Problems when both guitarist and bassist each have there own tuner?
 

My band isn't sounding very tight and sounds a bit out of tune. But each member seems to sound very good all by themselves.... I'm wondering if it's typical for each of the tuners each member has to read a little differently from each other? Two of us have those little pocket tuners that fit in your pocket and run off 2 aaa batteries (mine being a Korg CA-20). One of the guitarist has a rack tuner, don't know what brand but here is a blurry pic of his rack http://cdn.bandmix.com/media/428/428536/663199-l.jpg Recognise it? But anyway, is it likely that each of our tuners each read a little different?

There's a really REALLY easy way to find out. Try tuning everyone to the same tuner and see if the problem goes away. If not, it's not the tuners.

If you all use one tuner you will soon find out.

Yes. It is VERY possible that 2 or more brands of tuners are calibrated slightly differently.
I had to switch to a different brand, because it was the one my guitarists were using.

Check and see if one or the other is mis-calibrated.

Standard concert pitch is A=440. Usually there's a calibration button.

No experience with different brands of tuners making things sound bad. However, I have had guitards try to shred in the upper register and have that **** everything up on songs that sound good the way we normally play them. I tell them to check their intonation and they give me a weird confused look, then I explain it and it turns out at the 12th fret its an entire whole step and a half off. Not saying all guitarists are like this. But, well... There's a reason people came up with the term "guitard".

+1.

I have changed this on people for kicks and giggles, it isn't funny when they don't figure out what's wrong.

Their intonation might be off on their instruments, but I bet somebody's tuner is out.

This is a good thing to look out for. I wish my guitar players would intonate their guitars, it would solve so many problems.

tuner difference
 

It is possible, for sure. Even if they both swear A=440. After you tune with your tuner, plug your bass in the guitar rig and see if it agrees that you are in tune. I had a pretty see-through green Fender tuner that made me tune up a little sharp to the guitard. I gave it away.

Why don't you all tune to each other? Take it in turns hitting open strings and listen for the same pitch.

i had a bad tuner in college, and it was pretty annoying, we ended up tuning to the drummer's trumpet:)

If possible, why not try to tune each guitar/ bass by ear? Tune the low E of one guitar/ bass with one tuner, and then tune the rest of the strings to it. Then you can tune the other guitars/ basses to sound just like the first one.

May sound tedious, but it will help you guys hear thoroughly to find if there are any other issues other than the tuning itself. Maybe someone's guitar is not properly set up.

A keyboard could be used just as well for that purpose.

Oh, the drummer's trumpet- of course! I have the most awesome visual of this now.....

Very possible, and yet, very easy to know if it's really happening.

Give me a "A"?????

How on earth did musicians ever play in tune before we had all these cute little gadgets?? :eyebrow:

why not tune by ear?

Maybe the people in the future will ask "how on Earth could people do math calculations in their heads before?". Maybe it so happened that people who didn't have those little gadgets solved problems in a different way... like, actually taking effort and using their brains/ ears/ whatnot.

Just saying. I really don't know where this digital generation is going. There seems to be a simultaneous dumbing-down and higher access to knowledge for youngsters with all the techology at their disposal these days.

Hey, I resemble that remark!

About 1975 or so, my buddy showed me one of the first commercially available calculators. It cost $100 for basic features.

But, you still have to be smart enough to apply them!

Lots of creative people will figure it new applications....they don't have to know the details.

Like my old man said: Rock and Roll is a fad....then later....computers are a fad. :bassist: He finally gave up prognosticating when he reached 70. He told me: "I don't have to think anymore".....good luck with that.