ChrisF Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Im beginning to wonder if my tuner is part of my problem. I tune up the strings .....then start to mark off the notes on the side of the bass...and the notes move..yes...move !!! or..they arent where they are supposed to be EG: find C on the A string..hold down the E string in the same place expecting to get G ..and instead I get A or G# or A # ..pretty much anything but G.... The tuner, when plugged into my bass guitar is spot on...but it seems to struggle with the upright even though its chromatic and is supposed to be able to tune acoustic instruments. so..is it me doing something wrong...or the tuner..or maybe both ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Hughes Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Could be that your tuner isn't reading the low open string of a bass so well. I've found that to be the case with some tuners, especially the little clip on ones. Try tuning using the 1st harmonic octave, or even the B octave on the E string. Another method I've had success with, as even my trusted Boss TU-2 decides to give up sometimes) is use your fingernail and pluck the string close to the nut, removing the low fundamental note in the process - gives the tuner something easier to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invicta59 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I have a Korg DT-4 tuner. I usually place it on the bridge while tuning and pluck the string closer to the bridge and it usually works for me. Gets more interesting in a noisy venue though! If your strings are new, then I can understand it slipping out of tune - settling into position on the tuning pegs, new string stretch, plus playing it all add to the possibilities. My Innovations took about 2 weeks to get to a point where they'd stay in tune for a whole set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 [quote name='Gareth Hughes' timestamp='1344543005' post='1766319'] Could be that your tuner isn't reading the low open string of a bass so well. I've found that to be the case with some tuners, especially the little clip on ones. Try tuning using the 1st harmonic octave, or even the B octave on the E string. Another method I've had success with, as even my trusted Boss TU-2 decides to give up sometimes) is use your fingernail and pluck the string close to the nut, removing the low fundamental note in the process - gives the tuner something easier to work with. [/quote] Erm....what ??? ..once more, but in English this time please ...please remember that Im very,very new to all of this [quote name='invicta59' timestamp='1344543821' post='1766328'] I have a Korg DT-4 tuner. I usually place it on the bridge while tuning and pluck the string closer to the bridge and it usually works for me. Gets more interesting in a noisy venue though! If your strings are new, then I can understand it slipping out of tune - settling into position on the tuning pegs, new string stretch, plus playing it all add to the possibilities. My Innovations took about 2 weeks to get to a point where they'd stay in tune for a whole set. [/quote] The strings arent totally new..but the guy I got them off only used them a couple of times at the most..so it could be that they need settling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 When you put new strings on it can take quite a lot of playing to take up all the slack on the tuners (assuming you didn't trim them at all), so that might be part of the problem, but really, no tuner is going to declare you to be in tune and actually be a tone or a minor third out. If anything it will tune you a fifth out if the harmonic is heard instead of the fundamental. After you've tuned up all the strings, get your bass guitar out and tune that too, and then check - by ear - that the strings on the upright are all tuned to the same pitch as the corresponding strings on the double bass. I don't like the sound of this at all. This and your D-string breakage issue is making me worry about your bass. If I were you, given how totally flummoxed you seem to be, I would try to find a friendly local(-ish) DB player who would be willing to give it the once over, and get over to see them as soon as you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Hughes Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 (edited) Apologies. Harmonics (to me) are the audible equivalent of the many pixels on a TV screen that your brain sees as one image. Waffle aside - if your string is 42 inches long (for the sake of argument) then the first harmonic is right in the middle (21 inches along). To play a harmonic you don't press the string hard so that it touches the fingerboard, you just lightly touch and pluck. You should hear the same note as your open string, only an octave higher. If you split that 21 inches in half you'll get a second harmonic, an octave higher than the first harmonic. If you do this on an E string, both the harmonics will be an E. There are also other harmonics on each string (back to the pixels idea). The next one to go for is a fifth above the open string so if your open string is E then the fifth is B ( [b]E[/b] F G A [b]B[/b]). This harmonic is located rather handily directly above where you play the B note on the E string. Try doing this first on the D string. The E string can be a bit too heavy to get a harmonic going if you're not sure what's going on. Once you're up and groovin you can use harmonic's in very handy ways - such as this: take the G string, the fifth of that is D (again, located directly above the D note on the G string). That D harmonic on the G string is the same as the second octave D harmonic on the D string (the one at roughly 10.5 inches from the first harmonic at 21 inches). So you can tune the D string to the G string by using harmonics, and because the harmonics are higher and clearer to hear than the lower fundamental, it's a lot easier to hear when the two string are perfectly in tune. Repeat the process and you can tune the other two strings easily. The D string gives you the A harmonic ([b]D[/b] E F G[b] A[/b]) and the A string gives you the E harmonic ([b]A [/b]B C D [b]E[/b]) Hope that hasn't made things more confusing. Edited August 9, 2012 by Gareth Hughes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 cheers guys....... Gareth..that does make more sense now thankyou....I will give it a go tonight. My son can tune his guitar by ear, but he wont touch my DB ..and my mates wife (a very good piano player) can tune just about anything by ear apparently...Ive just got to trust my ear and give it a go. Im going to be seeing Daf just as soon as his schedule and mine will allow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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