Seems like my basses always go out of tune AFTER the warranty has expired.... really pisses me off!
Randy
Randy
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Tune Once and ...
- Thread starter JDJen
- Start date
Please forgive me if your tongue was implanted in your cheek when you composed your signature. I have read and enjoyed your posts before and just in case you seriously want to redo your 410 cabinet I can offer advice.
Add another identical 410 cabinet. Two eight ohm cabinets in parallel will produce a four ohm load. Let's say your amplifier can deliver 250 watts into an eight ohm load. If it's a solid state amp and can handle a four ohm load (most of them will), it can probably deliver at least 400 watts into four ohms. Not quite double the power, but close.
Be aware that doubling the perceived volume/loudness requires a tenfold increase in power. The good news is if you move from four ten inch drivers to eight ten inch drivers you will also benefit from acoustic coupling which will add another three decibels to your acoustic output.
Back on the original topic, my Fender and Lado basses are both very good at staying in tune but I make it a point to check my tuning before every set. If someone is off I want to be sure it's not me.
Exactly what I was going to say. It is not tuning so much as it is checking to see if you are still in tune and fixing it when necessary. Bass is typically the most stable reference to tune to, not that it does not change with temperature.
Always, Always be sure you are in tune and make the guitard tune to you, not the other way around.
We freaking rule! There I said it!
...well, yes and no.
You can tune a sax - to a single given note - by moving the mouthpiece. However, serious horn players (and most guys that play saxes for fun, like me) know that saxophones don't play in tune.
No saxophone has ever played in tune.
Ever.
The player needs to play in tune - he needs to compensate with embouchure and breath for every note, all the time. Most of us get so used to it that we do it without thinking. A poor player though, or a fellow playing on a strange horn/mouthpiece/reed, may not be able to compensate for the horn's intonation gremlins.
(/endthreadderail)
Most of my basses need tuning annually but I check them every time I perceive that a guitard is out of tune just so I can say "I'm in tune how bout you".
My question is how do you get a guitard to understand equal temperment vs. just intonation so that he'll use a tuner??? They usually say their ear is better than any tuner. Drives me nuts.
My question is how do you get a guitard to understand equal temperment vs. just intonation so that he'll use a tuner??? They usually say their ear is better than any tuner. Drives me nuts.
I got around that one by buying him a tuner.
Just pray that you never have to buy your drummer a tuner - I once had to loan a drummer my tiner (for his rototoms) but I swore that was the only time I'd ever provide a drummer with a tuner.
Exactly what I was going to say. It is not tuning so much as it is checking to see if you are still in tune and fixing it when necessary. Bass is typically the most stable reference to tune to, not that it does not change with temperature.
Always, Always be sure you are in tune and make the guitard tune to you, not the other way around.
We freaking rule! There I said it!
That's how it works in my band. Until recently ( my guitarist just bought a TU3) before we played he plugged into my tuner. Of course that was after several weeks of him insisting he was in tune and me showing him that he wasn't. The other advantage of a tuner in your chain is one tap silence, for changing guitars etc..
I agree with said guitar player. What kind of bass do you have that requires more tuning than that?
At the risk of redundancy I'll say that it depends on the bass.
I played a three night a week gig for years using my well worn '64 P Bass, and it became an amusing ritual to my guitarist and me, who shared a tuner. I'd plug in and never have to touch a tuning key, despite transporting, temp changes, etc. That's the only bass I can remember that was as consistent
My '95 Jazz stays in tune pretty well, but usually needs tweaking a couple of times a night.
I played a three night a week gig for years using my well worn '64 P Bass, and it became an amusing ritual to my guitarist and me, who shared a tuner. I'd plug in and never have to touch a tuning key, despite transporting, temp changes, etc. That's the only bass I can remember that was as consistent
My '95 Jazz stays in tune pretty well, but usually needs tweaking a couple of times a night.
Yeah, most of my bass guitars stay in tune forever, it seems. Including my SXs. The exception is my EB-3, which has tuners that are old and loose. Usually only when I bump a tuner do they need to be adjusted. Nevertheless, I check before each gig!
I have encountered the opposite problem... i.e., playing a venue with a "house piano" that was not A = 440 and trying in vain to get the guitarists to tune to the piano by ear and being told they couldn't possibly be out of tune cause "the tuner says so."
I have been playing for about 27 years now and just learned this.
A guitar player told me this just this weekend...
"A bass should only have to be tuned once before the gig and never need tuned again the rest of the night". (Yes, he was serious)
WOW!!! I can't believe how much of my life I've been wasting tuning up between sets. I feel like an old dog that just learned a new trick.
One time I did a gig with a Guitard who believed that his guitar only needed to be tuned once before the gig - and I only had my fretless with me ....
Doesn't everyone have a tuner in their pedal chain? Even if the pedal chain only consists of a tuner.
But can you tune a fish?
"Whats' the difference between a saxophone and a lawnmower? ....
You can TUNE a lawnmower...."
They should. A lot of guys are proud of the fact that they only have to tune once a set, but checking every now and then will only ensure the band sounds better. Most of the singers I work with tell me that they listen to the bass for the fundamentals, so if I get out of tune if messes with their pitch (insert singer joke here). Because of this I tune a lot. Also I really like this emoticon so I'm going to use it regardless whether it's relevant or not
