Tuning a bass

[lbanks]

I just wanted to know what the open string tuning of a 4 string bass was.
Now I know!

EADG... I think.

 

[Michael Jones]

EADG... I think.

Oh man!
I thought I had it there for a minute, now I'm all confused.
Could you guys run through it one more time?

 

[crazydoc]

Well, ya know those lower four strings on a guitar...

 

[Rokket]

Oh, man! Here we go again!

 

[Michael Jones]

Well, ya know those lower four strings on a guitar...

You mean lower.... like on the bottom... or lower like in pitch?

 

[Lurk_R]

You mean lower.... like on the bottom... or lower like in pitch?

Hey I'd like to know that too!

 

[lbanks]

(BAD JOKE ALERT)
Speaking of pitch, I was at a music store, where they had got in a Johnson 6 string. Not to say anything bad about Johnson, I wasn't interested. So the saleman asked me to hold it while he searched for a cord, then came back and played an annoying slap riff at me. Why did he think a slap riff is going to make me a want his Johnson?

 

[scrubs]

(BAD JOKE ALERT)
Speaking of pitch, I was at a music store, where they had got in a Johnson 6 string. Not to say anything bad about Johnson, I wasn't interested. So the saleman asked me to hold it while he searched for a cord, then came back and played an annoying slap riff at me. Why did he think a slap riff is going to make me a want his Johnson?

You were holding his johnson???

 

[Rokket]

(BAD JOKE ALERT)
Speaking of pitch, I was at a music store, where they had got in a Johnson 6 string. Not to say anything bad about Johnson, I wasn't interested. So the saleman asked me to hold it while he searched for a cord, then came back and played an annoying slap riff at me. Why did he think a slap riff is going to make me a want his Johnson?

Owww. That made my head hurt...

 

[crazydoc]

You mean lower.... like on the bottom... or lower like in pitch?

Lower, as in fatter.

 

[timmerman]

Electronic Tuners[for Bass] and Open Tuning..........

that the reliance on electronic tuners has messed up your ability to tune by ear? I noticed this had happened when I started to study jazz a few years ago. Up until that time, I always tuned by just plugging into a tuner. Now, all of a sudden, I had to tune to a real acoustic piano. And, much to my surprise, I couldn't hardly do it!!! I had relied on electronic tuners for so many years, that my ability to discern fine differences in pitch (and the beats that two slightly different pitches will produce) had almost disappeared. I've since gotten this skill back (mostly), but I still like to get to the rehearsal hall earlier than everyone else so that I can tune my bass, before other people get there and start doodling around on their instruments. This extra noise seems to throw me off quite a bit, whereas I don't remember that being the case many years ago.

In a similar manner, I used to be very good at spelling, but after relying on the "spell-check" function in word processors for many years, my spelling skills have deteriorated drastically.

Has this happened to anybody else?

Brad

Hi Brad,

I have the opposite experience: Found tuning hard in the beginning, then I bought a tuner with the idea that my ears would get used to what the strings should sound like. These days I can tell what chords people are playing, and that is all because I have heard these chords so often being played while there where in tune

In a way I believe that tuners can help you, but you should not forget how to tune by ear

I have noticed that all tuners give a slightly different pitch, and yes it helps if you play a harmonic at the twelfth fret, as they tend to be more stable [less overtones? ] compared to just playing the open string.

Okay back to topic------open tuned bass-------- Well I have tried some of those tunings and I have to say I do love the BEDG one, really like the lowend of the bass, so we may goof around a lot in this thread, but there is a lot of stuff you can pick up as well. There must be some kind of magic how to keep a thread fresh with all the jokes and entertainment and still being able to get back the topic. Wish they were all that good

Eddie

And thanks again to all of you!!! Hope we can maintain this for a while!

 

[Bassman Brad]

I have noticed that all tuners give a slightly different pitch....

Eddie

If you can hear the difference in pitch between different tuners, then you have a very, very good ear for pitch, indeed.

In fact, I think that we now have a new, reference-standard answer to the age old question, "How do you tune a bass?"

The answer: Let Eddie do it!!!!

Brad

 

[lbanks]

You were holding his johnson???

It was purple and sticky, with a lot of fingerprints on it; I think he had his johnson out for everyone to hold.

 

[crazydoc]

If you can hear the difference in pitch between different tuners, then you have a very, very good ear for pitch, indeed.

In fact, I think that we now have a new, reference-standard answer to the age old question, "How do you tune a bass?"

The answer: Let Eddie do it!!!!

Brad

If he can tell the difference in pitch in tuners, what the hell is he doing playing bass? He needs to take up autoharp.

 

[ez_willis]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't, for example, 41Hz(E string) on one tuner have the exact same pitch as 41Hz on a different tuner?

 

[crazydoc]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't, for example, 41Hz(E string) on one tuner have the exact same pitch as 41Hz on a different tuner?

