Originally Posted by
maxr
That raises interesting questions. As equal temperament tuning is centred round C (true?), that's one note you'd expect to be dead on in every octave. Few of us start tuning from C - orchestras (and violinists/fiddlers) tune to A, guitarists often start with an E, and mando books I have suggest starting with G (wouldn't it be more logical to start somewhere in the middle and tune up and down?). However I assume electronic tuners take account of equal temperament, so if you initially tuned your mandolin to say the open A string, by the time you get to C at the 3rd fret you shouldn't be far off. Have you checked it with a tuner you know is accurate (eg a strobotuner), or does it sound off pitch to you? I believe relative pitch can sound different to the ear depending on the harmonics an instrument makes.
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