Tuning a bass

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael Jones
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ez_willis said:
The A string on a guitar is 440Hz, a bass guitar is 55Hz. Sorry to bore you with symantics, just more useless info! :)
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Actually, this was some very good tuning info! Imagine how the guitar A string would feel, if it was tuned to 55Hz. Would be awful lose, I'd imagine...even on a baritone it'd probably have a "rubber band" feel, when plucked.

Back on the subject of bass tuning, my whole reason for wanting a baritone guitar is, so I can do my own thing in creating an all guitar cover of "A Swingin' Safari," written by (the late) Bert Kaempfert and originally recorded by Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra. When I first heard the song, I'd originally thought that it had a rather peppy bass line, then upon further listening, I heard bass notes below what I was hearing. I'd thought "cool, they used a baritone guitar!" A year or so later, I find out that it was really a concert bass/bass fiddle/upright bass tuned up to the cello range, which gave it that tic-tac baritone-like sound.

Finally, and since I've mentioned the upright bass. My best ever bass playing experience was at the (now defunct) Mars Music, in Indianapolis. They had an electric upright bass plugged into a nice 50W Ampeg amp. So, after a couple of guys got finished doing their noodling with it, I go up there, noodle a bit of "House of the Rising Sun" and "We're An American Band," to find where the stops are, then proceed to playin' "Money." A couple of folks around the corner, test driving some FX pedals, heard "Money" being played and peaked around the corner. To borrow from the Discover Card commercial's closing...the looks on their faces were priceless. Or there was the time I was playing guitar Barre chords, on a 6-string bass at IRC Music (also in Indianapolis), that was plugged into a nice Hartke stack. Apparently I got things rumbling just a bit too much 'cause the guy behind the counter calmly says "please stop." I did, and when I looked, there were several guitars and basses, on the wall, that were still moving. I guess that was one instance where "rock the house" was a bad thing.

Matt
 
60-cycle hum...

...is slightly sharp from B flat, which is 58.27Hz. B is 61.36, so it's almost exactly halfway between them (this assumes that the AC really is cycling at 60Hz, which is no sure thing). Of course, this only works with a bass, because the lowest note on a guitar is 82.41Hz. So fret the E string on the bass at the VI fret, bend it UP by 2.968054161%, tune to the 60-cycle hum, release the string, and you can now tune the other strings to the E. With a 5-string using a low B, you will fret the B string at the XI fret, bend UP by the same percentage, and then tune the other strings to the B.

To tune a guitar using this method, record the 60-cycle hum on tape, then play it back at double speed, and tune the guitar as you did the bass. This will only work if your deck has precise speed controls.

I have heard that dial tones are F or F#. Anybody know anything about this? There's a whole new field of guerrilla tuning out there.
 
Monsoon said:
I've tuned a bass before, too! :D
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When I was in Savannah, GA last November, I went to the local Bass Pro Shops store, bought a couple of their oval Bass Pro Shops stickers, and put one of 'em on my Johnson acoustic/electric. Why? 'Cause of all the non-players that keep giving me grief about "how do you play a fish?" :P

Matt
 
So a "bass boat" is something...

...you sit in out in the lake and play your 4-string in?
 
lpdeluxe said:
...is slightly sharp from B flat, which is 58.27Hz. B is 61.36, so it's almost exactly halfway between them (this assumes that the AC really is cycling at 60Hz, which is no sure thing).
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Yeah, but 120 volt ac actually runs a little below that, in most cases, so 60 cycle hum really is usually pretty close to B flat. By the way, just in case some of you believe that this constitutes "useless information," here's a story for 'ya.

When I was a jazz music major as an undergraduate, my music theory teacher was dedicated to having everybody in his class develop perfect pitch. He was totally convinced that this was a skill that could be aquired with practice, not something that you were just "born with." At the end of the semester, he even gave us a grade in the class for this, which didn't count for a whole lot, but DID contribute to your final grade in the course. He would hand you a piece of sheet music to sing and, without starting with a reference note, you either sang it in key, or you did not. It was a pass or a fail grade.

During one of my early visits to his office, I noticed a distinct hum, which came from the florescent lighting that he had in the office. I figured out that, since this was a noise from the electrical system of the building, this would be 60 cycle hum, and learned that this pitch would be (approx.) B flat. We had already spent lots of time in the class learning to recognize various intervals. So, the first time he handed me music and asked me to sing it, I listened to the hum, extrapolated the starting pitch, and started to sing. After a few bars, he joined in on piano and I was dead on. Victory! Unfortunately, after a couple of visits, I came to his office and saw that he had turned OFF the florescent lights overhead, and had switched on some regular table lamps, for office lighting. BUSTED!!!!Obviously, he had gotten wise to my game and decided to throw me a curve ball. Well, I took a shot at it, but was not even close to being on pitch that day. Time for "plan B." The final chance would be at the end of the semester, and I wanted that "pass" grade on the assignment.

