How do you tune your bass?

[Michael Favata]

On my fives: G to B octave harmonics, BOSS tuner (TU12H, or the TU80), I don't trust those clip ons.

Then I repeat: Pulling the E and big B into line sometimes pulls the other three off a pinch.

And I always tune UP: If I go past, I unwind to flat and do-over.

Interesting you start at G too.

 

[ezstep]

Back a hunnert years ago we (as teenagers) had one strobe tuner. I could get the G and D in tune very quickly and then I could get out of the way. I learned to chime the rest and then re-chime all strings just to verify. Very simple, very quick, and accurate. Even today there are several electronic tuners that simply cannot handle a low B.

 

[Raman]

I have a small tuner pedal on my board. It's a recent addition for me. (Useful to mute the signal to.)
I also own a clip-on tuner, in case I want to play board-less.
If nothing else is available, I do use the old "ask for an E" method.

I have a question about this though. Just today, I was chatting with someone who argues that using the 12th fret harmonics is actually better than using a tuning device. The argument goes like this:
Your tuner pedal tells you what it is at the 1 position that you're fretting. Whereas the harmonics give you a balanced version of the whole string in relation to the next 2 strings.

If I go with that argument, what I'm deducing is 12th string harmonics may take into consideration small intonation imprecision and give you a more balanced tuning across the whole strings.

Any credence to that theory?

 

[Raman]

I have a small tuner pedal on my board. It's a recent addition. (Useful to mute the signal to.)
I also own a clip-on tuner, in case I want to play board-less.
If nothing else is available, I do use the old "ask for an E" method.

I have a question about this though. Just today, I was chatting with someone who argues that using the 12th fret harmonics is actually better than using a tuning device. The argument goes like this:
Your tuner pedal tells you what it is at the 1 position that you're fretting. Whereas the harmonics give you a balanced version of the whole string in relation to the next 2 strings.

If I go with that argument, what I'm deducing is 12th string harmonics may take into consideration small intonation imprecision and give you a more balanced tuning.

Any credence to that theory?

 

[QweziRider]

"Someone gimme a G, man!"

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I started playing in 1973. Back then there were no headstock tuners. The way we tuned was you found the E somewhere, maybe from a band mate, “give me an E” or maybe from a record, or a tuning fork, or if you were lucky enough to have a keyboard in the band you got it from them and everything was tuned to THAT low E.
To do that once you got the low E (by ear) you fingered that E string in the 5th position and found the open A. Fingered the A string in the 5th position and found the open D and so on and so forth. So from the top down. It was necessary to do it that way. Then if you had time or maybe an old string you were struggling with you would fine tune with 12th position harmonics.

Skip ahead 50 years. All my guitars have headstock tuners. I have not asked for an E in over 20 years. Maybe longer. These days I find myself tuning from the high E up.
E-D-A-E. Then I always fine tune from the low E down with 12th fret harmonics to finish. And ALWAYS tuning in to the note (not loosening but tightening)

Not sure why I started doing it that way some undetermined amount of years ago. I just do now. In the end my bass is in tune. So I guess it doesn’t matter. Or does it? What do you do? How do you tune your bass? Does anymore call for an E anymore lol?

Very carefully. Seriously, as a bassist for over 50 years, I was in the era when the only tuners were strobe types Conn, or Peterson (I still have a petey) and they were more expensive that the instruments you were trying to tune.

I was blessed with pretty good relative pitch. More than a half on century listening to Bb in marching bands, as well as playing songs in the key of A. In quiet, I can get really close 95% of the time. For tuning string to string I can use harmonics playing the same pitch on two strings, tuning the untuned string’s tuning key listing for the wobbles slowing down. When it stops, the two strings are in tune with each other.

But why go through those histrionics when a plain Jane guitar tuner is much more efficient? I always tune to open strings, no particular direction up or down.

Glad you have a system that works for you. It’s and interesting process.

 

[Hounddog409]

It used to be a big part of playing in a band. Making sure everyone was in tune. Not an issue these days. Progress. I wonder if younger players even bother to learn how to tune a bass/guitar without the tuner…

Whats the point? Did you learn how to adjust your cars valves, even though you will never have to do it?

