How Often Do Your Guitarists Tune?

[Eddie LeBlanc]

#1 Let's hope he is tuning silently and muted. If not, that needs the rule. Un-muted tuning is very unprofessional.

And if muted tuning, a good tuner (like a Polytune) that is easy to see, and quick to use is mandatory. A hard to see and hard to use tuner adds time. Remember there have been a lot of improvements made in the design of tuners these days, and prices have come down on good ones.

#2 Guitarist needs to likely tune more often than me on the bass will. Ours is start of set. Guitarist usually checks about every 4 to 5 songs. And normally after a whammy bar song for sure.

I check my bass start of each set, and only when I may notice something, and usually on a song where I've been digging in hard.

 

[Gustopher]

I am grateful for my guitar players checking their tuning, I am really sensitive to hearing when things aren't tuned properly and it drives my batty. However, with the extremely high value of their guitars, it would seem that they would hold tune better. Gold top Les Pauls, MIA Strats and Teles... top shelf stuff... always needing adjustment.

 

[Bassic Needs]

If they have a stomp tuner and are just doing a quick check then I wouldn't have a problem with it. At least they want to play in tune. If it's a distraction or affects when the rest of the band can play, then it would start to get on my nerves.

 

[Stewie]

One guitarist takes his Strat out of the case and plays. If something is out of whack (rare), he'll just reach up and fix it during the song. The other, who is a freaking wildman, will check(by ear) maybe every 5th song and fix if necessary. Every once in a while, the harp player, will look disgusted, and say "Damn, I need another A harp". Those just don't tune so easy

 

[Robscott]

All the time! And when we play something that requires open tuning, he brings a second guitar so he can quickly switch between songs ....................except that he never tunes it first! Aaaaaaarrrrgghh

 

[klokker]

We all tune up prior to another set, but that's it. I've never played with a guitar player that tunes during a set, or I just never noticed. Pretty good guitar players too, for the most part.

I probably shouldn't say never, but I can't remember ever having to slow down or wait for someone to tune during a set.

 

[honeyiscool]

You asked if he wanted a new tuner like new tuning pedal or new tuning machines? Because neither really matters. Neither does having a great setup. Guitars go out of tune and anybody who’s played lead on stage knows that. Three songs is pretty standard.

Gibson guitars are notoriously bad for this. The D and G go out almost instantly after a few bends. Fenders do a fair bit better, especially Teles. But if you play lead, it goes out of tune. The only kind of guitars that never go out are fully locked guitars, like those with a Floyd Rose. But few guitarists actually enjoy that experience because it comes with other issues, too.

And it doesn’t help that even when the guitar is in perfectly in tune, it sounds out several times a song because certain intervals on certain frets sound off. It’s something you don’t necessarily hear if you’re in the audience, but you hear it if you’re right in front of the amp. As a result, you’ll always feel the need to check, even if the strings are fine. Certain sweetened tunings can minimize this, but those tunings have their own nasty spots where they will sound especially out of tune.

Now add to the fact that whole and 1.5 step bends are an absolute necessity for lead guitarists. Or capos for rhythm players. All these things can affect your tuning. And then you have stage lights and temperature and humidity changes that affect guitars far more than they affect basses.

There is really nothing a guitarist can do to avoid tuning. There’s a reason why at every large budget show, a guitarist will often be handed a new guitar every couple songs. That’s why he looked at you like that when you thought you could solve his issues. Because you can’t. And anybody who has played guitar on stage more than a dozen times knows this.

 

[SoCal80s]

My guitarists can do amazing things with the whammy bar, but the downside is that he has to re-tune after any song where he uses it heavily. That's reasonable, and at least he has locking tuners so it doesn't go too far off. If he did not have a whammy bar I would think every 4 or 5 songs or so would be reasonable. But in either case, silent tuning is a MUST!

The thinner and shorter strings on a guitar are much more sensitive than the thick long strings on our basses.

