Setting your guitar's intonation is essential to making it sound great, but what if there was a better and easier way to do it? PitchSlap is a new app that delivers it.
“It’s always seemed odd to me that we tend to only take two measurements when we set guitar intonation – often the open string and 12th fret," says PitchSlap designer Simon Asker. "This leaves the process open to errors and we know that if the intonation is out the guitar is never going to sound great."
PitchSlap allows you to set your guitar’s intonation with greater accuracy by measuring the pitch of all the frets on the neck; taking the average of all the frets instead of relying on the two measurements of the traditional method. It also offers extra useful features as a guitar tuner with custom tunings.
The best news: this new IOS app is free to download at launch in the app store with no ads.
Why your guitar's intonation matters a lot
When your guitar is properly intonated, it's in tune with itself. And it doesn't just mean all the open strings are at their correct pitches, but every note that a player frets too. So if your guitar sounds out of tune even after you've tuned your open strings, it probably means your intonation isn't right.
To make this process easier and more accurate than traditional methods, PitchSlap offers a groundbreaking approach.
It all began with its designer Simon's aim to devise a new way of recording and visualising pitch at all the frets along a guitar string. Then a highly accurate tuner algorithm.
The successful combination of these features now enables PitchSlap to make it easier for players to realise the potential of their guitars and get them sounding better. It also includes some great additional features that are very useful indeed…
Three types of guitar tuner
Players have three different types of tuner to choose from in PitchSlap that are aimed to suit different guitarists' preferences and needs.
The simple tuner will get your guitar in tune within a few cents and is the quickest to use. The classic tuner offers a needle and gauge for more accuracy and the ring tuner offers the greatest precision for players.
PitchSlap is easy to use and optimises the internal mic on your iOS device for tuning, or you can plug in using a compatible audio interface.
PitchSlap can help your guitar sound better with a capo
Another use for PitchSlap's intonation tool is to help players who use a capo.
Some players will find that that a capo pulls their guitar strings so they sound too sharp. PitchSlap's intonation tool helps you to create compensated tuning that can tune each open string flat by exactly the right amount to get your guitar sounding great with a capo.
The app offers optimised tunings for your guitars
Some guitars benefit from ‘sweetened’ custom tunings; especially acoustic guitars that don't have adjustable string saddles. These tempered tunings can be tailored to optimise the sound of your particular guitar.
With PitchSlap players can create as many tuning variations as they want in the app, using the intonation tool to guide them, and assign them to a specific guitar and easily choose its preset with PitchSlap's interface.
For example, on a particular acoustic guitar with a fixed bridge that may have inconsistent intonation for particular strings, players can create a custom tuning with PitchSlap to compensate by a few cents flat or sharp on those strings. The result will be a guitar that sounds more in tune when you play.
Helping guitarists sound better
Hopefully PitchSlap will encourage other guitarists to grab a screwdriver and see just how good they can make their instruments sound
Simon Asker, designer
PitchSlap isn't just technologically advanced, it's easy to use too. App designer Simon teamed up with old bandmate Kris D’Arney of D'Arney Design to develop the distinctive user interface that provides a slick, contemporary experience for players of all levels.
“When I started playing guitar 30 years ago I was afraid to mess with the bridge and truss rod in case I made things worse," says Simon. "Now part of the joy of getting a new guitar is getting it to play exactly the way I want it to. Hopefully PitchSlap will encourage other guitarists to grab a screwdriver and see just how good they can make their instruments sound.”
Find out just how much difference PitchSlap can make to your guitar by downloading it for free from the App Store. You can also sign up to join the beta test team by contacting via the Pitchslap website.
You can also find out more at pitchslap.rocks, Instagram and YouTube