Paul's Gear

No matter how precise you try to be, tuning a guitar is always an imperfect compromise.  You can tune the open strings of an “off the rack” guitar perfectly, but when you begin playing chords, certain strings will sound sharp. If you’re interested, you can read hundreds of pages of very interesting mathematical explanations on the internet of why this occurs.

You can get much closer to a “perfect” tuning by replacing the standard straight nut on an acoustic guitar with a “compensated nut”.  I’ve had a compensated nut, designed and patented by my friend Steve Merkel, installed on most of my guitars.

To get a compensated nut installed on most guitar models, consider contacting Randy Hughes. Randy is a brilliant craftsman who can install a a compensated nut on your guitar, significantly improving the tuning.