Tune Once and ...

[FunkMetalBass]

You do know it's not a good idea to put fresh strings on right before a show, don't you? They need a certain amount of time to stretch out and get "settled in". My rule of thumb is 2 days, but if you're really pressed for time you could probably put them on the night before and be OK with a 24-hour window.

We have a guitarist who routinely puts on fresh strings only a few hours before downbeat -- often while the rest of us are setting up the P.A. -- and it drives us all effin nuts cause he's tuning the whole damn night.

I routinely put new strings on an hour or two before shows if possible. I pull on them and stretch them out very well so that they last a good two or three songs before they'll be far enough out of tune to notice.

I also habitually tune between every song (and on long, sustained notes mid-song). I have never had an issue.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

Doesn't everyone have a tuner in their pedal chain? Even if the pedal chain only consists of a tuner.

I use a rack tuner, but it's the same thing.

 

[Fishheadjoe]

I check my tuning every time the bass comes out of the case, but as I have an RH450 for my amp, I can and do check throughout the entire time I am playing. Can't help it, the amp shows every note you play, until speed stops it from registering.
Fishheadjoe

 

[mpm32]

I have a DTR-1000 in my rack. It's a running joke that when I tune before a gig our guitarist watches the tuner. I never need to tune. My Ibanez RB690 never goes out. I keep telling him I'm going to get rid of the tuner.

I do need to tune if I just changed the strings within the past hour or so though.

 

[Ed Goode]

My basses were all in tune when they were built for me, so I never bother to tune them .... even after I change strings they automatically go back in tune by themselves .....

 

[REAPER52]

I use the Bath Method of Bass Tuning. Take a bath once a month --then proceed to Bass and tune. Easy way to remember both Bass and Bath, when you feel dirty - bass needs a tuning and vise versa . And the audience will apprecieate the sound of a well tuned Bass and the smell of a clean Bass Player.

 

[Pilgrim]

I use old strings and they don't shift tune much, but I do need to tune once before we start playing at at least once after the strings have warmed up from playing. It definitely affects the string tension to change the temp of the strings...after all, cold contracts them, heat expands them.

 

[ausf]

All generalizations suck.

That said, my Ray stays in for weeks on end if it doesn't travel. My DB has been in tune for at least 2 years, no joke.

 

[Rick Auricchio]

I also habitually tune between every song (and on long, sustained notes mid-song).

I don't tend to play open notes often enough to have a free hand to tweak a tuner.

I...as I have an RH450 for my amp, I can and do check throughout the entire time I am playing.

I now have an RH450 also. I don't tend to look down at the footswitch to check the tuner output there while playing. I'll have to glance down there now and then.

 

[Rilander]

i play an MIA P bass and i play in an all original band (30-40 min set and that's it) i usually check the tuning before we play and most of the time it's almost spot on. but that's it. just one tuning check before the show. i will say this particular P bass just holds a tune better than any bass i have ever owned

 

[thehangingmist]

you tune a bass once and then you remove the tuning knobs and it stays in tune forever!
dont tell me you guys didnt know this already!?

the only time you need the knobs is if you are putting on new strings or dropping to half step down or something which anyway you should NEVER do to a bass too

 

[electracoyote]

At one club I played, my end of the stage was near an exit. It was about 20 below outside. When someone opened the door and a gust of frigid air blew over my basses, they would go slightly out of tune.

However, under normal, stable conditions, my basses generally stay in tune for the duration of the evening.

 

[JimmyM]

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.

i think keeping a tuner in line is just an excuse to drive yourself crazy with tuning when you should be performing. i just play basses that can stay in tune longer than a set. i keep my tuner up on my amp and only tune before the set. don't have any problems with out of tuneness usually. if i do, i'll just tune during the next set lull or i'll tune as i go. and that's almost always during the winter when i play outside.

 

[Phalex]

At one club I played, my end of the stage was near an exit. It was about 20 below outside. When someone opened the door and a gust of frigid air blew over my basses, they would go slightly out of tune.

However, under normal, stable conditions, my basses generally stay in tune for the duration of the evening.

I've played that place!

 

[Jason P Bass]

Please forgive me if your tongue was implanted in your cheek when you composed your signature.

My sig is a mystery wrapped in an enigma stuffed in a troll. I'm about to change it to include that drummer in a yellow jacket that has been posted 47,389 times in the last 4 minutes.

 

[PJSShearer]

I played a gig Friday night and another on saturday. I had to retune the E string on my fretless prior to the gig on Saturday (must have got moved when putting it in the case), but apart from that both my basses came out the bags in tune and stayed that way.

 

[JimB52]

My Fenders and Laklands are pretty stable. If the temp changes a lot over the course of the gig, a string or two might need a tweak, but generally they stay in tune throughout the evening.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

I don't tend to play open notes often enough to have a free hand to tweak a tuner.

In between my 32nd-note @ 250bpm runs, I sometimes throw in quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes.

 

[Thankful birds]

I keep a tuner in line in case I hit a tuning key against somethig, but I can't remember the last time I didn't just tune my bass at the start of the show and then forget it. When I play guitar in a band, much different story.

 

[steveksux]

When you change strings, make sure
a) the windings are tight against each other
b) bend the strings a bit over the bridge and nut

And your new strings won't go out of tune any moreso than old strings.

Otherwise, the strings can slip as the windings tighten up against themselves, going flat in the process. And as the strings bend from string tension over the bridge and nut, they'll also go flat.

Eliminate those, and you've got the major causes of new strings going out of tune covered. I have no problems with new strings before a gig. I change them whenever I feel like it, gig or no gig.

Randy