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How Often Do Your Guitarists Tune?

#41
J Wilson said:
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.
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Touring artists have several advantages that most artists don't have. The most important thing is that they get very early load-in and sound checks. The stage guitars probably have been at that venue for many hours, out of their cases, on the very stage where they will be played. And even then, if you look at the actual logistics of the guitars that they'll actually play, performers almost never take the guitars out of their side rack. Those are emergency guitars that can be used for a quick change, but they'll usually play a guitar that the stage tech hands them directly, which probably goes through a little bit of tuning before being handed to the guitarist. Then they rarely play the same guitar for more than 2-3 songs, if they're lead players who use bending techniques.
 
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#42
I’m convinced a lot of players don’t really understand string physics and just shoot themselves in the foot. Once I watched a guitar player sit down and change his strings DURING SOUNDCHECK while everyone including a baffled sound guy waited. Not surprisingly, it didn’t stay in tune and he switched guitars. I also had one group where I usually played fretless so I could adjust my pitch when they would slap on cheap capos with a death grip and everything would go sharp.
 
#46
Dr. Love said:
I also had one group where I usually played fretless so I could adjust my pitch when they would slap on cheap capos with a death grip and everything would go sharp.
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That's a pet peeve of mine too. Guitarists who don't realize, they should re-check their tuning when they put the capo on. Especially on an acoustic guitar without individual bridge saddles for intonation.
 
#48
I cant stand that behavior. Get a guitar that stays in fricken tune. My guitarist had a similar issue where his guitar with a floating bridge would constantly need to be tuned. I finally said in our feedback (only the band members could hear) mic "dude you need to deck that sh*t because the dead air is killing our flow". Next rehearsal his guitar stayed in tune for the entire hour and a half.
 
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#49
I don't think my guitarist tunes that often, mostly at the beginning of practice/gig and here and there when he might sense something might be out.

I myself don't generally tune a lot but I've caught myself doing it more lately bc of the way I reconfigured my pedal cabling. I've just started running a Radial Bassbone OD and I use the the always-on tuner out and keep the tuner pedal engaged.

I used to run my main signal through the tuner so it only engaged when I hit the footswitch (also muting the signal). But now that it's on all the time I can see it dancing around when I'm playing, and I find that I'm checking my tuning more as a result. Plus, I just picked up a NOS (yes, sold as new!) Squier VM P5 and I'm finding that the tuners leave a little to be desired so it's got me second guessing. It could just be that the factory strings are still stretching out too, but I'm still planning on upgrading to Ultralites in the future for peace of mind (and weight reduction).
 
#50
The guitarist in the metal band I was in before tuned before and after every single song. He had a flying V Dean of some sort in drop C.

The guitarist I play with now is not only an incredible player and composer, but he usually only tunes once before practice, mayyyybe twice. He plays a Jackson in standard tuning.
 
#51
The guitar matters, but the setup matters WAY more. If your guys get a PRS with a floating trem, use either locking tuners or put the bare minimum wraps on it, use a string gauge and pick that’s appropriate for their style, lube all the friction points, and use good strings that are stretched properly, it’ll hold tuning very well.

Two of the guitars I hung onto are a Korean PRS Custom 24 (floating Strat style bridge) and a ‘62 Gibson Les Paul (SG before they called it that). The PRS is bulletproof and behaves like I described above. The Gibson is terrible and needs tuned frequently.
 
#52
In our current band, the guitarist has a tele-type guitar with a Bigbsy. When he brings that one, he tunes a bit more often. But in general, it's not how often he tunes that can be bothersome, but WHEN. For example,

GOOD: immediately after a tune, as the BL is working the crowd, or mid-tune in a lull during a sax solo.
BAD: Immediately after the band leader finishes saying "Here's one by Al Green" on a tune that the guitar starts.

I understand, it's important to be in tune, always. But I hate those dead air gaps...
 
#54
In defense of guitarists, any guitar with a tremolo (except Floyd Rose) will need to be retuned. Also, compare the string gauges...you're comparing bridge cables to angel hair pasta noodles. Physics is on the side of the bass guitar for tuning.

Also, 15:1 is common for factory tuners when most basses are 18:1 or even 21:1.
 
#56
If I restring my guitar, I have to give the strings a good stretch before they start to hold tune. After that, I can play for days without tuning. It helps, though, that my guitars have locking tuners, properly-cut nuts and saddles, and stable necks. I've had cheap guitars that pinched the strings, and kept them from returning to pitch after bends, or vibrato (tremolo) usage. Even then, it was usually only the "G" that would lose tune.

If your guys restring before every show, they may need to stretch the hell out of the strings to get them to stabilize. Otherwise, they may need to invest in modern hardware, get a real setup, or use some dry-lube.
 
#57
The two guitarists in the band I'm in tune about every two or three songs, silently of course. One of our guitarists plays a 12-string Rick for a few songs, and he's always having to tune it. The other plays a Tele, and it seems to stay in tune well. They tune pretty quickly so they don't create any undue delay.
 
#58
Totally depends on the hardware and what they're doing to it. Crappy guitars have crappy tuners and often also crappy intonation so they will often sound out of tune. Some of the more solid instruments will intonate well and hold their tuning better. Technique is a factor too. Whammys, heavy fingers on light strings, bends and brand new strings will make a guitar sound out of tune.

So, the short answer is, they should tune as often as they need to, but if they want to sound good they might invest in a good instrument with a sound neck that will intonate well and have a pro set it up. They should break in new strings thoroughly before hitting the stage and avoid squeezing the neck like they want to strangle someone if they're playing light gauges. Or any gauges, really. That can also make a guitar sound out of tune when it really isn't.
 
#59
TheDirtyLowDown said:
In our current band, the guitarist has a tele-type guitar with a Bigbsy. When he brings that one, he tunes a bit more often. But in general, it's not how often he tunes that can be bothersome, but WHEN. For example,

GOOD: immediately after a tune, as the BL is working the crowd, or mid-tune in a lull during a sax solo.
BAD: Immediately after the band leader finishes saying "Here's one by Al Green" on a tune that the guitar starts.

I understand, it's important to be in tune, always. But I hate those dead air gaps...
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This is where having a polyphonic tuner can help. You can quickly check which strings might be off. There's a difference, really, between tuning often and tuning in a manner that disrupts the set. A guitarist could tune every 2 minutes and never disturb the set noticeably, or a guitarist could tune twice in a set and still affect the set negatively.
 

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