How do you tune?

[ryco]

I usually tune to harmonics matching the harmonics at the 5th and 7th fret of the next string over.

Do you tune up to the note - that is raise the string sharp and then come down to the proper note.

Or do you set the string you're tuning flat and come up to the tone.

I usually come up from below. My wife heard me tuning and said "You're supposed to come down to the note." After 30 years of hearing me tune she says this!

She has perfect pitch and is multi-instrumental playing, among other things. violin and guitar. I can see playing violin that you would want to come down to the note, releasing string tension on the pegs which one pulls out of a hole in the headstock and then shoves back in - fine tuning with the "fine tuners" on the bridge.

But bass guitars have machine tuners, so the process is a little simpler.
I can see the same tension concerns working on machines too, so I'll probably start doing it her way (hear that, hon?) - I just never even thought about it before. I used to play DB, but don't remember how I tuned up being so long ago.

[varunkapahi]

tune bass guitar by plugging into the pocket tuner
tune nylon string guitar by ear, taking reference note from another instrument of the pocket tuner
so nothing much to explain here. but yeah i do lower down the pitch first and then raise it as needed

[Phalex]

Tune from flat up to pitch. Tuning down from sharp runs the risk of getting hung up in the nut a little bit and going flat once you start to play.

[MonetBass]

Originally Posted by Phalex

Tune from flat up to pitch. Tuning down from sharp runs the risk of getting hung up in the nut a little bit and going flat once you start to play.

+1. Good advice right there.

[Muusers]

with a tuner, then stretch the strings a lil, and check if theys still in tune

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by Phalex

Tune from flat up to pitch. Tuning down from sharp runs the risk of getting hung up in the nut a little bit and going flat once you start to play.

Absolutely. I learned this on upright bass, and it's true for electric as well. Tuning UP assures you that the string won't slacken after you finish tuning.

[Bob Clayton]

if the string is flat i tune up.
is the string is sharp i tune down.

in 8 years it's never failed me.

[K_Shizzle]

Yea ryco, you have them backwards.

Tuning up is tuning from flat to correct note, tuning down is from sharp to correct note.

+1 on what Phalex said, only way to do it.

[Jeff K]

Yeah, even if the note is sharp, I'll always make the note flatter than it should be, then tighten it "up" to the desired tuning. I was always told to bring it up to pitch, not down.

[Visirale]

I use a strobe tuner and tune from the flat note to the correct pitch. Then just a TINY bit sharp so over time it just gets a little more in tune.

[Jazzdogg]

Originally Posted by Phalex

Tune from flat up to pitch. Tuning down from sharp runs the risk of getting hung up in the nut a little bit and going flat once you start to play.

+1 Using geared tuning machines is like changing depth of cut on a hand plane with a threaded depth adjuster: I always adjust the blade into the throat and adjust the string from flat up to pitch because I want to maintain a tight mechanical linkage; if there's any slop in the mechanism, the blade will be more likely to retract a little in use/the string will be more likely to go flat while being played.

[ROON]

I'm confused by the question. If the note is flat I sharpen it, and if it is sharp I flatten it until it is in tune. If the question is, do I tune past the right note and then flatten it down or something, no, I don't do that.

[steve66]

I alway tune up to pitch. If the note is sharp, I go flat then up to pitch. If the note is flat, go flatter and go up to pitch

[Deacon_Blues]

I tune up to the note. Voted tuna carrot though because the explanations were mixed up....

[Fo' Shizzle]

We are running out of things to talk about....

[Lazylion]

I tune up from below. I typically tune the G and D strings right on, the A string a hair flat, and the E string two hairs flat. If it's my 5er, the B string is 3 hairs flat. I keep my Spector 4-string tuned a whole step down, with the same hair arrangement.

[ryco]

Originally Posted by K_Shizzle

Yea ryco, you have them backwards

DOH!

[()smoke()]

Originally Posted by Fo' Shizzle

We are running out of things to talk about....

regarding the 5th/7th fret harmonic method of the op--i've been under the impression that this method isn't a good choice due to the tempered tuning of a bass or guitar

[BassChuck]

Tune up to the note, because for most people flat is easier to hear than sharp.

[wazzel]

I always tune up. If the note is sharp I make it flat then tune to pitch.