What temperament is a guitar tuned?

[Billbrpt@aol.com]

In a message dated 6/2/98 4:08:26 AM Central Daylight Time,
 John.Woodrow@aus.dupont.com writes:

<< A book on guitars that I was flicking through made the claim that a guitar
 is tuned as a Well Temperament, reflecting the period from which it evolved.  
 
 
 Can anybody confirm or otherwise that a standard guitar tuning is a Well
 Temperament. >>

This may be the result of a common error that has persisted for nearly a
 century.   Many reference books and texts imply or state that Equal
 Temperament (ET) and Well-Temperament (WT) are synonymous but the two are
 actually mutually exclusive.

The guitar's frets are laid out in a manner that would imply ET.  All
 electronic guitar tuner's frequencies are based on ET. However, many players
 will tell you that once they have tuned  according to the elctronic tuner,
 they play some chords and "tweak" the tuning a bit to suit their own
 preferences.  Many who do this are essentially converting the ET to a WT.

If you are interested in tuning a guitar in a WT, here are two sets of
 deviations which you can use.  The first is a "Victorian" the next is a 1/6
 ditonic comma, "Vallotti" type WT.  In a performance in which I was involved
 of the musical Man of La Mancha several years ago, the Vallotti type was used
 for both the orchestra and on stage guitars.  It provides for beautiful
 harmony in the simple keys and very dark colors in the remote minor keys that
 were written in the score.

These figures may be used with a Sanderson Accu-Tuner and possibly a
 mechanical Strobe tuner.  All values are read on Octave 4  (this is
 important).  An adjustable guitar tuner may also be used but the results may
 not be accurate.

E2: -2.0¢  A2: 0.0¢  D3: 1.0¢  G3: 2.0¢  B3: -2.0¢  E4: -1.0¢
      -4.0¢        0.0¢        2.0¢         4.0¢       -4.0¢        -2.0¢

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison,Wisconsin