Going of tune in your bag?

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='Dave Vader' post='1225010' date='May 9 2011, 12:44 PM']I once knew a guitar player who drew line on his headstock to show the angle the tuners needed to be at to stay in tune.
Guy was a genius, wish I'd thought of that....[/quote]


Not really needed though...


Just take an allen key to gigs, if the strings seem a little flat or sharp just move the bridge saddles back and forth to counter the pitch problem. Soon enough your bass will be perfectly in tune and you won't need to bother with those pesky tuning pegs at all

This method also negates the use of frets which leaves one hand free for punching the air

[toneknob]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1225204' date='May 9 2011, 03:36 PM']Not really needed though...


Just take an allen key to gigs, if the strings seem a little flat or sharp just move the bridge saddles back and forth to counter the pitch problem. Soon enough your bass will be perfectly in tune and you won't need to bother with those pesky tuning pegs at all

This method also negates the use of frets which leaves one hand free for punching the air[/quote]


The guitarist in my band will simply g-clamp his trem arm into a position such that all 6 strings are on average in tune.

[BottomE]

So its not a joke thread? Given the cost of a tuner < £10 and the time it takes to tune a bass (a minute) why on earth would you not tune it before each set?

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='DanOwens' post='1224889' date='May 9 2011, 11:11 AM']If you're not using a hardcase or using a Ibanez Gary Willis signature (with 3-point tuning pegs), then this is just going to happen.[/quote]

I have to disagree, at least, from my experience.
I have always used gig bags, and my main one is an almost unpadded old Levys gig bag. Its been on the parcel shelf of various cars, laying across the drum kit on the back seat etc and i have never found my bass (around 8-9 in total) to be randomly out of tune when ive arrived at the gig. The worst i have had is the G on a 4 in a line head stock going slightly out, less than a tone though.
i do always check my tuning but vary rarely nee dto adjust it.

I do still play randomly out of tune though, and do blame the bass.

Edited May 9, 2011 by dave_bass5

[Dave Vader]

Favourite electronic tuner moment, about 10 years ago, I was playing guitar with a band, and had dropped my Yamaha SG on my way to the stage (big all day event lots of bands, on and off quick job) tuned it behind the stage with my multiFX tuner, thought phew!
Went on played opening chords, thought, cripes this sounds heavier than it should, got to the solo, and then it hit me, my G was an octave lower than it should have been. Still no idea how I managed to do that, but it was quite fun. Retuned quick before next song, but never has Kirsty Maccoll sounded so heavy. Or a solo featured so little of the G, who knew you needed it so much?

[ZMech]

[quote name='Johnston' post='1225228' date='May 9 2011, 03:55 PM']I sound bad enough as it is never mind having it out of tune too [/quote]
My cousin had the opposite mentality with cello. He was forced to learn by his parents, and one time I heard him practise it sounded god-awful. I asked to have a go, and it was obscenely out of tune. The silly boy claimed he sounds rubbish anyway, so why bother tuning it?

[Count Bassy]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1225227' date='May 9 2011, 03:53 PM']The worst i have had is the G on a 4 in a line head stock going slightly out, less than a tone though.[/quote]

Not enough that anyone would notice then.


Seriously though, get a headless! The only bass I have that I can rely on being in tune 'out of the bag' is my Westone Quantum (headless).
I still always check it though, why on earth wouldn't you?

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='Dave Vader' post='1225232' date='May 9 2011, 03:59 PM']Favourite electronic tuner moment, about 10 years ago, I was playing guitar with a band, and had dropped my Yamaha SG on my way to the stage (big all day event lots of bands, on and off quick job) tuned it behind the stage with my multiFX tuner, thought phew!
Went on played opening chords, thought, cripes this sounds heavier than it should, got to the solo, and then it hit me, my G was an octave lower than it should have been. Still no idea how I managed to do that, but it was quite fun. Retuned quick before next song, but never has Kirsty Maccoll sounded so heavy. Or a solo featured so little of the G, who knew you needed it so much? [/quote]

The guitarist in my band managed to snap a string at a gig the other night. He notoriously constantly goes out of tune but very rarely snaps string and as luck would have it, it was the only gig in ages he didn't take a spare guitar to.

