Gear ratio
The relationship between turns of the tuning button and turns of the string post, usually stated as two numbers such as 18 to 1.
A ratio of eighteen to one means the button must turn eighteen times to rotate the post once, so each degree of button movement produces a very small pitch change. Higher ratios give finer, more precise tuning, which matters most on the plain strings and on instruments with a tremolo, while very low ratios make it hard to land exactly on pitch. It is why a set of cheap tuners can make an otherwise good guitar frustrating to keep in tune.
Example: An instrument whose tuners need many turns of the button to raise a string a semitone has a high gear ratio.
See also
Related
- PageMachine head
- PageTuning stability
- PageTuner
- PageAction
- PageArchtop
- PageB-Bender
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley