• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Got a tuner question

#21
JimmyM said:
is the guitarist blasting 24 hours a day? does he come home with you and blast while you're trying to practice on your own?

:D

come on, dude, you know what i meant...once you learn how to tune by ear, then you can use a tuner for times like when your guitar player blasts.
Click to expand...


Ahaha it sure feels like it! I know if he could he'd follow me around all day soloing. (Yeah, that kind of guitarist... Writing a song "so uhhh, where should I solo?")

As for tuning by ear, I can't pick up a horribly out of tune bass, pluck a string and be able to get it back to E or A or whatever with no reference, but when I'm playing I can make adjustments to my tuning on the fly if a string starts sounding a bit flat.
 
#24
Pvt.Parts said:
But then I'd just be tuning the bass to itself, instead of who I'm playing with (Bandmates/recordings or whatever else)

I'd like to be one of those very few people.
Click to expand...
well unless you're born with it, you can't. sorry, that's just the way it is. you're born with perfect pitch. it's not learned. however, relative pitch can be learned and developed, so it's not a total loss. just means you'll need a reference pitch to start out with.

anyway, you're making way more out of it than need be. just learn how to tune the thing by ear, and all these other roadblocks you keep trying to throw in front of yourself will disappear. you can still use a tuner on gigs, but if you can't tune your bass by ear with a reference pitch, in all honesty, i think it makes you less of a player. what happens if your tuner craps out or you forget it? you're screwed, that's what.
 
#25
I don't understand how you would be just born with it then.
Wouldn't that mean someone who is born with perfect pitch could tell me that the 7th fret of the E string is a B just by hearing it with no knowledge of music and theory? Surely you must have some sort of musical training to be able to make that connection meaning that it was a skill they learned and not just a matter of being born lucky.
 
#26
Pvt.Parts said:
I don't understand how you would be just born with it then.
Wouldn't that mean someone who is born with perfect pitch could tell me that the 7th fret of the E string is a B just by hearing it with no knowledge of music and theory? Surely you must have some sort of musical training to be able to make that connection meaning that it was a skill they learned and not just a matter of being born lucky.
Click to expand...
obviously you have to know how music works to know that a certain note is a B and not an F.
 
#28
Maybe you can say that you're either born to be able to learn it, or your not? I'm not, no matter how much I try, if you play me a note, I'll be guessing which one it is. But I can tune my bass after it ;)
 
#29
I think I might start to sound like a nutjob here but let me try to explain something.
If I use the voice in head to "hum", I hum G. I figured that out by actually humming with my voice into a tuner and keeping the pitch sounding the same in my head/actually humming. My school bell goes off, out of curiosity I hum in my head, sounds like a fifth, so when the bell was about to ring again I had my bass ready and *Ding* it was a D. I think I simply got lucky because fifths being so recognizable but it seems like the type of thing that could be developed further.
Am I crazy?
 
#30
Pvt.Parts said:
I think I might start to sound like a nutjob here but let me try to explain something.
If I use the voice in head to "hum", I hum G. I figured that out by actually humming with my voice into a tuner and keeping the pitch sounding the same in my head/actually humming. My school bell goes off, out of curiosity I hum in my head, sounds like a fifth, so when the bell was about to ring again I had my bass ready and *Ding* it was a D. I think I simply got lucky because fifths being so recognizable but it seems like the type of thing that could be developed further.
Am I crazy?
Click to expand...

No, "crazy" is when it's voices you hear in your head :D
 
#31
If you have a keyboard handy - or there is a keyboard in the band - yell "Give me an A", if not then get an "A" tuning fork, bump it on your knee and hold it over a pickup - with your bass plugged in and your amp switched on of course.

Pop the Harmonic @ the 5th fet on the "A" string and tune to the reference "A". Using harmonics from there on tune the 5th fret of the "E" string to the 7th of the "A", the 7th fret of the "D" string to the 5th of the "A" and finally the 7th of the "G" to the 5th of the "D". I'd then go back and check the "A" hasn't moved and there you are - a Bass that is in tune!!.

When dinosaurs walked the earth and tuners didn't exist (neither did backstage amps in this case) we used to tune up like John Entwistle in the enclosed picture - it helped to have long arms :-). Notice he's plucking a string on Pete Townsend's Rick and tuning his "G" string to it.
 

Attachments

  • jae-66-bstage-whitepbass.jpg
    jae-66-bstage-whitepbass.jpg
    21 KB · Views: 58
#33
Pvt.Parts said:
I think I might start to sound like a nutjob here but let me try to explain something.
If I use the voice in head to "hum", I hum G. I figured that out by actually humming with my voice into a tuner and keeping the pitch sounding the same in my head/actually humming. My school bell goes off, out of curiosity I hum in my head, sounds like a fifth, so when the bell was about to ring again I had my bass ready and *Ding* it was a D. I think I simply got lucky because fifths being so recognizable but it seems like the type of thing that could be developed further.
Am I crazy?
Click to expand...