 

[trevcda]

All the F N time for the rhythm guitarist/singer who plays pick-less and says he can't help it

I had a guitarist whose high buck custom shops seemingly couldn't stay in tune for a whole song. I hated that. What was even worse was a drummer I had that was constantly tuning his toms. All the time. Between songs. On break. It was almost like an obsessive compulsive thing with him. Trying to talk to an audience with dunk-dunk-dunk-dunk constantly going on behind me, made me want to knife his drumheads! By the way, they were both in the same band at the same time.

But you know what's really maddening? Guitar players that refuse to use tuners, for some purest reason that only they understand, and insist on tuning to themselves and at full volume. Total rookie move. I will not play with one of those guys ever again.

 

[Beej]

You asked if he wanted a new tuner like new tuning pedal or new tuning machines? Because neither really matters. Neither does having a great setup. Guitars go out of tune and anybody who’s played lead on stage knows that. Three songs is pretty standard.

Gibson guitars are notoriously bad for this. The D and G go out almost instantly after a few bends. Fenders do a fair bit better, especially Teles. But if you play lead, it goes out of tune. The only kind of guitars that never go out are fully locked guitars, like those with a Floyd Rose. But few guitarists actually enjoy that experience because it comes with other issues, too.

And it doesn’t help that even when the guitar is in perfectly in tune, it sounds out several times a song because certain intervals on certain frets sound off. It’s something you don’t necessarily hear if you’re in the audience, but you hear it if you’re right in front of the amp. As a result, you’ll always feel the need to check, even if the strings are fine. Certain sweetened tunings can minimize this, but those tunings have their own nasty spots where they will sound especially out of tune.

Now add to the fact that whole and 1.5 step bends are an absolute necessity for lead guitarists. Or capos for rhythm players. All these things can affect your tuning. And then you have stage lights and temperature and humidity changes that affect guitars far more than they affect basses.

There is really nothing a guitarist can do to avoid tuning. There’s a reason why at every large budget show, a guitarist will often be handed a new guitar every couple songs. That’s why he looked at you like that when you thought you could solve his issues. Because you can’t. And anybody who has played guitar on stage more than a dozen times knows this.

I play guitar as well as bass, and have for over 30 years. This is not my experience at all. A well-maintained guitar with a good setup does not go out of tune all the time, nor should that be expected. More often than not if someone's guitar is going out of tune all the time, there are issues with setup, or there are problems with quality or maintenance of components. I've improved the tuning stability of some nice guitars more than once with quality machine heads. I just recently replaced the stock strat tuners on a guy's guitar with locking Gotohs, and he can't believe the difference that made in tuning stability. That, and his strings were twisted in the tremolo block, so each time he bent it down, they would untwist and impact his tuning. Good setup and tuners made all the difference.

 

[Lava]

The good ones, usually between each song or two if they can. Muted of course.
The bad ones, not enough. Unmuted of course.
It's not a matter of being out of tune, but a matter of never being out of tune.

 

[leche]

when i play guitar, i check, and tune every chance i get.

 

[ZedLepp]

You know everyone rags on the Gibson robot tuners, but if people would start to realize that as they are talking to the audience they can tune at the same time.
start talking
push button
strum guitar whilst still talking, guitar tunes
push button, done tuning all why nobody is the wiser.
Don't know why this system gets as much flak as it does.
If that don't please you - Then I suggest Evertune should be in your life.

 

[gmarcus]

My guitarist is a microtonal savant. He has some guitars that have alternative tunings where the notes are about 1/8th tone apart instead of 1/4 tone. Luckily he doesn't use those in the rock band. But, he is so dialed in that he can hear when our other guitar player has a single string out of tune and will call him out in the middle of a set and force him to re-tune. They tune up after almost every song. The drummer and I have a handful of tuning grooves to drop into during these comedy routines.

 

[cnltb]

How Often Do Your Guitarists Tune?
I don't have a guitarist but those I work with tune as often as necessary.

