Tuner out - can it be turned off?

[longfinger]

I especially hate that others can watch the tuber and tell that I'm out of tune when I'm playing. It makes me nervous.

A simple piece of cloth will take care of this. Instant cover, and uncover.

You can use a nice cloth, handkerchief, or an old cloth. No one will bother you either way. And then after the gig, use the same cloth to dry off your strings.

turning it off and on is ok too. The startup time is not that long, and really you'd only check your tuning in between sets. A good bass will stay in tune.

 

[bigthemat]

to play devil's advocate to the point that "no one will be looking at your tuner"

guitarist in new band I'm playing in has one of those peterson strobe tuners, always on, on his pedalboard. We had a new fiddle player jamming with us, and she commented that she kept looking at his pedal to see what notes/chords he was playing so she could follow along

 

[Killing Floor]

Nah it was funny, no apologies are necessary. We're good.
Yes I'm just starting to play fretless and am just nervous that the first few rows can actually see when I havent hit the right pitch.
When the music sucks, the tuner gets rewarded with attention Heck of a feature.

I play a lot of fretless and still today I practice with my tuner on. I watch mine and constantly check my landings for pitch visually. Plus it keeps me from looking at my hands as often. I used to have a Korg rack tuner but can’t honestly recall how quick it tracked.
If you’re new to playing fretless in a band situation I have found that it’s a little easier to adjust on the fly with other players because your brain recognizes the dissonance. Playing alone you don’t always identify flat or sharp but your instincts help when you hear guitar or keys or other.

Hey, you got this.

 

[coy garcia]

I use a always on pedal tuner as a security blanket playing only fretless....I never considered the audience seeing it. Many ways to solve it though.

 

[Hasty]

Do you plug the tuner into a surge protector when you do use it? And can you see the display on a bright day outdoors?

I use a Radial Power-1 mounted in the rack unit.

I don't remember ever having problems with bright lights while using the tuner... but for the last year I've mainly been doing smaller venues or evening gigs where it's a non-issue. So I'm going to say it's never been an issue for me because it's too hot here in Texas to go set it up midday and see if I can see the tuning needle.

I also see you commented that you're just starting on fretless. Welcome to the Microtonal Opportunists Organization! While it's ok to concentrate on tuning, if you obsess about it you'll likely make yourself overcompensate and the pitch will suffer. The beautiful thing about fretless is that if you hit a wrong note you can self correct more discretely than on a fretted instrument (in my opinion) as long as you're not doing it every single note.

 

[Wesley R]

Appears to be a 1U (1.75") device. The letters are not real tall. I sort of doubt if it is legible from an audience or most band members.

I have worried a bit about things while on stage" am I too loud, the guitar is too loud, why does the singer scream so much, that girl looks pretty, etc."
Is somebody watching my tuner would not be one of the things. I do understand your drive for excellence.

 

[31HZ]

There's a lot of room in the music industry for people who exhibit OCD attributes.

Being prepared, showing up on time, listening to the rest of the band, and paying attention to small details (note length, EQ, sitting in the mix etc.) are examples of how these attributes can help bass players to wind up on first-call lists.

Hopefully you can temper your concerns about what others might think about a few blinking lights, and figure out how to use your superpowers for good.

FWIW I switched to a floor-mount pedal tuner so that I can look at it while playing fretless, ha!

 

[rojo412]

Every time I've had a rack tuner setup going, band members and audiences alike enjoyed the lights going back and forth, Knight Rider style.
FWIW, though... those people tend to be high a lot, so blinking lights are quite entertaining to them.

 

[sleddogn]

If your ok with a switch, why not just use a stompbox type tuner?

You're........man i'm always a stickler about using that correctly, just seeing i got it wrong made me sad.. lol, sorry to derail, just wanted to admit i know i done wrong

 

[five7]

I used the rackmount Korg for years and no one commented about my tuning. But then my bass never goes out of tune. Ha!

 

[chadds]

This can’t be real.

 

[DaveParker39]

Trust me, an "always on" tuner is not a problem. The tuner is too confused to generate anything meanginful while you are just playing. And if you are playing, say, an open E, and you look over and notice it's off, you can fix it on the fly. Win/win.

 

[Scott Bland]

Wow. And you did not even notice that I changed your A to 423 Hz in your tuner.

just kidding. Please continue and know that its going to be ok

 

[beans-on-toast]

Don’t go nuts worrying about tuning. Tuning isn’t often perfect up the neck. Strings get pulled out of tune, fret force can also change tuning, pulling on the neck. Worry about what’s important: playing without mistakes and your sense of timing and feel.


To quote Jimi Hendrix:

Sorry for the tune up between time, but what the hell, cowboys are the only ones who stay in tune, anyway...

 

[sean_on_bass]

i do think a visible rack mount tuner can be a distraction if anything. not for others checking to see if you are in tune, but just an unnecessary distraction on stage and not something you would want an audience to focus on. hence i think pedal tuners are the way to go.

 

[Spectre Gunner]

Nah it was funny, no apologies are necessary. We're good.
Yes I'm just starting to play fretless and am just nervous that the first few rows can actually see when I havent hit the right pitch.
When the music sucks, the tuner gets rewarded with attention Heck of a feature.

I seriously doubt the audience is going to know exactly what note is supposed to be played at any point in time. If they have to look to see if you're out of tune instead of hearing it then you're in tune.

 

[Marko 1]

No joke, I just got back from taking my Korg DTR2000 rack tuner to get the input jack fixed (I was picking something up so I figured I'd bring something else in)

because the last time I used my rack rig, the input jack was crackling so I had to plug into the preamp after tuning instead of leaving it there.

I missed having the little light show.

 

[brianrost]

Yes I'm just starting to play fretless and am just nervous that the first few rows can actually see when I havent hit the right pitch.

People who aren't musicians probably won't even know it's a tuner. Unless the tuner responds super fast you'll be playing the next note before the previous one registers. That's why I've never found practicing with a tuner on to be worthwhile.

 

[ashtray]

No one is going to notice what your tuner says while you’re playing. The crowd would need to be super bored. At best they’ll notice the “cool moving lights” of the tuner.

In order for those lights to stop on a note, you have to hold the note for a bit. I would actually use my rack tuner during a song if something sounded off. Stage volume was too loud to really hear my tuning, if I was out or the guitarist, so I’d hold a note on different strings over a few different measures to check each string. Wasn’t easy, and I was standing directly in front of my rig. The audience wouldn’t be able to see any details on the tuner.

 

[bherman]

Maybe someone can educate me - I dont understand the benefits of a rack tuner vs floor (stomp) tuner. In order to use it, you’d have to turn around and look at your rig, wouldn’t you? Seems like it would be a problem if you needed a quick check, especially mid-song. FWIW, I use a pedal strobe tuner, always on. When I play upright (about 1/2 the time) I occasionally glance at it when doing a big position change (say coming down to the low G from high up
On the neck), but I try and avoid looking at it often.