Playing in tune at the 1st Fret

Tom Campbell · Post by **Tom Campbell** » 27 Aug 2015 8:51 am

Was playing with the church's praise band last night and was in the key of F at the 1st fret. Couldn't stay in tune with the band. Checked my bar position with the key board player and discovered I need to have the bar placement about an 1/8" behind the fret marker. My bar placement was fine at the 3rd fret and beyond. Is this what is called a "parallax" issue?

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 27 Aug 2015 9:07 am

Probably so. Always use your eats to tune your hands.

Ken Pippus · Post by **Ken Pippus** » 27 Aug 2015 9:07 am

DG Whitley · Post by **DG Whitley** » 27 Aug 2015 10:05 am

Probably so. Always use your eats to tune your hands.

Lane, was that supposed to be ears?

Jamie Mitchell · Post by **Jamie Mitchell** » 27 Aug 2015 10:09 am

parallax, but also possibly having to press down too hard on the first fret to eliminate string buzz, pushing some strings sharp?

Dick Wood · Post by **Dick Wood** » 27 Aug 2015 11:08 am

Lane, just be sure to wash up before using your hands to tune while eating.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 27 Aug 2015 11:53 am

Chances are your fretboard is off a bit.

Scott Duckworth · Post by **Scott Duckworth** » 27 Aug 2015 11:56 am

The piano at the nursing home I play at is always off a little. I just apply the Flatt & Scruggs method...

"You jus' start a playin' and I'll slide 'till I git thar..."

Les Cargill · Post by **Les Cargill** » 27 Aug 2015 5:23 pm

Parallax is because you're looking at the bar at an angle, so it looks closer to the nut than it really is.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 27 Aug 2015 5:44 pm

Don't look at the bar! Use your ears!

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 27 Aug 2015 7:41 pm

thinking about it i can't remember playing much at the first fret.

Jim Pitman · Post by **Jim Pitman** » 28 Aug 2015 2:20 am

It may also be that your string height at the roller nuts varies. This becomes more and more significant the closer you get to the roller nuts. Most steel guitars now have graduated roller nuts with slots to perfectly match the diameter of the associated guage of string. The intent is to make the top side of the strings planar so bar pressure doesn't sharpen the tuning of a string that is higher than the others.

Tom Campbell · Post by **Tom Campbell** » 28 Aug 2015 5:12 am

Jim...you "nailed-it"!

My top four strings are in a linear progression...E, F#, G#, C#. At the 1st fret the bar pressure is uneven because of the uneven string sizes. Further up the neck there is less resistance from the nut thus more string flex, so the bar pressure evens out. Mystery solved.

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 28 Aug 2015 6:56 am

Gauged rollers will fix that issue.

Rich Upright · Post by **Rich Upright** » 28 Aug 2015 7:59 am

Turn up the reverb or delay. It will sound more in tune

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 28 Aug 2015 10:32 am

...or more vibrato

Don Sulesky · Post by **Don Sulesky** » 29 Aug 2015 7:13 am

When I had my Weenick made I gave the GHS SS strings I used to Martin so that the rollers would be gauged to the string diameters. No buzz on my steel.
Also when the fretboard was to be applied we checked the position of the frets. I doubt this care is done with assembly line steel guitars.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 29 Aug 2015 8:08 am

Don,
You're right about the fretboards.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 29 Aug 2015 11:54 am

are there any steel guitar assembly lines out there?