I had an electronic guitar tuner, which put out a pitch that you could use to tune your guitar. So, I started to listen to it for a few minutes every day, in an attempt to "memorize" a particular pitch. (I don't remember which pitch I chose for my new "reference pitch.") Usually, just before I'd fall asleep, I'd turn it on and stick it under my pillow for a few minutes, until I was starting to doze off. I soon discovered that, at any time during the day, I could visualize the sound of this particular tuner at that particular pitch, just by thinking about it. I had my reference pitch. To get to the end of the story....IT WORKED! When the end of the semester came, I had a reference pitch memorized, I was able to find the first note of the music, and I was able to sing the music in pitch. Got my pass grade for that assignment! So, you see how practical this information is? :D

Brad
 
And here's a side note to the story:

Once, after I had been working to "memorize" my reference pitch from the tuner, I went into the professor's office feeling pretty sure of myself and, as always, he started the visit by handing me some sheet music. But, when I started to sing the song, I was WAY, WAY off in pitch. I couldn't understand what had happened. I thought my system was foolproof. I could clearly visualize the sound of the tuner playing the pitch that I had memorized. I was also reasonably certain that I had extrapolated the starting note correctly, starting from my memorized "reference pitch," and jumping up or down by the proper interval from there. What the hell was going on????

When I got home, I picked up the tuner and started messing around with it. Checked it against my keyboard. It turns out that the battery in the tuner had started to fade, and the pitch had started to fall as the voltage dropped. My "reference pitch" had shifted on me, in other words. I had to put new batteries in the tuner, re-memorize the reference pitch, and remember to check the pitch of the tuner from time to time.

Brad
 
Great tale

and your professor was right! You could memorize a pitch. My only question is why your memory went flat in synch with the battery in the tuner....
 
lpdeluxe said:
and your professor was right! You could memorize a pitch. My only question is why your memory went flat in synch with the battery in the tuner....
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Cause I had kept listening to it, as it was going flat, and had memorized the wrong pitch!!! :D :eek: :D

Oh well.
Brad
 
That sort of spoils it...

...nah. Still a good yarn.
 
How do you tune a Chapman stick?

Other than, "over a period of hours or days", that is:

One tuning is B-E-A-D-G-C-B-E-A-D-G-C. Whew.
 
Correction

When I said that the five string bass adds a low B string below the E string, I forgot to mention that the very FIRST five string bass (at least the very first one that was put into wide production) was the original Fender V, released in about 1966 or 1967, which was designed to be tuned E, A, D, G, C. In fact, many bass players today, who have fivers, will sometimes tune them like this if they don't think the B string sounds "solid" enough, or if they just want to use that bass for solos.

Sorry for the error. :o
Brad
 
Then, of course, there's the "piccolo bass" which is ALSO used for solos. But I don't know how they are tuned.

Brad
(edit for spelling)
 
ez_willis said:
I'm getting real off topic, but does anyone have any experience with a Chapman Stick? Awesome instrument!
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Isn't it just. As soon as I win the lottery I am gonna get one and seclude myself away until I've learned how to play it. The only answer I've heard to how to tune it is "any way you want", although I gather the higher notes on the "treble" side of the neck are at the centre, i.e. the opposite way round to a normal guitar.
 
Chapman Stick

If you follow the link EZ_Willis provided, you'll find elebendy-seven gazillion tunings. I would guess that you'd want to concentrate on no more than, say, 25.
 
lpdeluxe said:
If you follow the link EZ_Willis provided, you'll find elebendy-seven gazillion tunings. I would guess that you'd want to concentrate on no more than, say, 25.
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"elebendy-seven" ???????? :D
 
lpdeluxe said:
If you follow the link EZ_Willis provided, you'll find elebendy-seven gazillion tunings. I would guess that you'd want to concentrate on no more than, say, 25.
Click to expand...

What'd I do? Which link? Huh? :confused: :confused:
 
What's all this talk about "tuning"? I didn't know that was necessary for a bass. Isn't it just a bunch of low shit that nobody pays attention to anyway?







































:D
 
I just opened this thread for the first time, and I just want to point out something. The original question was "how do I tune a standard bass" now you guys are getting all scientific.I find that hilarious!
 
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