Advice: Tuning Against a Piano (live trio)

[Bassnkeys]

Hi. Wealth of info on TB, so thought I'd ask some experts:

The lounge where I play with my jazz trio has a piano that is often out of tune.

I have been tuning my fretless BG "off" the low BEADG notes played by the pianist. My tuning is all by ear off of him playing each note before the set begins.

Figured it would "normalize" the sound of the trio if he and I were largely in synch.

Two questions:

1) I'd imagine I'm helping the issue and not "doubling" the problem?

2) If a good practice, is there a better way to do it than me trying to match the piano's tuning by my ear?

Thanks!

 

[IamGroot]

Tune to the piano using the voicings the painist usually uses for the left hand for G9/E.

Its a compromise.

 

[Lownote38]

Tune to the piano using the voicings the painist usually uses for the left hand for G9/E.

Its a compromise.

This is the method I most often see. It's the best compromise.

 

[Ed Fuqua]

The problem is you don't have a separate string for each pitch, but the piano does. So if you tune your G string to an out of tune G in one register and your D string to an out of tune (but maybe in tune) D the A on the D string won't be in tune with the A on your G string and neither may be in tune with any of the various As on the piano up and down the register. Having played with many out of tune pianos in my life (Sofia's, hello), I generally ask the pianist what register is most in tune (because generally that will be the range that they'll stick to since it won't drive them crazy), tune to the A in that register and then tune my bass to that A.