Is your bass always in tune?

[Diddywah]

My Steinberger L2 was in tune straight from the truck with -20 celsius to a hot sweating stage every night in the old days. I did check it though, in case I bumped the tuners, but those bridge end 1:20 tuners were super stable and well protected.
These days my semi-hollowbody bass needs more attention going from cold to warm and season to season. And those conventional tuners on the headstock are more exposed going in and out of my gig bag.

I ripped it out of the bag once, late to a soundcheck, and just plugged in and got going. At the end of the first verse I did a double stop and WHAT?? the G string was more like F.....lots of funny faces

 

[brianrost]

I'm in New England and my basses do drift in tuning quite a bit, except for my Steinberger L2 which is stable for months or years. Curiously, my NS Radius which has a graphite core wooden neck does not hold steady tune like that.

With BGs when the tuning machines are close to perpendicular to the headstock, they tend to get bumped in the gig bag. With one of my basses, it's always the E string being bumped flat.

My DB is really touchy to temperature, just driving to gigs in winter will cause it to shift. When it warms up inside the venue it shifts again

 

[Diddywah]

I'm in New England and my basses do drift in tuning quite a bit, except for my Steinberger L2 which is stable for months or years. Curiously, my NS Radius which has a graphite core wooden neck does not hold steady tune like that.

With BGs when the tuning machines are close to perpendicular to the headstock, they tend to get bumped in the gig bag. With one of my basses, it's always the E string being bumped flat.

My DB is really touchy to temperature, just driving to gigs in winter will cause it to shift. When it warms up inside the venue it shifts again

Yeah; anything wood moves/goes out of tune.
Never seen any dead wood
Anything like the Steinberger; one-piece composite material, all dead, stays put.

 

[Schlyder]

....and my gas tank is always full....and every traffic light I hit is green.

 

[groooooove]

i've had both types. my primary instruments only seem to budge if a tuner appears to have been moved in the case during transit.

on the flip side, i've had instruments, both cheap and expensive, that don't seem to hold pitch for more than 10 minutes.

 

[lug]

My 1991 Fender P-Bass Plus stayed in tune for nearly ten years just sitting under the bed in it's case. My L-2000 stays very close but gets tuned every time I play it.

Similar thing happened with my T40....went untouched for about 6 or 7 years.....came out of the case tuned.

 

[Imaginary Pony]

I sell them if they need tuning or break strings...

I don't sell mine, although I do buy a new one in those circumstances.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Seriously guys? Nearly every time I pickup my bass (or any bass) it's a bit out of tune.

And my current bass has a neck on it that barely moves, regardless of the weather.

I guess I have crappy tuners?

its the same for me, where I live the humidity change a lot from day to day so yeah, the strings change pitch even though the neck seems straight as an arrow

 

[Diddywah]

I don't sell mine, although I do buy a new one in those circumstances.

I'd buy at least two, in case one is already out of tune

 

[Deleted member 165050]

All my basses stay pretty much in tune. The ones that stay at home tend to go a little sharp or flat overall with the seasons and the ones I gig might do the same while they acclimatise to the venue, but other than that they are all stable.

 

[yodedude2]

going from p.1 to p.5...did anyone mention equal temperament yet? your bass will always be slightly out of tune from a just tuning due to the compromise of equal temperament tuning. now whether you can hear that or not...i can hear it depending on particular notes in a particular key. i hear that my bass is slightly out of tune a bit, and then go to check the tuning and it is right on. takes a bit of getting used to...from wikipedia: 'Unfretted string ensembles, which can adjust the tuning of all notes except for Invalid Link Removed, and vocal groups, who have no mechanical tuning limitations, sometimes use a tuning much closer to just intonation for acoustic reasons.'

 

[mellowinman]

You can tune them?

 

[baileyboy]

Does your bass stay in tune? I had a MIM Fender jazz that I bought in tune & almost never had to touch the tuners. Even after playing out.

Same here... my '74 Precision rarely strays out of tune, even after a night of gigging. I do check the tuners after every set and make subtle adjustments if needed.

 

[Diddywah]

going form p.1 to p.5...did anyone mention equal temperament yet? your bass will always be slightly out of tune from a natural tuning due to the compromise of equal temperament tuning. now whether you can hear that or not...i can hear it depending on particular notes in a particular key. i hear that my bass is slightly out of tune a bit, and then go to check the tuning and it is right on. takes a bit of getting used to...

A fretless would solve your problem.

 

[bolophonic]

I have basses that stay in tune indefinitely.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

My Modulus basses never wandered out of tune, but my Fender Jazz does. It's nothing bad though. Usually I just tune it once at the beginning of a rehearsal or gig and it'll stick for the rest of the night.

 

[yodedude2]

A fretless would solve your problem.

a fretless created an infinite amount of more problems for me...now i can play every single note out of tune!

 

[Bassmaticmatt]

Mind are always in tune, except for the instances where they are not. See what I did there?

 

[jasonrp]

My mid 90's MIM P stays pretty close once the strings are broken in but it does need a little tightening. My upright with guts goes out if I look at it wrong

 

[gregmon79]

I have 3 Squiers, a VMJ, a P and a P/J and then an Ibanez ATK 300. I gig and mainly use the ATK. I usually have to tweak tune the ATK just because of being in the case. The others usually stay at home and have to be tuned a little every few times I pick them up. The P and P/J are the ones that I play the most. But then you have to keep in account that I change strings on most these basses on average once every other month or so. So that first week I usually have tighten most strings up due to them being new and adjusting to the being on a bass at that point. So overall, I do have to tune at seldom times. It’s just how it is. I tune even more now though since I’ve been in a studio. It’s just a habit that has stuck with me. It’s almost automatic in between songs now. That is when I’m playing with the band at practice and at shows.