advice or info. We've all been down this road at one time or other, and many folks here feel as I do, that it's important to try and give back to the community when others need help or can benefit from our experience. It's kind of a way of paying it forward, with the hope that the new folks might continue that to help those that come after them.

Of course none of this is like an official policy or anything, but it's the behavior I've observed in being part of UU for about a year now.

How long have you been playing guitalele and ukulele?

 

[PortlandLeo]

I got the ukulele last summer and the guitalele in January.

 

[Booli]

I got the ukulele last summer and the guitalele in January.

So now that it's been a couple of weeks, how is your GL1 doing?

Have you been playing it to vibrate the strings and accelerate their stretching and settling in?

Is it holding tune as of now?

 

[PortlandLeo]

Sorry I've been gone awhile.
Yes, your methods have been fantastic. The strings settled in, and I've even had it outside playing for fun, no problems at all.

 

[The Big Kahuna]

it seems not to tune with itself that well, if that makes any sense. The scale sounds right, if you go up a single string.
Maybe it's my ear having atropheed. I can't use a digital tuner because I'm blind, and those require you look at a needle or digital read-out.
I have had some success using a pitch pipe app on my iPad, and doing each string's note rather than tuning with itself.
Anyone else found this, or have any ideas?

The reason for that is because the intonation is out on your instrument. This is perfectly common, and can be caused by several things. One is that the 12th fret must be exactly half the distance of the length from nut to saddle, and yours probably isn't. All electric guitars have a method whereby you can move the saddle backwards and forwards. A less common reason is because the frets are installed poorly. Another reason is a "bad" or old set of strings. A decent guitar tech should be able to adjust the intonation by either fitting a compensated saddle, or filing the existing one to alter the string length. An easy way to check your intonation is to compare the pitch of the 12th fret harmonic with the fretted note. They should be exactly the same pitch. A difference of even a few cents can bugger up the intonation. Alternatively, your action could be too high, and be pulling the string out of tune when your fret a note.

When I started with guitar decades ago, I only had a tuning fork to tune the A string, and then I tuned the rest of the strings relative to the A string using the harmonics and on the 4th and 5th frets. I maintain that doing so is probably the best way to train your ear, as well as holding true to the equal temperament of the instrument's design.

If your intonation is out, this will make no difference, and all you are training your ear to do is hear the "beats" when the notes are out. Tuning using harmonics is faster and more accurate than tuning to the 5th and open if your intonation is spot on, but as you're only sounding the natural harmonics, if your intonation is out, it'll be just as bad up the neck.

Besides, with the short scale length of ukes and guileles, correct intonation all over the neck is something you'll never achieve. It's always going to be a compromise.