mikel Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 [quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1494266624' post='3294544'] I tune up just prior to sound check and then again at half time and that's it. [/quote] Same for me, If it was constantly going out of tune I would sell it and get a Status, my Bro has one and tunes it about once a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 [quote name='mikel' timestamp='1494325439' post='3294942'] If it was constantly going out of tune I would sell it and get a Status, my Bro has one and tunes it about once a year. [/quote] Yeah -and even then, only when you change strings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 My basses don't go out of tune under normal circumstances - I let them settle when I arrive and we're setting up PA, etc, then check them before soundcheck. I can't remember the last time I had to re-tune during a gig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 [quote name='Conan' timestamp='1494325783' post='3294948'] Yeah -and even then, only when you change strings! [/quote] My Zons were the same. I didn't even bother checking them 99% of the time, I just knew they'd be in tune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliasMooseblaster Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 [quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1494258940' post='3294445'] ...I think because the gitard seems to be happy to carry on regardless to the point I wonder if he can even hear it, and I dont want to be like some gitard.aint nobody got time for dat so I like to keep it in check... [/quote] Ah, well if it's a case of "lead by example," then fair enough I say, nobody wants to hear an out-of-tune lead guitar! I've heard the "we tune because we joke" plenty of times, and I do wonder how often it's shorthand for "we tune because we want to our guitarist/bassist/violinist a gentle reminder the (s)he's sounding woefully off-key." Must admit, having read this thread before last night's rehearsal I felt quite smug, as I got my Thunderbird out of its case for the first time since the 25th of March, and found it was still in tune! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 I get my basses professionally set up so the tuning is pretty stable. I check at the start, maybe a couple of times during a set but if it is particularly sweaty or a door is open I get paranoid and check it a bit more. I think bass is more forgiving than guitar when it comes to tuning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 [quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1494331260' post='3295006'] My basses don't go out of tune under normal circumstances - I let them settle when I arrive and we're setting up PA, etc, then check them before soundcheck. I can't remember the last time I had to re-tune during a gig. [/quote] This. I only play the SR5 live though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 I'm another who tunes at soundcheck and then directly before each set. The initial check is just in case I've knocked a tuner putting the bass in and out of a case (sometimes happens with a G on a 4 in line peg head & using a gig bag). Before first set is to see if the room tempt has affected anything. Second set tune is just musician's paranoia Margin of being out of tune is usually tiny. Doesn't matter which bass or what it's made of, nothing ever seems to move much. We have two guitarists and they both do the same. One of them has a Strat that's slightly problematic and sometimes drifts flat but we soon spot it and he'll give it a quick re-tune. The other guitarist swaps between Strat & Les Paul regularly and never has tuning issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 (edited) [quote name='molan' timestamp='1494404298' post='3295597']Margin of being out of tune is usually tiny. Doesn't matter which bass or what it's made of, nothing ever seems to move much. [/quote] Exactly! But we only know this if we check! I may check at the end of a song if there will be a natural pause before the start of the next one, but nine times out of ten the tuning will still be fine and I don't need to change anything. But at least I [b][i]know[/i][/b] that! Edited May 10, 2017 by Conan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 [quote name='Conan' timestamp='1494405268' post='3295609'] Exactly! But we only know this if we check! I may check at the end of a song if there will be a natural pause before the start of the next one, but nine times out of ten the tuning will still be fine and I don't need to change anything. But at least I [b][i]know[/i][/b] that! [/quote] I guess experience has shown me that my basses don't move out of tune during a set so I don't need to check them. Plus I'd be able to hear them if they did I think. Recently had a rehearsal where I somehow tuned my E to D using a silent tuner. Must have knocked the tuner in my gig bag and wasn't really paying attention when tuning and tuned it to he nearest 'green' line on the headstock tuner. Didn't play it plugged in until the first song which just happened to start with open E and realised I was wildly out of tune 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 I'm with the OP. Not because I have a particular tuning problem on any of my basses, although I do like a fresh set of strings before a gig and I do hammer the strings so it's sometimes needed. The tuner is the one pedal that comes to every practice and gig, even if i can't bring my whole set up. Possibly it's more of a nervous tick/security blanket - hit the TU3 once the song's finished and make sure everything's still in tune. Not every song - depends on the flow of the gig and whether there's a convenient second or two to have a look, but definitely more than I need to. But I don't think it's an OCD thing per se. Like Conan said, it's not that I need to re-tune, it's making sure that I don't need to re-tune at the point when I have the opportunity to do so. After all, it does not harm and it's far better to make sure I'm in tune before we play a song than fixing the fact that I was out of tune afterwards. One other factor is that depending on the venue I may not be able to properly hear either myself or all of the other instruments - I've played where I couldn't hear any bass beyond a very low thump - so listening for whether I'm in tune or not is not always possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 (edited) - Edited February 24, 2022 by Jus Lukin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 [quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1494269158' post='3294585'] ... Unfortunately, ears can be rather unreliable! [/quote] Mine are pretty good. What did all of you guys used to do before we had tuners? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1494410565' post='3295686'] Mine are pretty good. What did all of you guys used to do before we had tuners? [/quote] Primary school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1494410565' post='3295686']What did all of you guys used to do before we had tuners? [/quote] Tune to the guitar or, even better, keyboard. Difficult to do during a song mind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 [quote name='Monkey Steve' timestamp='1494408176' post='3295652']Like Conan said, it's not that I need to re-tune, it's making sure that I don't need to re-tune at the point when I have the opportunity to do so. After all, it does not harm and it's far better to make sure I'm in tune before we play a song than fixing the fact that I was out of tune afterwards.[/quote] You put it better than I did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveK Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 [quote name='TimR' timestamp='1494410565' post='3295686'] Mine are pretty good. What did all of you guys used to do before we had tuners? [/quote] I remember all too well the days before affordable tuners :/ If someone's tuning was adrift, then the show would be interrupted while tuning was [i]attempted[/i] - I say "attempted", after enduring the kind of volume that several 4x12s (de rigeur for bands of the time) could emit, ears were shot, and matters were often made worse! Many's a gig that's suffered as a result of poor tuning: Genesis at the Oval, early 70s, immediately springs to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Before tuners it was tuning fork, pitch pipes, piano, wild guess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 (edited) a mate of mine was playing lead guitar (OK, it's a guitarist story but the principles are universal) at a large festival last year and didn't have an on-stage tuner. Tuned up before walking on stage into the sunshine, played perfectly happily for the next 45 minutes (and being a lead guitarist wasn't really listening to what anybody else was playing) before walking off stage to be told by the rest of the band "you were a bit out of tune for the whole set". Fortunately it was largely atonal death metal screeching solos so it's not been widely picked up, but the whole set is on YouTube and he can't bare to watch it. This has somewhat changed his attitude to whether or not to check his tuning mid-set Edited May 10, 2017 by Monkey Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 Actually, on the New Strings bit, I never gig with new strings straight out of the pack, I'll always have played them in at home a little before I gig. As part of the stringing up process, I always pull them hard, archer/Billy Sheehan-style when they're up to tune, and then re-tune; that seems to settle them in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 [quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1494417882' post='3295761'] Actually, on the New Strings bit, I never gig with new strings straight out of the pack, I'll always have played them in at home a little before I gig. As part of the stringing up process, I always pull them hard, archer/Billy Sheehan-style when they're up to tune, and then re-tune; that seems to settle them in. [/quote] I love the zing of new strings, so I'll try and change them as close to the day of the gig as possible, but not on the actual day. Good old stretching, a little bit of playing in, bit more stretching, and then typically they'll only need a few tweaks before the gig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 [quote name='Monkey Steve' timestamp='1494416996' post='3295750'] "you were a bit out of tune for the whole set". the whole set is on YouTube and he can't bare to watch it. [/quote] Like this one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewTJWKeGLAY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 You only have to go into any music shop on a Saturday to hear just how many people don't even know when they are out of tune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 (edited) "Depends on the bass though. My J basses can be a bit unstable, but I had a Status series II for years, and I only had to tune it about once a year!! " Exactly what I was going to say. I'm back to my old Status Series II and check it about every fortnight. It holds tuning in an almost magical way wherever it is Edited May 11, 2017 by three Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Thought Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 I will tune mine before a gig, but it probably won't be far off what it was the last time I played it! This is probably something to do with two carbon fibre rods in the neck, but tbh I've never had a bass that needed tuning very often. Our guitarist, on the other hand, is another of those who feels the need to retune after every song. Since I've been playing more guitar I have noted that they do need more retuning than a bass, but even so-there have been times when I have wanted to make an impact and get straight onstage and start playing, but no, he just has to tune up . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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