How Often Do Your Guitarists Tune?

[mstillman]

Mine can barely go 3 songs before they have to tune. Doesn't depend on temperature, humidity, etc. One guy has about 5 nice guitars, different types. Other guy plays a Gibson (not sure which model but not a LP). Music is classic rock with no real punk. Guys are late 50s, really not "bangers" and are nice and fun to play with otherwise.

A few months ago, I suggested new tuners would make a great Xmas gift. It was almost like I called their kids ugly. Their mindset is that it's part of playing guitar, which is silly for indoor, climate-controlled settings, IME.

I get it that bassists can often go an entire set without tuning, but guitarists often need to tune every 6-8 songs. But every few songs just seems silly. It's my 4th serious hobby band and I haven't run into this until now.

Just me?

 

[ArtechnikA]

Fixed bridges or trems?
I give the whammy bar guys a little more leeway but only a little. And blues guys who use a lot of bends.
There are stagecraft techniques to minimize distraction. Tune during intros and stage announcements including identifying songs. Use a pedal tuner that mutes the signal. Nobody wants to hear you tune.
If a guitar can't go between set breaks without going so far out of tune that the audience notices it's just not gigworthy, IMO. Buy new tuning machines or bridges if necessary. If an instrument is too original or valuable to replace defective parts, leave it home and buy a reliable instrument.
I'll check tuning start of set but change is rarely needed unless there's been dramatic temperature changes.

 

[thenazz]

I play with one guitarist and one sax/guitarist. The latter tunes up once or twice a night while the other is every two or threes songs. Because of this, we've arranged quite a few songs that we'll kick of with a drum and bass groove to keep the dancers on the dance floor.

 

[Nick Danger]

Our band plays classic rock including several Hendrix covers. The guitar player tunes before the start of each set. I rarely see him need to tune any more than that. I also play guitar in another band and the same goes for me. The key is having solid instruments that are setup correctly. If they need tuning any more often than that, they are not gig worthy.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Generally in the bands I Olay in, they will do a quick check about during a set. If their tuning is slowing things down, it's an issue that need to be addressed.

 

[Roland GR 88]

Things you can't control.....how hard they pick, how hard they fret, how old the strings are, how badly does the nut hold the strings and how good are they at actually getting in tune in the first place.
I wouldn't sweat it, at least they can go 3 songs.........

 

[two fingers]

It depends on the guitar. If he brings his Suhr superstrat, or Charvel SanDimas, he doesn't have to tune as much as when he brings his Les Paul.

 

[delta7fred]

At the start of a rehearsal and before each set at a gig, unless he or I hear it has gone out of tune. (He rarely bends notes and uses his whammy bar sparingly and when he does it is quite subtle.)

When I played lead I needed to tune after most lead breaks (because of OTT bends). We had a rhythm guitar and a keyboard player so I could tune mid song.

 

[Mushroo]

I'm used to guitarists adjusting their tuning, by ear, mid-song, if they notice something isn't right. (And I do the same. If my bass sounds out of tune, I fix it. Immediately.)

The concept of going 3 whole songs with an out-of-tune guitar is foreign to me.

 

[Duder]

I do a lot of bends in my band where I play lead guitar. It used to be every 2-3 songs, but that was also on a pretty crappy guitar that I was playing until I could finish building one (guitarfetish parts). I just recently had the new guitar fully set up and a new bone nut cut/installed and it has drastically reduced my need to tune.

 

[SLO Surfer]

I check my own bass tuning every 2-3 songs. Sometimes it needs adjusting, sometimes not. Not sure how often the guitarist tunes, but probably similar. We never hold up a show for it. It’s usually during the quick, between song banter.

 

[Cowboy in Latvia]

OP: Forgive the simplistic question. (IT experience showing through...) How new are their strings? If they change them a couple days before the gig but don't practice enough for them to settle in, that can cause tuning instability. It's worse if they change the day before or the day of. The only other thing is making sure they know to use some pencil lead/other lubricant on the nut to ensure optimal performance.

 

[Pings Bass]

I solved this problem by not working with guitarists.

 

[Tommy V]

i've worked with players who tuned every chance they got, and others who only tuned during soundcheck.. as long as they didn't disturb the flow, nobody cared.

 

[Allan Allan]

Would you rather they played out of tune? This seems like a non issue to me, similar to "we tune down 1/2 step and the guys call open 6th string E omg, I can't even understand"

 

[mdogs]

If they need to tune, they NEED to tune. Nothing worse than playing with an out of tune guitarist. If it is slowing things down, then they need to work on their speed of tuning.

 

[brianrost]

Are they obviously out of tune or are they just checking? I play with a few guys with sensitive ears who touch up their tuning whenever they can hear the pitch is off.

 

[grinx]

All the F N time for the rhythm guitarist/singer who plays pick-less and says he can't help it
Once counted 4+ minutes of dead air (caught on video, showed it to him) as he was drunk as F and couldn't hear the tuning
He thought we were going to fire him after that except he writes and sings 90% of the songs. I do the other 10%

Of course, HeH8Me because it takes me about 5 seconds per string x 2 and I only tune once.

/gah!

 

[reverendboom]

I would hope every time it needs it.

 

[edencab]

almost every song, after 2 for sure, never 3 ….. 3 would be a Yorkshire man's LUH-xury ....and it is a Gibson SG!

and never mind doing it without muting, on stage, while bantering with the audience