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Post by welder on Jun 23, 2020 11:35:03 GMT -5
I know this is a stupid question but here goes. OK....let's say that you have a bass guitar, perfectly in tune. If you check it with an electronic guitar tuner, it will tell you that you have it in tune. But, let's say you put new strings on it and have to tune from scratch. As you tighten up the strings, does a guitar tuner know which "E" to stop at or will it read "in tune" at every given "E" along the way? Same for the other strings. I'm only asking because I'm looking at buying a new tuner. Some claim that they do all instruments...guitar, bass, ukulele, etc. Some are guitar only, some are bass only. I'm confused. If you want the tuner for a bass, should you buy one called a bass tuner? Thanks.
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Post by themaestro on Jun 23, 2020 12:44:17 GMT -5
i believe most read the same no matter what octave is being played. Some may be capable of displaying the actual frequency and maybe the octave (E0, E1, E2, etc).
Off the top of my head, I have no manufacturers to name, but some tuners handle low frequencies better than others. I have one that doesn't do the B of a five string very well. I have to pluck the 12th fret harmonic (octave up) to get it to display.
I don't know if I have seen a "bass" tuner. Some instrument tuners will only display the notes that the instrument is supposed to be tuned to, i.e. guitar EADGBE. Chromatic tuners are sometimes advertised as multi-instrument. I would go with a chromatic tuner, especially if you do some non-standard tuning. Product reviews might mention which tuners handle bass tuning well.
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jeffscott
Wholenote
Rickenbacker Guru..............
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Post by jeffscott on Jun 24, 2020 12:30:15 GMT -5
I know this is a stupid question but here goes. OK....let's say that you have a bass guitar, perfectly in tune. If you check it with an electronic guitar tuner, it will tell you that you have it in tune. But, let's say you put new strings on it and have to tune from scratch. As you tighten up the strings, does a guitar tuner know which "E" to stop at or will it read "in tune" at every given "E" along the way? Same for the other strings. I'm only asking because I'm looking at buying a new tuner. Some claim that they do all instruments...guitar, bass, ukulele, etc. Some are guitar only, some are bass only. I'm confused. If you want the tuner for a bass, should you buy one called a bass tuner? Thanks. Don't get sucked in to the marketing crap about a tuner being only for bass, or guitar, etc. just, buy a quality chromatic tuner (all of them do that, really). |
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Post by LTB on Jun 25, 2020 4:26:18 GMT -5
I have seen young people tune the G first and going higher until it breaks. I know there are different ways to do this but here is how I go at it. Tune the strings to where they are loose and floppy. Now start with the E string and tune it up to the Second E you come (first one will be too floppy)to then do A and check to see if it is right by pressing the string at the 5th fret and strum both E and A...should sound close I then do the D same way and checking by strumming the A and the D Then last I do the G and check with fretting D at the 5th fret and strum both. I then check intonation by strumming each string open and properly tuned then strumming it fretted at the 12th fret. If 12th is off you will need to adjust the bridge saddle screws (counter clockwise if you are sharp and clockwise if you are flat). Note: after adjusting the bridge saddle you most likely will have to retune the open string then fret at the 12th and see where you are at before making further adjustments. If you have to adjust (For intonation you want to use a reasonably accurate tuner). Everyone has their methods but I like to insure each string is reasonably intonated at the 5th and 7th frets too as I play a lot of stuff in this area. I will forfeit a slight amount at the 12th (Not much though) if I need to in order to get the 5th and 7th reasonably intonate. Once you have it tuned you shouldn't have to do anything but just open tune each string as you are already in the ball park. |
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Post by hushnel on Jun 25, 2020 8:53:24 GMT -5
I think the biggest difference between them is sensitivity to vibration. Even cheap ones work well.
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MJB
Wholenote
Who's we sucka? Smith, Wesson and me.
Posts: 634
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Post by MJB on Jun 25, 2020 12:55:04 GMT -5
What LTB said.
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Post by Laker on Jun 25, 2020 19:24:01 GMT -5
Start at the G string and replace one at a time...or, start at the E string and change one at a time...there isn’t a whole lot of mystery involved. In 55+ years on bass I’ve always swapped one string at a time to try to keep a more constant string tension on the neck.
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Post by LTB on Jun 26, 2020 2:45:47 GMT -5
Start at the G string and replace one at a time...or, start at the E string and change one at a time...there isn’t a whole lot of mystery involved. In 55+ years on bass I’ve always swapped one string at a time to try to keep a more constant string tension on the neck. That is a good, sure, quick method. I use mostly TI Jazz Flats that last several years so when I change strings I clean and condition the fretboard if it is Rosewood. Maple of course not needed. |
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Post by Laker on Jun 26, 2020 5:24:33 GMT -5
That is a good, sure, quick method. I use mostly TI Jazz Flats that last several years so when I change strings I clean and condition the fretboard if it is Rosewood. Maple of course not needed. Ah, I forgot about rosewood fretboards. I’ve been playing maple-necked basses since around 1989, my Fender basses with rosewood necks have been sitting in a closet for 30 years or so. |
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Post by Taildragger on Jun 26, 2020 11:49:09 GMT -5
Start at the G string and replace one at a time...or, start at the E string and change one at a time...there isn’t a whole lot of mystery involved. In 55+ years on bass I’ve always swapped one string at a time to try to keep a more constant string tension on the neck. I started changing strings that way the first time I bought a guitar with a floating bridge (to keep the bridge in place). Your reasoning also makes good sense.
