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Does the heat affect your tuning?

catcauphonic

catcauphonic

High Freak of the Low Frequencies
Mar 30, 2012
6,221
45,710
Seattle WA
#1
Here in Seattle we don't get a lot of hot (or even warm) weather. There's not much humidity year round & it's often damp with overcast skies. Normally, I love the feel & tone of my bass, but I noticed on days when the temp hits the high 70s or beyond, I'm having to tighten my strings much more to get a correct reading from my Korg e-tuner. I play a few year old Yamaha/N89 with a rosewood FB on maple neck. I keep it out on a stand in the corner of the room for constant access, but away from any sunlight. I'm wondering if this is a common problem with basses?
 
#5
Played under hot lights with a trumpet player last week, she was telling me to my great surprise that it also goes out of tune if left unplayed for a while during the set...which is why you'll see players picking them up and blowing soundlessly through them in an attempt to warm the thing up. Never realised..
 
#6
It's all about physics. Heat makes metal expand, cold makes it contract. Hotter days your strings will expand, making them go flat, cold days your strings will go sharp.
I played an outdoor gig last Friday night ( it's the middle of winter here in Australia ), and my tuner was letting me know it was getting colder as the night progressed.
 
#7
One of the worst gigs I played was an outdoor wedding gig in Austin at the end if July. So yes, heat, humidity, and all the other natural factors can mess with your bass, or any instrument for that matter.
 
#8
EpiRipper said:
It's all about physics. Heat makes metal expand, cold makes it contract. Hotter days your strings will expand, making them go flat, cold days your strings will go sharp.
I played an outdoor gig last Friday night ( it's the middle of winter here in Australia ), and my tuner was letting me know it was getting colder as the night progressed.
Click to expand...

Yep. And horn players go flat when cold (tube diameters get bigger in the cold)
 
#10
Yep, that's pretty much how it goes. My basses fluctuate the most during the Fall and Spring, when I've got the windows open. In Winter and Summer, I've got the heat or AC going so the temperature stays pretty steady. I hate those stretches in Philly's late Spring where you bounce back and forth from 60 degrees to 90 degrees.
 
#12
number11 said:
WOOD stringed instruments.

My Steinberger does not react to temperature, tuningise.
Click to expand...

My modulus changes pitch with temp, but not nearly as much as my wood instruments.

All material changes size with temp.

Even water shrinks as it gets cold--- until it hits freezing--
then it expands.

Leave a can of Bud in the freezer overnight to prove.
 
#14
Just in case the strings are a factor as much as the wood, it's also worth mention that I recently switched from nickel to cobalt, & maybe it's because they're barely 2 weeks old, but it's even more noticable with the new ones.

So graphite or some kind of non-wood would make the best neck to alleviate this issue? Are certain strings more affected as well??
 
#15
I learned after a bunch of years to play my Modulus' when there is any kind of weather involved. My specific Mod that I play is a neck through. I never have any issues with tuning, staying in tune or anything like that. Also, when I used to play my Fender or other basses outdoors, the neck would tend to get sticky. I am in the Upper Midwest now, but this also happened when I played through Florida and Georgia as well. My Modulus handles everything like that without a problem at all.
 
#16
Here in NC, we have some tough humidity and heat. My Roscoe basses have graphite rods in the neck plus a Purpleheart stringer in the neck which makes for a very stable neck so I get very little movement. I have found it best to leave the bass in it's case and let it acclimate to the outside temp, once I have done that and tuned it, it stays pretty locked in. I will check in between sets and tweak if needed.
 
#18
number11 said:
WOOD stringed instruments.

My Steinberger does not react to temperature, tuningise.
Click to expand...

I think it's the wood and the metal, open grain wood is a humidity thing for certain...
The strings will change diameter and length when the temperature changes... Physics baby, If the modulus' and steinbergers don't get affected noticeably... AWSOME!!!

They have a few disadvantages (limited models, price etc), but the stability is a huge boon in certain circumstances. I haven't played one... yet. :bassist:
 
#19
catcauphonic said:
Just in case the strings are a factor as much as the wood, it's also worth mention that I recently switched from nickel to cobalt, & maybe it's because they're barely 2 weeks old, but it's even more noticable with the new ones.

So graphite or some kind of non-wood would make the best neck to alleviate this issue? Are certain strings more affected as well??
Click to expand...

One of the reasons graphite instruments were so popular with Jamaican reggae guys.

Graphite does not react the same rate as wood. I had a Stingray which on a tour of Canada drove me to utter despair. It would be unplayable at the start of the night, I'd have to adjust the truss rod and by the end of the night it would be unplayabel the other way.


In conditions like you speak of, a Steinberger all-graphite model would be a major improvement
 
#20
WoodyG3 said:
This is basic Physics 101. When things are cold, they contract, when things are hot, they expand. This is true of any string regardless of what type of neck your bass might have. Wood expands with moisture, and shrinks when dry. This explains the changes in a neck with changes in humidity.
Click to expand...

My sediments exactly...here in Arizona, if I keep my basses on stands its likely that I do a lot of neck adjustments during the humid monsoon season; whereas when temps are moderate and dry I'm not adjusting nearly as much.
 

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