He ended up changing string mid-set while we jammed a bit and covered for him, in his haste he managed to put on a D string in place of the snapped G string and ended up tuning it an octave down because he didn't dare tune the D up to G or want to waste more time mid-set to change it for the right string.

I also know a band that never tuned using a tuner. Before every gig and practice they'd tune to each other. Their singer - who isn't the best anyway - sounded awful because the pitch she was singing at would change slightly every time with the guitars and she could never keep up.

[stevebasshead]

Reminds me of the story (think it was on BC ages ago) of a band in the dressing room of a working mens club, guitarist is quietly tuning up in the corner. Club chairman comes in and does his nut, saying to the guitarist "you've known about this gig for [i]6 months[/i] and you're only just tuning up [i]now?[/i]...

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='Count Bassy' post='1225245' date='May 9 2011, 04:17 PM']Not enough that anyone would notice then.


Seriously though, get a headless! The only bass I have that I can rely on being in tune 'out of the bag' is my Westone Quantum (headless).
I still always check it though, why on earth wouldn't you?[/quote]

LOl, Actually they would notice as the notes on the G string would be the only ones in tune with the lead guitarist ;-)

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='stevebasshead' post='1225257' date='May 9 2011, 04:26 PM']Reminds me of the story (think it was on BC ages ago) of a band in the dressing room of a working mens club, guitarist is quietly tuning up in the corner. Club chairman comes in and does his nut, saying to the guitarist "you've known about this gig for [i]6 months[/i] and you're only just tuning up [i]now?[/i]...[/quote]

Dont, my guitarist is normally late for most gigs (and he brings the singer and PA) and its always when we are pushed for time that he decides to put new strings on his guitar, meaning we miss our sound check.

Bloody frustrating.

Edited May 9, 2011 by dave_bass5

[Fat Rich]

If you've got enclosed Gotoh / Schaller type tuning pegs you could try tightening the screw that holds the turny bit to bit that's fixed to the headstock so that the pegs are harder to turn and therefore less likely to be moved by the bag.

Don't overdo it though or you might split the nylon washer.

But seriously, get a tuner too

Edited May 9, 2011 by Fat Rich

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1225268' date='May 9 2011, 04:35 PM']Dont, my guitarist is normally late for most gigs (and he brings the singer and PA) and its always when we are pushed for time that he decides to put new strings on his guitar, meaning we miss our sound check.

Bloody frustrating.[/quote]

My lead guitarist brings nothing but his guitar and his pedal board.

He's always late.

His pedal board holds six pedals, only four of which work. (Why? Damfino.)

He arrives ten minutes before soundcheck, and then kneels down on stage and starts plugging his pedal board together.

Every time.

[icastle]

I think a lot of this 'it goes out of tune in my gig bag' or 'it doesn't go out of tune in my gig bag' is due to the angle of the machine head key relative to the head when the bass is in tune.

If it's parallel then it's going to stay in tune, if it's at a 45 degree angle then the weight of the bass and bag is going to try and rotate it until it is parallel when you lay it down on the back seat of the car...

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='icastle' post='1225031' date='May 9 2011, 12:59 PM']When I started playing, electronic tuners were rare and very expensive - pitch forks were the standard we all worked to. [/quote]
Pitchforks? You were lucky. We only had an old mouth organ.

[jezzaboy]

I don`t think that I have ever seen a guitarist of any description playing a gig without an electronic tuner of some description. What do you do when you bring the bass from the cold air into the heat of a pub? Or halfway through the set when the heat is building up?

I always have my Korg Pitch Black plugged in line. I can`t imagine playing a gig without it. Even if you play crap sometimes, the least you can do is be in tune sounding crap.

Jez

[Ross]

I've always had basses that stay relatively well in tune in the bag, I always tune before going on stage and keep an ear out for being slightly out of tune as the gig goes on.

