Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

my 381 string sounds like a bag of bolts!!!!!,dispite a recent set up i cant seem to tune it,does anyone know what the stings are supposed to be tuned at,i know the EADGBE string,but what are the other six?,call me stupid!!!

jeff381 wrote:my 381 string sounds like a bag of bolts!!!!!,dispite a recent set up i cant seem to tune it,does anyone know what the stings are supposed to be tuned at,i know the EADGBE string,but what are the other six?,call me stupid!!!

If I am understanding you correctly this is a 12 string? The second set of octave strings are tuned the same. EADGBE.

If this is a 12-string, is it your first? When I played a 12-string, I didn't know the tuning for one either, til my friend/teacher at the time told me on how to tune it.

i`ve tuned it the same EEAADDGGBBEE and it still sound terrible!!!!!!

Are you using a tuner or tuning it by ear?

Additionally, and this may sound like a stupid question, but are you making sure that you're tuning the high E and B strings in unison and the other main strings to their regular tuning with the additional string an octave higher?

I'd suggest a good tuner; you should also check the intonation and get it as close as you can.

Peterson makes a virtual strobe tuner, which offers a special "sweetened" tuning for 12ers; this really sounds nice.

Also, check your "R" tailpiece-it might be cracking and about to break; I was at rehearsal with my 381/12 about four years ago and the thing would not stay in tune-it kept slipping out. two days later at the beginning of rehearsal, I opened the case and the tailpiece fell to the floor, and all of the strings just burst out of the case. It all made sense; the guitar kept going flat and out of tune on me at the previous rehearsal because the tailpiece was cracked, and as I tightened up the strings, the tension just makd the crack bigger, pulling the strings flat again. I hope this is not the case, but it's possible.

It should be tuned as follows, low to high:

low E
E octave
A
A octave
D
D octave
G
G octave
regular B
regular B
regular hi E
regular hi E

Use the Rickenbacker 12-string set. It has wound strings for the low G and the A octave, which helps a lot. Also, you may need saddle adjustments. With a tuner, see if the 12th fret harmonic is in tune with playing that same string at the 12th fret. They should match on each string.