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Graph Tech Introduces Bass Ratio Machine Heads for Ultimate Tuning Control
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In fairness you can become accustomed to just about anything: chronic pain, poor living conditions, a sense of helplessness. But it begs the question: Why should you if you don’t want to - and you don’t have to.
If there’s a better solution , or even an alternative that somebody finds more appealing, then I don’t see a problem with that. To be honest, I’m a little tired of the “blood & guts” school who wear their discomforts and tribulations like they’re some sort of badge. If somebody prides themselves on “working hard” I say more power to them. I, speaking purely for myself, prefer to “work smart.” Especially since it lets me accomplish more, faster, and more pleasurably than going in blind and just slugging my way through life.
Playing a musical instrument is not a contest or an athletic competition. It’s an acquired skill that requires tools. And if you’re wise you’ll carefully explore and select those tools that best allow you to accomplish your goals the most efficiently. And anything which makes that easier is something worth at least considering.
I don’t particularly feel any of the modern innovations (e.g. fan frets, bass ramps, compound radius fretboards, ratio tuners, etc.) are essential to me as a player. But I can say I really like the feel of the compound radius fretboards I’ve tried. And I wouldn’t mind if my next bass had one. And that I can see (after playing a few Dingwalls) that fan frets on an extended range bass is actually a good idea and not just there to look cool. Nor was it hard to adapt to it. It took me about five minutes to get comfortable with fan frets And at most another five to not even be thinking about it as I was playing. And I’m a guy coming out of 40+ years of playing standard fretted fingerboards.
But that’s me. Somebody who is coming up in a world where you can sidestep some of the hassles and aggravations I dealt with (because that’s what I had to work with) would be pretty silly not to avail themselves of it if it worked for them. Just because it’s a solution out in search of a problem - for me - doesn’t mean that's going to be the case for everyone.
Or so I think anyway.
I may be in a minority here, but I have always wanted a higher gear ratio on my B string tuner, and to a lesser degree on the E tuner. It has never really been something that has caused me to seek out a solution because it is only a minor irritation: bringing the B string up to pitch requires such fine movements on the key/worm, that it often takes more time and care to get it right in comparison to the other strings. I use Hipshots with 3/8" posts and I imagine that 1/2" posts are less of a problem.
Is it worth re-working an entire set to have different ratios for each string, increasing production costs? Maybe not for me, but I'm curious to see how they're received. If Hipshot ever comes up with a higher-ratio machine to take the place of my 3/8" ultralight, I would swap out my B string tuner.
Is it worth re-working an entire set to have different ratios for each string, increasing production costs? Maybe not for me, but I'm curious to see how they're received. If Hipshot ever comes up with a higher-ratio machine to take the place of my 3/8" ultralight, I would swap out my B string tuner.
In fairness you can become accustomed to just about anything: chronic pain, poor living conditions, a sense of helplessness. But it begs the question: Why should you if you don’t want to - and you don’t have to.
If there’s a better solution , or even an alternative that somebody finds more appealing, then I don’t see a problem with that. To be honest, I’m a little tired of the “blood & guts” school who wear their discomforts and tribulations like they’re some sort of badge. If somebody prides themselves on “working hard” I say more power to them. I, speaking purely for myself, prefer to “work smart.” Especially since it lets me accomplish more, faster, and more pleasurably than going in blind and just slugging my way through life.
Playing a musical instrument is not a contest or an athletic competition. It’s an acquired skill that requires tools. And if you’re wise you’ll carefully explore and select those tools that best allow you to accomplish your goals the most efficiently. And anything which makes that easier is something worth at least considering.
I don’t particularly feel any of the modern innovations (e.g. fan frets, bass ramps, compound radius fretboards, ratio tuners, etc.) are essential to me as a player. But I can say I really like the feel of the compound radius fretboards I’ve tried. And I wouldn’t mind if my next bass had one. And that I can see (after playing a few Dingwalls) that fan frets on an extended range bass is actually a good idea and not just there to look cool. Nor was it hard to adapt to it. It took me about five minutes to get comfortable with fan frets And at most another five to not even be thinking about it as I was playing. And I’m a guy coming out of 40+ years of playing standard fretted fingerboards.
But that’s me. Somebody who is coming up in a world where you can sidestep some of the hassles and aggravations I dealt with (because that’s what I had to work with) would be pretty silly not to avail themselves of it if it worked for them. Just because it’s a solution out in search of a problem - for me - doesn’t mean that's going to be the case for everyone.
Or so I think anyway.
Equal gear ratio tuners or fanned frets on a bass guitar are hardly comparable to chronic pain, poor living conditions, or a sense of helplessness. I'm sure anyone who suffers from any one of them would think it's outrageous for you to compare optional equipment for a bass to any of the three.
I've actually never had the slightest discomfort tuning any of my dozen or so basses using equal gear ratio tuners nor have I had any difficulty getting the basses in tune. If these tuners had not been advertised I don't know that would have given the idea a second thought. I don't think I've seen a thread on TB discussing the different levels of effort required to tune different strings using an equal gear ratio on each tuner. Lower or higher geared tuners yes, lightweight tuners; yes.
I'm content to continue tuning my basses without a different gear ratio tuner for each string. I find no difficulty in doing so and never have. I know my basses will be in tune as well as any bass equipped with these tuners.
I really don't expect to experience any chronic pain, poor living conditions, sense of helplessness, blood & guts discomfort, or tribulations for making that choice.
I suggest you try getting over yourself a bit and spare the token moral outrage please. I’ve dealt with a chronic pain condition since 2014. And had I read my earlier comment coming from someone else, I wouldn’t have been irked let alone outraged by it.
My earlier point (which I’m sure even you got) was that humans are capable of acclimating to virtually anything, no matter how extreme, if they need to. And to insinuate that since people got used to something in the past there’s no good reason why they shouldn’t continue to put up with it for all eternity seems pretty lame to me.
In case you don’t already know, these ratio gear tuners were never intended to make tuning “more comfortable” in the physical sense. They’re designed to make tuning more uniform by having the same number of turns translate out to the same change in pitch on each string. One turn=so many semitones worth of pitch change, as opposed to it being different for each string with standard tuners.
Glad to hear it. I’ve never seen it either. Because nobody has ever brought it up. That’s a nonissue/strawman. And it has nothing to do with those tuners or what I was saying earlier.
I’m glad for you. So I guess you’re saying since all is well with you on that front then the rest of the world should just stop innovating or trying out different things?
Again you're taking what I said completely out of context and then pushing it to the point of absurdity. Not a good way to make a point. But I’ll leave you to it. I think everybody else who reads my first post will understand exactly what I was saying earlier.
Agree. My mistake, which is why I deleted the post almost immediately, but apparently not before you had the opportunity to respond. I'm guessing you are prepared to respond to anything I post
Here's my genuine response; I said what I thought about the tuners. I really have no more to say about the tuners or to you. Have a good evening.
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If they're sold singly, I'd buy one for my 'E' & 'B' strings. I've long wished that it wasn't such a finicky process trying to get those strings to the right pitch. I've never posted on TB about it, but I've sure cussed under my breath a lot about it over the years as I overshot one way or the other - especially that time I broke an 'E' string at a wedding gig. 
Personally, I think this is a brilliant idea. I've often thought that the B string should have a finer gear ratio for more precise tuning. I would guess that companies like Hipshot will soon be licensing this technology before too long.
What is about multi scale here ?
Multiscale solve a problem that a lot have when playing on the lower notes of their instruments
Those tuners are made for every bass or guitar
You need to turn high tuner more than low actually. Because bigger strings will feel the gap in tune way faster
