Chapter 6: Advanced Tuning Options
You can create your own custom alternate tuning presets, and store them in one of the three preset
tuning banks. Although this overwrites the factory preset in that location, you can always revert to the
factory defaults, as described in Chapter 7 section. Furthermore, you can choose a reference pitch
other than A=440.
Creating Custom Alternate Tuning Presets
To create a custom alternate tuning preset:
1. With the MCK pushed
in
, tune Dark Fire manually to the pitches you want (remember: all
Powerheads turn in the same direction).
Caution: Make sure the guitar is in tune—if you
happen to save this as the default “Instantly Activated Tuning,” then the default guitar
tuning will be out of tune. If this happens, refer to the Setup section for information on
restoring the factory presets.
2. Pull the MCK
out
and turn it clockwise to the
Peg
LED symbol.
3. Press on the MCK's Display Matrix and hold it in the pressed state until the
Peg
LED shines
cyan
(I.e., greenish-blue). Symbols
E,
A
,
D
,
G
,
B
and
e
will shine
red
.
4. Strum each string individually, one by one (don’t strum too hard!); when each string’s
frequency has been measured and registered, its LED will turn
green
. If necessary, re-pluck
any strings that remain
red
until they are measured and turn
green
.
5. When all string LEDs have turned
green
, they will turn off and the
Peg
LED will start flashing.
This indicates your Custom Altered Tuning is ready to store.
6.
To store a preset in the
Blue
Bank:
As Dark Fire is currently in the
Blue
Bank, storing to the
Blue
Bank is easy. Select a string LED position, then press the Display Matrix momentarily
and the string LEDs will flash
red
4 times, indicating your custom alternate tuning is now
stored in that position.
7.
To store a preset in the
Green
or
Red
Bank:
As Dark Fire is currently in the
Blue
Bank,
rotate the MCK until the
b#
symbol shines
blue
. Press momentarily on the Display Matrix to
select the
Green
Bank, then press again to select the
Red
Bank. After selecting the desired
bank, select a string LED position, then press the Display Matrix momentarily. The string LEDs
will flash
red
4 times, indicating your custom alternate tuning is now stored in that position.
Tuning to Pitch References other than A=440Hz
Although the most common tuning reference is A=440Hz, it's not the only one (e.g., some orchestras
tune to A=442Hz). Or a piano may be in tune with itself, but not tuned exactly to A=440Hz. For these
situations, Dark Fire can tune to any arbitrary reference.
1. Pull the MCK out, and tune to standard pitch.
2. Select the desired Bank and Preset to hold the custom tuning.
3. Tune the open “A” string manually to the new reference pitch for A (e.g., slightly sharp, like
A=442Hz).
Gibson Dark Fire 4.0 manual, page 24