Doesn't matter if it slips out of tune in the bag, you were gonna tune it anyway.

[mcnach]

[quote name='gizmo6789' post='1224884' date='May 9 2011, 11:07 AM']If you're like me, then you tune up before you head off to your gig thinking, that should do it, or at least be close enough that you can tune by ear with your guitarists at the venue.
But i noticed that my bag is turning the machine heads so much that my CGCF tuning ends up BFDE or any random combinations.

So has anyone had the same issue and found a way to prevent this from happening?[/quote]


I guess I am not like you. And -no offense intended- I would never play in a band with you... I have a strong dislike of out-of-tuneness, to me it's just lazy.

I normally have a tuner in my gigbag or pedalboard, whichever is appropriate for the gig. Fellow guitarists have theirs, so I can borrow if I fail. My phone has a tuner app I can also use.

Yes, during rehearsals sometimes I'm happy to just tune by ear and I'm pretty sure 9 out of 10 times it would be passable for a gig. But... come on!

One band I joined, with 3 guitarists, they didn't have but a single tuner that they shared. After first gig I said "hey, how about we buy 3 new tuner pedals with the money of our next gig?". Fortunately they saw it was a good thing and that's what we did. We sounded better after that.

My main bass (MM Stingray) does not go out of tune, only very slihtly, it's great. But I still check and tune up properly for a gig. Several times, during the gig too, just to be sure.

Come on, tuners are cheap!

I would not play in a band where players didn't bother to tune up.

Edited May 9, 2011 by mcnach

[icastle]

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1225354' date='May 9 2011, 05:59 PM']Pitchforks? You were lucky. We only had an old mouth organ.[/quote]

Mouth organ?
By 'eck you was posh - we had to tune up in a cardboard box on t'motorway...

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='icastle' post='1225425' date='May 9 2011, 07:10 PM']Mouth organ?
By 'eck you was posh - we had to tune up in a cardboard box on t'motorway... [/quote]
Motorway? You were lucky. We had to take a B road in an old Commer van.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='icastle' post='1225031' date='May 9 2011, 12:59 PM']When I started playing, electronic tuners were rare and very expensive - pitch forks were the standard we all worked to. [/quote]
One mate at school had a Seiko analogue tuner that we all used to gather around once a week to get back to the start, Then over the next week some terrible ear tuning would result in them being about a semi tone out but in tune with themselves and this went on for about 2 years! Seriously, Ha.

[thebrig]

It normally take me around twenty minutes to get all my gear set up and running, whilst the drummer takes about an hour,
and the lead guitarist takes forever farting around with all his gear, and I would imagine this is pretty much the norm for most bands.

So why would you want to tune up at home, when you have so much time to kill, you could tune up over and over again while you are waiting.
And you can have one last tweek as you take the stage, with a floor tuner permanently plugged in, takes around thirty seconds.

Buy yourself a tuner!

[icastle]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1225440' date='May 9 2011, 07:20 PM']One mate at school had a Seiko analogue tuner that we all used to gather around once a week to get back to the start, Then over the next week some terrible ear tuning would result in them being about a semi tone out but in tune with themselves and this went on for about 2 years! Seriously, Ha.[/quote]

I think that was my first tuner - had a mechanical needle that you had to get dead vertical?
They cost about £30 when the average weekly wage was about £100 - so that was quite a few years ago...

I only stopped using it about 3 or 4 years ago because it was hard to see the needle in the dark.

[icastle]

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1225434' date='May 9 2011, 07:17 PM']Motorway? You were lucky. We had to take a B road in an old Commer van.[/quote]

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='icastle' post='1225447' date='May 9 2011, 07:32 PM']I think that was my first tuner - had a mechanical needle that you had to get dead vertical?
They cost about £30 when the average weekly wage was about £100 - so that was quite a few years ago...

I only stopped using it about 3 or 4 years ago because it was hard to see the needle in the dark. [/quote]

Thats the one! He still uses it now and its actually very good for intonation and setups because of the analogue needle I bet there a few quid on eBay and by that I mean a few like 2 or 3