Seriously, I think those kind of exercises improve your ear and pitch - and in the end your playing. Keep hummin'!
 
#34
JimmyM said:
this post, while being hilarious, also makes me mad. what is it with new guitarists and bass players these days? nobody wants to learn how to tune by USING YOUR EARS??? when i first started playing, the very first thing i learned was how to tune by ear. and nowadays kids use tuners and still can't tune properly! your tuner is saying F# because you're tuning up to an F#, not a G!!!

if you're the least little bit serious about playing the bass, learn how to tune by ear.
Click to expand...
Oh, lighten up, Jimmy!. So far, you've experienced humor & anger. Any time now, you will get to compassion.

The OP asked about using his Boss Tuner. You're right, it's pretty clear he hasn't read, maybe doesn't even have, the instructions. Perhaps no one has taken time to explain tuning his bass. At least he has the sense to ask here & uses a tuner.

I can tune my bass in at least 4 different ways. When I first started taking lessons I started using a tuner, as a courtesy to my tutor. It just makes sense to show up with the instrument in tune to pitch. The relative tuning you suggest can leave the bass out of pitch unless a reference note is given. My experience is that my ear is about 10 cents flat of true pitch. A tuner fixes that. Plus, they are really cheap.
 
#35
i use a tuner to check my accuracy after i've tuned by ear ... i alway's seem to be a little sharp ...

to OP ... it's saying your "G" string is out of tune basically it is tuned F ... turn the key till it gets to a G


and if you don't have a teacher check out ... studybass.com

on this link there are different places that discuss and outline different methods to tune your bass... learn them all
http://www.studybass.com/lessons/basics/bass-guitar-resources/
 
#36
251 said:
Oh, lighten up, Jimmy!. So far, you've experienced humor & anger. Any time now, you will get to compassion.

The OP asked about using his Boss Tuner. You're right, it's pretty clear he hasn't read, maybe doesn't even have, the instructions. Perhaps no one has taken time to explain tuning his bass. At least he has the sense to ask here & uses a tuner.

I can tune my bass in at least 4 different ways. When I first started taking lessons I started using a tuner, as a courtesy to my tutor. It just makes sense to show up with the instrument in tune to pitch. The relative tuning you suggest can leave the bass out of pitch unless a reference note is given. My experience is that my ear is about 10 cents flat of true pitch. A tuner fixes that. Plus, they are really cheap.
Click to expand...
i'm not saying don't use a tuner ever. hey, i'm not jeff berlin here ;) i'm just saying the most fundamental aspect of playing is knowing how to tune your instrument and i'm shocked at how few newer players can do it when it should be the first thing you learn.
 
#37
My guitar player has this exact same problem with his small, battery powered Korg tuner. He usually uses my TU2. I recommend getting the new TU3. They are the best tuner in their price range and you only have to buy them once (under normal circumstances).
 
#38
JimmyM said:
this post, while being hilarious, also makes me mad. what is it with new guitarists and bass players these days? nobody wants to learn how to tune by USING YOUR EARS??? when i first started playing, the very first thing i learned was how to tune by ear. and nowadays kids use tuners and still can't tune properly! your tuner is saying F# because you're tuning up to an F#, not a G!!!

if you're the least little bit serious about playing the bass, learn how to tune by ear.
Click to expand...

+1000

Tuners are handy for noisy environments, but for years, I never used one, relying on my ears. Of course, back then, I was playing originals for 1-hour sets, and nowadays, I do covers for multiple sets, or extended single sets. Tuners are handy when coming back from a break to quickly assure the the instrument is perfectly in-tune. Like other posters have said, the tuner will only read a note value, and the 5th fret test is crucial. Once you learn what you are doing, and start doing your own bass set-up work, a tuner can come in handy in doing intonation. I get mine to read perfectly when plucking a string open, and at the 5th, 7th, 12th, and 17th frets.
 
#39
Best way to tune without a tuner IMO is Harmonics at the 5th fret E and 7th fret A...then Fifth fret A and 7th fret D...etc.

Sound them both at once, like playing a double stop. Then listen to the waves and bring the out of tune string in tune by making the two waves sound like one....and because they are harmonics you can take your hand away to tune.

...of course this only works if you have at least one string in tune already...or if your only concerned with being in tune with yourself.
 
#40
DudeistMonk said:
Best way to tune without a tuner IMO is Harmonics at the 5th fret E and 7th fret A...then Fifth fret A and 7th fret D...etc.

Sound them both at once, like playing a double stop. Then listen to the waves and bring the out of tune string in tune by making the two waves sound like one....and because they are harmonics you can take your hand away to tune.

...of course this only works if you have string in tune already.
Click to expand...

...and forget about it in a noisy environment, too.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back