Help with tuning
 

Obviously a beginner.

I'm using a Intelli IMT-500 Clip-on Digital Chromatic Tuner on a Ibanez Ergodyne EDC-700 Bass, and I can't get it to register anything on the E string. It did the others with no problem, so I figure there must be something I don't know.

The bass isn't amped (because it's a vibration tuner I don't need to, right?)

Thanks.

Many tuners, especially clip-ons have a hard time picking lower strings.
Pick the string very close to the bridge, it helps.
If it's not enough, ring the 12th fret harmonic and tune upon that.

Forgive me if I'm wrong

but it might be a case of the note being too low, in which case you could try play the 5th fret on the E string and tune that to an A?

+1 on tuning to 12 th fret harmonics, that is if your intonation is correct. But even if not it won't be worse than tuning on 5th fret but a setup may be in order (and it really makes a difference, just sayin')

You may have to move the tuner to another location on your neck. I've used the clip on acoustic tuners and yes it will have problems with the lower strings, just move it a little, and see if that helps.

What do you mean by a setup?

Moving it didn't help, nor did the bridge, but the 12th fret did the trick. Thanks for the tip!

Are you sure you have the bass tuned in the right octave? Put a song you know on the CD player and tune your E string by ear to it, then put a tuner on it.

Maybe instead of saying "Obviously a beginner," I should have said "first time I ever tuned a guitar."

Well there are tuners that will tell you if you are in 440 ( standard), but I am assuming you don't have one of these, which is why I suggested the other route.

Maybe go to Youtube and type in a song you know that starts in E. Let's say " I come from the water" by The Toadies. The first note is E. Play it over and over while tuning your E string until you have it real close, then put a tuner on it and see if it registers. Most tuners out there WILL pick up standard E.

There are also a million tuning tutorials on YT.

The 12th fret harmonic is always accurate. Regardless of setup it is always an octave higher than the open string.

Yeah duh:ninja:, little brain fart on my side, was meaning to say you're only half the way there with 12th harmonics as the intonation could be so cosmically out of tune that you might as well not tune at all.

@OP, for setting intonation, refer to http://www.tunemybass.com/bass_setup...ntonation.html once you're getting the hang of it, it's very easy to do but apparently some never learn to setup their instrument (there's other things as well like neck bow and string height etc but I'll assume that's not so much a problem here)