 

[lokikallas]

Thank jeebus for silent tuning with pedals. The old give me an A song is almost as bad as the "drop D" song. lol.

 

[Michael Favata]

"Someone gimme a G, man!"

Lol well when ya put it that way it just don’t sound right

 

[Michael Favata]

Whats the point? Did you learn how to adjust your cars valves, even though you will never have to do it?

That’s what I’m getting at. Why would they bother. But if you are playing with an out of tune piano you may want to know the process. If your battery or power source dies on your tuner you better know how to do it. So thinking through this there is still value I guess. Also would help to train your ear which can’t be a bad thing right?

 

[Michael Favata]

Very carefully. Seriously, as a bassist for over 50 years, I was in the era when the only tuners were strobe types Conn, or Peterson (I still have a petey) and they were more expensive that the instruments you were trying to tune.

I was blessed with pretty good relative pitch. More than a half on century listening to Bb in marching bands, as well as playing songs in the key of A. In quiet, I can get really close 95% of the time. For tuning string to string I can use harmonics playing the same pitch on two strings, tuning the untuned string’s tuning key listing for the wobbles slowing down. When it stops, the two strings are in tune with each other.

But why go through those histrionics when a plain Jane guitar tuner is much more efficient? I always tune to open strings, no particular direction up or down.

Glad you have a system that works for you. It’s and interesting process.

Thanks for the insight. So you do not have a particular system. You can start on any string on any given day. That’s awesome. I have to have a system. A routine. The thing is I learned tuning from E to G as I assume most people do? But for some time time now it’s been G to E for me. Not sure why.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

I tell ya guys...
These new fangled headstock tuners are the bomb!
Their the greatest thing since sliced bread!
They're way,way better than give me an A!

 

[Killing Floor]

With the thingys on the headstock.

 

[Rib 13]

I tune to the drums

 

[QweziRider]

Lol well when ya put it that way it just don’t sound right

I realized that half a second after hitting "send."

 

[QweziRider]

I wonder if younger players even bother to learn how to tune a bass/guitar without the tuner…

I made sure my daughter can do it (she plays bass too). Then again, they're still having to do it that way in school band and orchestra, so the concept to her was not foreign.

 

[2cooltoolz]

I'm from back then, too. We were all "out of tune" together; more or less.
Now I have a boss on my board, a snark in my gig bag, and a boss app on my phone!

We rarely discuss it...

Carried one of these for years! Hot stuff!

 

[logdrum]

One of my short scale hybrid bass+guitar is tuned up a minor third. E is G. I have one in 5ths tuning. CG D A but I digress

If there is no tuner but have a piano then tune the highest open string and tune the lower strings via harmonics.

In a gig specially bar. restaurant or outside gig. Korg tuner. Good enough for government work as they say. I still have a tuning fork though in A

 

[J Wilson]

Very carefully. Seriously, as a bassist for over 50 years, I was in the era when the only tuners were strobe types Conn, or Peterson (I still have a petey) and they were more expensive that the instruments you were trying to tune.

I was blessed with pretty good relative pitch. More than a half on century listening to Bb in marching bands, as well as playing songs in the key of A. In quiet, I can get really close 95% of the time. For tuning string to string I can use harmonics playing the same pitch on two strings, tuning the untuned string’s tuning key listing for the wobbles slowing down. When it stops, the two strings are in tune with each other.

But why go through those histrionics when a plain Jane guitar tuner is much more efficient? I always tune to open strings, no particular direction up or down.

Glad you have a system that works for you. It’s and interesting process.

DBS, do you remember songs as keys? If I need an A, it's 'One Way Out' or 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. C is 'Let It Be', etc. Like you said I may not be cent-perfect, but I'll be REAL close.

 

[thmsjordan]

I tune with an electronic tuner (Istrobe phone app or clip on tuner) except when I play with a house piano, then I will take the A off the piano due to the pitch variations one can run into with improperly maintained pianos. I make no allowance for horn players or guitarists that cannot tune their instruments (not my problem). Luckily, I rarely play with players that bad anymore.