I regularly tune between low b and low c depending on how we want to finish our set which means quickly matching my guitarist who uses the digitech drop to change his timings, without a pedal tuner that just ain't gonna happen given I need it within about 3 seconds.
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Why are tuner pedals so expensive?
- Thread starter Danilixo
- Start date
I regularly tune between low b and low c depending on how we want to finish our set which means quickly matching my guitarist who uses the digitech drop to change his timings, without a pedal tuner that just ain't gonna happen given I need it within about 3 seconds.
Yes, a tuner requires that you pluck a string.
My hat is off to you if you can quickly tune in a noisy club, by ear, perfectly in tune with a tuner. If you actually can, you would be one of the few.
I know I said I was out of the thread, but I have one more thing to say to those who keep implying that you are an unprofessional out of tune hack if you don't use a 75 dollar or more tuner pedal or rackmount device.
Not all of us need one. And tuning by ear does not imply that one stands on stage playing open harmonics for several minutes making noise. The ones who can do this well are so quick and stealthy about it most people don't notice it.
A piano playing friend of mine is blind and he tunes pianos for a living. He has perfect pitch and tunes entirely by ear with nothing to provide a reference tone. His is a mind boggling talent and I've learned a lot from him.
Not all of us need one. And tuning by ear does not imply that one stands on stage playing open harmonics for several minutes making noise. The ones who can do this well are so quick and stealthy about it most people don't notice it.
A piano playing friend of mine is blind and he tunes pianos for a living. He has perfect pitch and tunes entirely by ear with nothing to provide a reference tone. His is a mind boggling talent and I've learned a lot from him.
I know a guy who can do uncommon things, too.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Big Hoss
Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...
- Sep 5, 2014
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That's awesome. But certainly not me.... I have as much chance of being able to pull that off as I would getting a Unicorn to ride to work...
I have two pedals that have a tuner built in. Both solid multieffects units.
The problem is I don't gig with anything other than my compressor and I don't want to pay for a stand-alone tuning pedal.
While not for everyone, I've found those Snark tuners to work well in a pinch on stage. Super cheap and often pick up the vibrations from my bass with the sound dialed down.
Mind, I don't play in loud environments. My band makes good use of space. And I don't typically have to tune my bass in the middle of a gig unless there is some awful, unforeseen disaster, like when I knocked headstocks with the singer's banjo. His fault, but I'm the bass player and immediately accepted responsibility because that's how we roll.
The problem is I don't gig with anything other than my compressor and I don't want to pay for a stand-alone tuning pedal.
While not for everyone, I've found those Snark tuners to work well in a pinch on stage. Super cheap and often pick up the vibrations from my bass with the sound dialed down.
Mind, I don't play in loud environments. My band makes good use of space. And I don't typically have to tune my bass in the middle of a gig unless there is some awful, unforeseen disaster, like when I knocked headstocks with the singer's banjo. His fault, but I'm the bass player and immediately accepted responsibility because that's how we roll.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I remember seeing Chicago in concert and watching everyone tune to à reference note from the keyboard.
I also know someone with perfect pitch. Not really relevant to this discussion, though, as the vast majority of musicians do not possess this ability.
.. hmmm... and here you blew yourself. Upright with a possibility to play in tune where you move your fingers slightly? it's only the open strings that would give away some out of tune-ness...the upright are fretless and, thus, except for open strings, are always in whatever tune your fingers are playing. Other solutions: Well don't play any upright then. You don't have an acoustic cembalo player do you?
My headless doens't drift at all once tuned up. If it should, I can actually reach for the tuners which resides at the bridge WHILE I am playing even busy stuff too, to fine tune one or two strings if needed. If the strings' too sharp, if the strings too flat I just bend them up a bit. Down if it's a low E-string. But generally speaking strings goes up, when they drift out of tune. Yes, the neck being graphite sure helps, but the headless is the main crucial point of why strings don't go out of tune once tuned up. If I have to change strings to a brand new set, just tune them up, after less than 5 minutes adjusting for standard tuning THEY STAY THAT WAY, during the gig. They don't slack and drift. All headstocked basses will do, and you have to adjust ever so often, just after a couple of days it will stay put.
But I agree, those self tuning mechanism aren't any good, you have to stop playing mute the bass/guitar, and then press button. Well, I agree THOSE self tuners are very expensive. It's that they drift while playing that's the main problem...and for those ones there's this solutions (albeit more expensive than most tuners):
https://evertune.com/shop/index.php
Alas not for bass as of yet. Probably because they think it's not needed.
You're dead wrong about the first bit, I'm just not that flexible — I've never been able to blow myself.
Yes, I play in a hard rockin' renaissance music ensemble with some Gregorian chanting on the side — we all tune to the cembalist. However, are any of us really playing acoustically? The bass has a pickup, the harpsichord is mic'd and the singers all use mics running through multi-fx boxes so...
As for playing any fretless instrument, sure you're always able to "adjust" on the fly, but it really helps with muscle-memory if your reference points aren't out of whack. I'd rather go to hit the C-note on the A string where I know it is meant to be than hit around in that general area 'til I find it — 'cause if I did that, the rest of the band would have already moved on to another chord and I'm sure the audience and band members alike would tire quickly of any bassist that has to slur into every note.
Lots of people are lucky enough to have a bass that stays in tune for weeks at a time, and then when it's not, it's good to be able to tune. If it were able to be locked down, they'd do it at the instrument factory and the basses would come without tuning mechanisms — the ultimate set and forget.
I tune however whenever need be. By Ear, tuning fork, reference pitch, phone-app, tuner pedal, clip-on, and yes, even slurring into notes at times — none of this is relevant to the thread topic:
Why are tune pedals so expensive? 'Cause they cost about the same amount as the ratio of how long a piece of thread is.
Well, two months later I’ve bought into popular opinion and got myself a pedal. I found one on sale on amazon for $20 and clicked buy.
Now that I have one I see the use behind it a lot clearer than when I didn’t. My tuner app worked great, but whenever I had practice around any of my other band members, it would always opt to tune the guitarists (hell even once it was tuning my drummers snare). With a pedal I no longer have issues getting anything picked up. Plus, the killswitch is pretty great.
To everyone who doesn’t yet have a pedal, I urge you to feed capitalism and get yourself one cheap, it’ll be worth the buy in the long run.
Now that I have one I see the use behind it a lot clearer than when I didn’t. My tuner app worked great, but whenever I had practice around any of my other band members, it would always opt to tune the guitarists (hell even once it was tuning my drummers snare). With a pedal I no longer have issues getting anything picked up. Plus, the killswitch is pretty great.
To everyone who doesn’t yet have a pedal, I urge you to feed capitalism and get yourself one cheap, it’ll be worth the buy in the long run.
Why does the Marshall refrigerator cost twice as much as a "regular" refrigerator:
It's because they know people will pay it...
or because it's full of Heineken
It's because they know people will pay it...
or because it's full of Heineken
Random thoughts and question:
* Danny Gatton taught me a great trick as you always have a tuner; a conventional phone dial tone is F#
* Been to 3 rehearsals in the last 2 weeks and my Fender bass is nearly always in tune
* I have a Conn at home for setup and been using the same Sabine plastic tuner since 1985
What else competes with the Turbo Tuner these days as far as fast reading, accurate, and durable?
* Danny Gatton taught me a great trick as you always have a tuner; a conventional phone dial tone is F#
* Been to 3 rehearsals in the last 2 weeks and my Fender bass is nearly always in tune
* I have a Conn at home for setup and been using the same Sabine plastic tuner since 1985
What else competes with the Turbo Tuner these days as far as fast reading, accurate, and durable?