I change all strings that way now.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Jun 26, 2020 12:13:09 GMT -5
That is not a stupid question at all.
Some clip-on tuners have a little difficulty tracking low notes on open strings.
If your clip tuner seems to drift or have a hard time coupling with the note being played, use the harmonic at the 12th fret.
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Post by hushnel on Jun 26, 2020 13:17:08 GMT -5
I've always changed strings one at a time, since my first bass in 65. Same deal as Taildragger.
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Post by welder on Jul 12, 2020 2:32:08 GMT -5
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Post by morrow on Oct 5, 2020 17:26:59 GMT -5
Changing strings I just take one off at a time , but last year when things were shut down because of the pandemic I gave some extra attention to the instruments . A good cleaning , fingerboards and tuners were oiled , relief , action , intonation was checked , and frets were polished . It also gave me the opportunity to spend some time on instruments that had been sadly sitting around .
I don't have perfect pitch but have a good sense of relative pitch . I'd roughly put the string to pitch , pull it to take out any slack , put it back to pitch , and only check with a tuner after they were all changed . I'm generally within a couple of cents .
I have a couple of Son of Snarks and a couple of Danelectro badged Snarks .
Back in the day we used to have this thing , it looked like one of those ancient Conn strobe tuners . It had a VU meter and a couple of knobs on the front . It was just big enough to hold a quart of booze , it had the mechanics from a windshield washer ... it was the perfect drink dispenser .
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Post by Larry Madsen on Oct 5, 2020 18:22:08 GMT -5
You could always just step over to the piano and ... err, well maybe not.  |
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MJB
Wholenote
Who's we sucka? Smith, Wesson and me.
Posts: 634
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Post by MJB on Oct 6, 2020 5:46:43 GMT -5
I use a Snark tuner clipped to the headstock for guitar, bass and uke bass. It works great on all.
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Post by hushnel on Oct 6, 2020 12:17:41 GMT -5
I still have my first tuner 440A tuning fork, I’ve had it since 1963. I can’t recall when I got my first electronic tuner sometime in the late 80s, the Sabine ST-1100 Auto Tuner, it still works.
I still purchase tuning forks when I come across them. Most of them are antiques, and as accurate as the day they were made. It was kind of a pain tuning the bass with them.
I don’t have perfect pitch either but I’m usually closer than a half step. After the week I spent with Mister Wooten and crew, up on his property out side of Nashville, I had a huge boost in confidence, that I don’t read music probably accounts for this lack of confidence, though it never got in my way, other than in a few studio gigs. I was told by a couple of the instructors that there are plenty of bassist the can read that aren’t as good I am. Since this Wooten retreat I’ve started tuning my bass on the fly, tweaking my tuning as I’m playing, never did that before, it’s a great assets. Before I’d would have to finish the tune, suffering the out of tune note, which I’d bend up to intonation. I was already there and never considered it until seeing Victor often tweaking the tuners on the fly. I learned quite a bit from watching him as well as from what he said. Spending years playing fretless probably didn’t hurt.
Dave Welsch was one of the instructors at Wooten Woods, I had a lot of conversations with him, he was partnered up with Chuck Rainey for many of the classes, I spent hours talking with Chuck too, a wonderful man. I described myself to Dave as a feral bassist, he asked me what I ment by that. I said, like the animals of the forrest learn, I learned what I know about music from the music it self. He said, I’ve never heard it described like that. I said neither have I, he smiled and said “I like it”
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bassngtr
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I am all about the bass...
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Post by bassngtr on Oct 6, 2020 12:38:01 GMT -5
Not really a reply to the original question but... I never worried about which octave my tuner was reflecting, since I've always changed one string at a time on guitar or bass, it was easy to know when I was in the ballpark. Wanted to mention this tuner app I have on my phone. It shows the exact note (E0, E1, etc) which is very interesting to me, and also shows the Hz value. Does a nice job. Not helpful on a gig, but for home and rehearsal it's great. Other wise it's my Pitchblack to the rescue. play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.cohortor.gstrings.tyd |
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Post by LTB on Oct 6, 2020 15:52:46 GMT -5
Off the top of my head, I have no manufacturers to name, but some tuners handle low frequencies better than others. I have one that doesn't do the B of a five string very well. I have to pluck the 12th fret harmonic (octave up) to get it to display. Had that problem with tuners on the B as well. I found tuning to the E on the 5th fret then intonating to the 12th works quite well too. So tuning to the E 5th fret does fine for me |
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