Tuning a low B

[bongomania]

I'm suspicious of all these comments about cheap tuners picking up the low B "just fine", as other threads have had comments like "hardly any tuner can actually do a good job with the low B, you have to use harmonics." Also I had a Strobostomp which did a great job of catching the open low B, and I had a Korg which did a crappy job of it, and I'm currently using a Sabine which does an OK (if slow) job. All with the same bass.

My suspicion is that some people see a green light flash on their tuner and they think "OK, it's in tune now", when actually it may have just been a moment when the strings passed by the correct frequency, but did not spend much time there.

I recognize though that other people have their own experiences that may be different from mine.

 

[5andFretless]

So just now I detuned my low B, retuned it with the Korg, then checked it with the piano and at the 5th fret on the Korg. Dead on.

I didn't check the Behringer because it is all put away, but I suspect it will work as well.

 

[John127]

I've used some cheap, cheap tuners and can always get the B without using the harmonic on both my Ibanez SDGR and MM Bongo.

 

[Rufus]

I just purchased one of these and it is every bit as good as they say it is. Remarkably accurate, very quick at picking up all the notes including the low B. Check it out here and read up on it. It gets my vote as "THE ALL TIME BEST", even though it's not rack mountable. It has the best accuracy by far of any rack mount tuner.

 

[Rufus]

Oops, forgot the link. Here it is.
http://www.turbo-tuner.com/

 

[basspraiser]

I have tried several tuners and the Peterson Strobe is the ONLY one that I have found that does the B string well.....I do end up "tweaking it slightly" and checking the tuning up and down the fretboard a few times before I am happy.....the B seems to be a real "B" at times....

 

[Rufus]

I have tried several tuners and the Peterson Strobe is the ONLY one that I have found that does the B string well.....

I grew up using Peterson strobe tuners and I'm not knocking them by no means, but the Turbo Tuner is a true strobe tuner, and if you check the specs you'll see that it is guaranteed to be as accurate if not more accurate. I'm not looking for a battle of opinions here. I just want to share a good thing. I ordered it and it was in my mailbox three days later. Great product, decent price, and quick S&H. Check it out!

 

[Verne Andru]

I think a lot of it has to do with the pickups in the instrument and/or clarity of signal going from the string to the tuner. I have a Yamaha BB405 and had no end of trouble getting an accurate reading from the TU-2 with the stock pickups. After I switched to Q-Tuners, the problem was solved. As with everything in life YMMV.

 

[John127]

I'm suspicious of all these comments about cheap tuners picking up the low B "just fine", as other threads have had comments like "hardly any tuner can actually do a good job with the low B, you have to use harmonics." Also I had a Strobostomp which did a great job of catching the open low B, and I had a Korg which did a crappy job of it, and I'm currently using a Sabine which does an OK (if slow) job. All with the same bass.

My suspicion is that some people see a green light flash on their tuner and they think "OK, it's in tune now", when actually it may have just been a moment when the strings passed by the correct frequency, but did not spend much time there.

I recognize though that other people have their own experiences that may be different from mine.

I'll add that the cheap tuners (Behringer and 2 Korgs) I've used have all been "bass" tuners. That is, they advertise being able to get the low B. Maybe this indeed makes a difference.

 

[DavidMP]

I also have been using a Turbo Tuner (for the last 8 months) and can tune my 5th string to A0 with no needs for harmonics. It has very similar functionalities as the Peterson but it is cheaper.
Planet Waves also has a "Tru-Strobe" tuner but it is the same price and does not appear to have an option for customizing temperaments (the Turbo does)
If you don't plan to divert from standard tuning you could try a light strobe pick

 

[ebasss]

Turn up the volume on your bass, happens to me with my zoon with E.

 

[sleepy_monkey]

I have a Boss TU-2 pedal.....never had a problem with the B string.

 

[0175westwood29]

volume up all the way and use 12th fret harmonics+ tu-2 best way for my bass

 

[ggunn]

Play the 5th fret harmonic on the B string and the 7th fret harmonic on the E string, and tune the B string harmonic to match the E string harmonic.

If that's clear enough.

See, the fifth fret harmonic on one string is the exact same as the seventh fret harmonic on the next higher string. So if the two match perfectly, then it's in tune.

Is that clear enough? lol

As others have said, it's not exactly in tune with the tempered scale. If you tune the lowest string by some empirical method and then tune all the rest with that 5th and 7th fret harmonics method, the error will pile up on you and the last string will be noticably sour when compared with the first.

That said, if you only use that method to tune the B string to the E string, I doubt you'll hear the diff.

 

[cnltb]

The Korg CA-20 does it.