In a perfect world, yes. But tuners are different - the same way you can't cut two things to the exact same length (microscopically speaking), so two tuners won't measure the exact same pitch due to differences in components and construction. One might measure 41.0000 Hz as 41.003, and the another 40.998 (and I don't even know if they're that close - I doubt it.) So if you tune to the same nominal frequency on different tuners, you can end up with two different tunings.

timmerman is saying he can hear this, which is certainly possible if they are different enough.

Plus, the few tuners I have used seem to have a degree of hysteresis or play in them also, as once the needle, light or reading is pegged, you can still tweak the string a little without changing the reading.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Rules for remembering standard bass tuning

Rule 1: the first rule is that one must remember that the lowest string is the the lowest in pitch, but, when a bass is held in the conventional manner, it is the highest string, which means furthest from the floor, for a bass player standing in the ordinary way. Alternatively, you may think of the largest gauge string as being the lowest in pitch, if not the lowest on the instrument (refer to the previous sentence for clarification). A right-handed bass held in the conventional manner means, held by a person whose dominant hand is the right, and which person intends to play the bass by fretting, or stopping, the notes on the neck with his left hand (unless he is playing exclusively open notes) and plucking, slapping, picking, strumming or otherwise setting in motion those strings [stopped, or fretted, remember, by the fingers of the left hand] with the fingers or thumb or attached appliance of the right hand. You will be delighted to learn that a left-handed bass, as played in the conventional manner by a left-handed player, is the mirror opposite of that described for the right-handed player. Understand, however, that the reversal is side-to-side, not top-to-bottom: the left-handed player stands with his feet on the floor in a posture analogous to, but subtly different from, the stance of the right-handed player.

I see that I have gotten all this way without telling you what "lower in pitch" is. "Lower in pitch" is a phenomenon relating to the science of acoustics in which pitch is described in terms of the number of instances of the compression and rarefaction of the acoustic medium (in ordinary discourse, "air") surrounding the agent of the compression and rarefaction, in this case the bass string, although in the real world, it may take the form of an Ampeg SVT hooked up to an 8X10 speaker cabinet, in the course of a unit of time. These "cycles" (for a discussion of the cyclic nature of acoustic sound, consult any modern college textbook -- I mean, any textbook on that subject, of course: "The Complete Works of T S Eliot" will not be very helpful -- and don't forget, helpfulness is the whole point of this exercise) are defined using the time unit of the second, and "cycles per second" are termed "Hertz."

I will continue this as the need for tutoring arises.

 

[Bassman Brad]

Plus, the few tuners I have used seem to have a degree of hysteresis or play in them also, as once the needle, light or reading is pegged, you can still tweak the string a little without changing the reading.

I've noticed this amount of play in an electronic tuner, but usually it works the other way for me. A note that was slightly OUT OF TUNE one second, will suddenly become perfectly IN TUNE a moment later, even if you haven't touched the bass. It's as if the tuner changed it's mind and said, "Aw heck, that's close enough." So it gives you a free pass. I've noticed that this "capture range" seems to be engineered into most electronic tuners.

I assume that this is because electronic tuners would probably drive you crazy if you were trying to tune a bass with one and it was TOO accurate. Can't you just picture some really anal retentive type person going, "Well, that note's only 5/1000 of a cent off of perfect pitch, but I really want to try for 1/1000." I suspect that they're all purposely designed to get you "close enough" but not "perfectly" on pitch.

NOTE: A "cent" is one hundreth of a half-step.

Brad

 

[ez_willis]

So if you tune to the same nominal frequency on different tuners, you can end up with two different tunings.

That makes sense, but with my guitar pod the A=440Hz reference is adjustable from 436Hz-445Hz. If you had 2 different tuners, both with adjustable reference frequencies identically set, the pitch would be the same, correct? or am I still not getting it(it wouldn't be the first time!)?

 

[Rokket]

In a perfect world, yes. But tuners are different - the same way you can't cut two things to the exact same length (microscopically speaking), so two tuners won't measure the exact same pitch due to differences in components and construction. One might measure 41.0000 Hz as 41.003, and the another 40.998 (and I don't even know if they're that close - I doubt it.) So if you tune to the same nominal frequency on different tuners, you can end up with two different tunings.

timmerman is saying he can hear this, which is certainly possible if they are different enough.

Plus, the few tuners I have used seem to have a degree of hysteresis or play in them also, as once the needle, light or reading is pegged, you can still tweak the string a little without changing the reading.

I can agree with this. I have a Korg tuner and a cheap one that came as part of a starter kit with this Yamaha strat copy I bought when I was seriously "jonesing" to play something (all my guitars and amps were in storage). I tuned my acoustic with the Korg and the strat copy with the tuner it came with. They were not in tune with each other. I retuned the strat with the Korg tuner and everything was fine. I've tuned both guitars with the cheap tuner and had no problems with them either. My hearing is shot from 20 years in the Navy (4 of them as a gun captain), so I don't trust my ear tuning anymore. I always double check with a tuner before I record.