 

[ole Jason]

Whammy usage aside I think a lot of guitarists tune incessantly live as sort of a nervous tick. A lot of people get really uncomfortable being onstage but not actively playing their instrument. Ever tried to convince a guitarist to not play during a verse? Not an easy task

 

[rtslinger]

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?

rarely need to re-tune they have locking bridge and nuts systems

 

[WardEarth]

Even in perfect temp and humidity, body temperature will eventually warm up your guitar. It’s unfortunate that the crowd and rest of the band has to wait for tuning, best to have some short drum and bass riffage or banter to get through the wait.
The best guitarists I’ve played with know when things sound off and tune when it’s needed.

 

[JW56789]

I never think that constant re-tuning is right. If you ever watch any of the big touring artists, while some are rotating a trunk full of different axes for different songs, the ones that don't are never standing in front of 50,000 people constantly touching it up. While they certainly have traveling guitar minders on the road, these guys know how to set one up where that sort of thing rarely happens, and anyone can learn that.

When I worked retail, a large percentage of the guitars I sold would come back over the next several months in the hands of their miffed owners who all had the same gripe: 'This %&$*& guitar you sold me won't stay in tune'. I'd open the case, and 90% of the time when I looked at the keys, they had . . . .

. . . . . put two wraps around the peg

. . . . . wrapped the entire length of the string around its peg

. . . . . and of course my personal favorite, the entire length, but had made those big pretty loops out of the excess length

. . . . . or some combination of the above with the wraps all spaghetti'd over each other.

I'd comp them a set of their preferred strings, get the side cutters out, and re-string them right. The next time I'd see them, we'd talk about fishing, and 'hey man, it stays in tune now'. Especially important if there's wiggle sticks involved.

So remember kids, they need to look like this:

. . . . when you put your strings on the tuning pegs, basses too.

 

[honeyiscool]

I play guitar as well as bass, and have for over 30 years. This is not my experience at all. A well-maintained guitar with a good setup does not go out of tune all the time, nor should that be expected. More often than not if someone's guitar is going out of tune all the time, there are issues with setup, or there are problems with quality or maintenance of components. I've improved the tuning stability of some nice guitars more than once with quality machine heads. I just recently replaced the stock strat tuners on a guy's guitar with locking Gotohs, and he can't believe the difference that made in tuning stability. That, and his strings were twisted in the tremolo block, so each time he bent it down, they would untwist and impact his tuning. Good setup and tuners made all the difference.

I don't mean that a well-maintained guitar with a good setup goes out of tune all the time, more that it happens live and it's almost impossible to avoid without affecting your playing style. A guitar that sits in a studio or at home is more or less in equilibrium with itself and will be fine. I've picked up guitars that sat for months indoors and stayed in tune.

Locking tuners, in my experience, do more for making string changes quicker than they actually improve tuning stability. The nut, bridge saddles, and cutting your strings properly do more for tuning stability than locking tuners do. Unless, of course, your tuning machines don't work properly, but almost all of them do.

Live is a different story because your guitar hasn't been there long enough, hasn't adapted to the environment, and then as soon as stage lights or fog machines come on, and your hands reach stage temperature, now your guitar is in a completely different environment than before and will take time to stabilize, which will not happen in your average live set. Perhaps the only way to control that is to have doubly locked guitars, as I mentioned.

You can also play heavier strings. Never use a capo. Never bend. These things will allow your guitar to play longer in tune. But then now you've changed your playing style. What's even the point of that when silent tuning pedals are a thing and you can quickly adjust your tuning? I mean, that's what they're meant for. I can often tune without disrupting the flow of live sets, often in parts of songs when I'm not playing.

If you watch classic footage of great guitar players and really listen carefully, you can hear guitars going out of tune. A good guitarist is sensitive to that and will tune guitars before the audience notices it. It then looks like he or she is doing just to do it, but it's for a good cause.

And honestly, it's like, to some extent, who cares if guitars go out of tune? For instance, look at Jimi. He is always out of tune. So what? Would you rather that he had played safely to avoid that?