Question on intunation...

MistaMarko · #1 06-20-2006, 06:48 AM

Yeah, it's getting hotter now due to summer, and I notice after awhile I can hear myself always sounding flat. When I tune, I'm like 40 cents flat sometimes, and when I tune up, my tuning keys are getting REALLY hard to turn. Will the temperature change so much that I tune my strings up so hard that they pop? They're getting really hard to tune up to stay with the weather over here.

MistaMarko · #2 06-23-2006, 01:14 AM

Bump..stupid question prolly, just want to be sure.

7flat5 · #3 06-23-2006, 09:54 AM

Hot weather does not make you have to tighten your strings to stay in tune. You are going out of tune probably because your tuners are slipping. It being hard to tighten the strings is also probably due to your tuners being sticky, loose, misaligned, or something. In other words, I am guessing it's the machines that are to blame.

MistaMarko · #4 06-23-2006, 05:12 PM

Umm..temperature changes cause any musical instrument to go out of tune..I HOPE you know that?

7flat5 · #5 06-25-2006, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MistaMarko

Umm..temperature changes cause any musical instrument to go out of tune..I HOPE you know that?

Not in the way you are describing. Changes in humidity do change the configuration of the wood in the neck, and can make changes in setup necessary. But hot weather does not make it necessary to increase tension on steel strings to maintain the same pitch. Gut strings, it will have an effect (though usually it is the humidity again). Brass, reeds, perhaps. Steel strings, I don't think so. You asked,

Quote:

Will the temperature change so much that I tune my strings up so hard that they pop? They're getting really hard to tune up to stay with the weather over here.

That's not how it works. As I said, I believe you may find your machines are the culprit.

MistaMarko · #6 06-29-2006, 12:37 AM

Well, in the gay state I live in, hot = humid, so I just have made that association. What do you mean by machines?

TrooperFarva · #7 06-29-2006, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MistaMarko

Well, in the gay state I live in, hot = humid, so I just have made that association. What do you mean by machines?

The machines that we will battle with in the not-so-distant future, because they turned us into these

At least until Neo comes along

He means the tuners

7flat5 · #8 06-29-2006, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MistaMarko

Well, in the gay state I live in, hot = humid, so I just have made that association. What do you mean by machines?

Quote:

He means the tuners

Thanks, Farva. He means the tuners.

I am getting the definite impression that MistaMarko's native language is not mine. This is making communication difficult, I think. Let me try one more time.

Quote:

when I tune up, my tuning keys are getting REALLY hard to turn.

Those keys are attached to the tuners, which are often referred to as machines, because they are. They have two gears that turn to translate turning the key to twisting the string around the post. I think they are causing your problem, not the weather.

It has been hot and humid here, too. Every day my bass is sharp. Yes, not flat, but sharp. As the wood in the bass becomes more humid, it expands, which makes the strings a few cents tighter. So, every day I tune down a touch. You are doing the opposite, and more than a few cents. It sounds like your tuners are not holding, but slipping.

I am going to make a wild guess here. I am going to guess that you put new strings on the bass within the last few months, and that when you did, you wrapped the string around the tuner the wrong way. Tuners are designed to have the strings wrapped in one direction, and if you do it the wrong way around, it will cause just exactly what you are describing. The strings will go flat relatively fast, due to the gears slipping a little over time because the string is pulling against the post in the other direction from the way it is designed to hold the string without slipping. And, when you try to tighten the strings to make up for the slipping, the tuners are very hard to turn. This is because you are fighting to turn the tuners the wrong way. Could this be the case? Just a wild guess.

Poop-Loops · #9 06-29-2006, 09:46 PM

My bass is always flat (tuning-wise) when it goes from cold to hot (we had a heat wave a few days ago. Strings went really flat over night. Or if my bass has been in my car for a while in the sun) and get sharp when going from hot to cold (heat wave ended, everything was sharp).