So I came across an article on Guitar Player about Jimmy Page playing a 12 string. And I open it up.
Then became very sad.
Slee
Sounds like it’s tuned the way he wants it tuned.
Could it be he’s using open tuning on this performance? For example, here’s a Led Zeppelin song done in open C tuning.
Yes, some open tuning or other. You can tell by the way the bass strings sound like big rubber bands.
Another vote for it being in tune. It’s going slightly out of tune on the higher frets either due to the strings being loose and being easy to bend inadvertently or the intonation being off. I’d generally bet on the former, since he hits them with varying degrees of drift in the tuning.
Oh my, I didn’t know Page could play that badly.
That’s not my cup of tea. Almost atonal and dissonant.
I agree his strings are very loose and it’s got that rubber band thing going.
Maybe. Probably. But it still sounds out of tune. Like ass in other words.
I am not close to a guitar but it sounds like open G. Sounds fine to me - I could do without the moody distant camera angles.
12-string guitars have light-gauge strings on them, and Jimmy favors lighters gauges anyway. If you strum a bit too hard and the Low E string pair* is tuned down to D, they can sound pitchy.
*officially called a “course” - a 12-string guitar has six 2-string courses.
I agree with OP. The low notes sound out of tune with the rest of the chords, like someone playing a fretless bass and not knowing the exact fingering locations or knowing how to adjust.
Yeah, I’m with you and the OP here. It’s not so out of tune that it bugs me too much, but I’m not really fond of the piece.
I was also wondering what song this was vaguely reminding me of and then I realized, “Four Sticks.” OK, I did say vaguely.
I’m not a musician (I can read music, and make my way along a piano keyboard, but that’s about it), so I can’t comment on whether or not it’s ‘in tune’…but that piece sounds to me like it could have been bouncing around inside Jimmy’s head since the Led Zeppelin III days. In other words, it’s a perfect example of a ‘Jimmy Page acoustic guitar’ piece, and therefore it sounds “just fine” to me.
I’ve experimented with low tension strings on my upright bass before. A “bumped” set- a D string in the place of the G, an A string for D, etc, then a gut string or equivalent for the E. What happens when you tune it is that the pitch is good on the attack, but then rapidly goes flat.
I think that may be what’s happening here. It looks fine on the tuner, but goes out of tune with any sustain. If he’s got some strings tuned low that effect may be in play. Particularly the lower strings.
Also, doesn’t your setup affect tuning? The neck bowing due to a different tension it was set up for?
Could it be that he’s pressing any low tension strings farther down to the fingerboard thus making them go out of tune?
Cool thing I learned today.
Thanks **WordMan
**
It’s a little underwhelming. Alternate tunings are tricky in that they can sound a little bit off if not tuned exactly right. This is why you’ll see performers with a whole stable of guitars on stage, they can dedicate a guitar to some wacked out tuning and leave it there.
Not too long ago, I learned that the Queen of wacky tunings, Joni Mitchell, was no longer bothering to dedicate a guitar to them, or to pause to do the tuning. Instead, she uses a standard tuning, and a guitar amp emulator to change the tuning.
Blues men who played 12 strings often tuned them low; I suspect that this is because the neck would bow and the bridge would pop off if they didn’t. 12 strings are also pretty dang hard to tune; I love mine anyway.
I don’t know what’s going on there, but I can assure you that Page knows how to play the guitar. I’ve seen him twice, once he was playing the guitar so fast his fingers were a blur. (on big screen @ the concert)
I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
Heh. Everybody’s got one. Depends on what you do with it.
I’m betting page was just rocking it and was aware of his own sound and not caring about how many cents off it was. Sometimes cents off sounds rocking.