How often do you retune during gigs?

[DavyDave53]

“Oh no, I’m out of tune again, well only cowboys stay in tune so what the hell.”  Jimi Hendrix

 

[SustainerPlayer]

"A?".

"What A?".

 

[Cederick]

My Warmoth soloist with Floyd Rose kept tuning for two gigs a weekend DURING WINTER without even touching the fine tuners. I wonder how that worked since it was really cold outside and then warm inside plus plenty of divebombs and stuff

And another guitar (really old but humbucker/hardtail modded Fender Musicmaster to suit more metal playing) held it's tuning for TWO WEEKS of touring with gigs almost every day. Also really cold outside...

Those two are the best  :icon_biggrin: I hope with my in-the-works Evertune guitar I will never tune again...  :toothy12:

I just love when I see claims like this.  No guitar will stay in tune like that.
Period.
It's either a tall tale, or the people making the claim are tone-deaf.

Acutally it's true... I'm baffled by this. No other guitars I've had or played have been that stable.
Ok I admit I did downtune the G-string for some "divebombs" (check my video to see what I mean... It's also this guitar I'm talking about! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTG-1jKimTg) on a gig or two, which is a trick I usually do on a few songs, but besides that I never touched the tuners at all during the entire two weeks. Never broke a string either, lucky me... I had no spare strings hahaha.

This guitar held it's tuning really well before that too, I think I never touched the tuners for HALF A YEAR and did record two albums (several months between) and played a couple of live shows... No, I never touched the tuners during this time. It's a wonderful guitar, almost unreal! However, I did notice afterwards that the pitch on the second album recorded was a tiny bit higher, because of temparutre or whatever, but I never checked with a tuning machine because I had full trust in that it was 100% in tune, which it was even with a little higher pitch. Haha! Afterwards I regret recording that, and should have retuned it...

And yeah of course this all sounds like I'm talking crap but it actually is this good... Always have been the best guitar I have ever touched. Now the frets are worn down like crazy so it's not playing as well anymore but still great guitar.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

However, I did notice afterwards that the pitch on the second album recorded was a tiny bit higher, because of temparutre or whatever, but I never checked with a tuning machine because I had full trust in that it was 100% in tune, which it was even with a little higher pitch. Haha! Afterwards I regret recording that, and should have retuned it...

:doh: :icon_scratch: ???

What are you smokin'? And can I have some?  :laughing7:

 

[Cederick]

Haha, no I just took a bunch of chords to see if it was in tune and yeah it sounded good so I thought what the hell and just started recording.

Of course the guitar stayed in tune during the entire recording session, but I never noticed that the pitch was a bit higher.

I only noticed that when I was about to record bass (yeah I did all instruments myself on that album) and tuned it up... It didn't sound right with the guitar and then I realised I should have tuned that guitar more properly hahaha. Still sounds good enough, and is a fun thing about that recording that nobody will notice if they don't try to play along haha

 

[stratamania]

If the pitch is higher or lower than in tune, its out of tune. At least that is normally how these go give or take a couple of cents. Not monetary cents.

Now it may be that a guitar may seem relatively in tune with itself and be a little higher than it was before, but that does not mean it is in tune to a reference pitch of A = 440Hz for example of with other instruments.

It could be argued or stated that a guitar relatively in tune with itself unless it is in tune with a reference pitch is still actually out of tune.

 

[Cagey]

Regardless of whether a guitar is relatively or actually in tune, I still wonder how it could maintain either state for any extended period of time. Although, to be fair, pianos don't move off tune in any kind of hurry, and they're essentially a stringed instrument. People have been known to leave those alone for years on end.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Although, to be fair, pianos don't move off tune in any kind of hurry, and they're essentially a stringed instrument. People have been known to leave those alone for years on end.

They do go out of tune. Sometimes very fast.

 

[Cagey]

Oh, I know. I'm just saying you don't see people retuning them every 3 or 4 songs or even every 3 or 4 days, and while there many be some problem children out there, I'm sure most pianos don't even get tuned every 3 or 4 months or 3 or 4 years.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Oh, I know. I'm just saying you don't see people retuning them every 3 or 4 songs or even every 3 or 4 days, ...

LOL - we can agree on that.

... and while there many be some problem children out there, I'm sure most pianos don't even get tuned every 3 or 4 months or 3 or 4 years.

I can't speak for all pianos and I'm no piano expert as such. But we do have one at my workplace and it's getting a tune up before every koncert/performance. We are having that maybe 4-5 times a year.

 

[Cobalt Blue]

Since I installed Evertune bridges, never.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

When I've lived in houses with pianos in, they were tuned twice a year. I also remember there being a thing where if you left it a few years and then got the piano tuner to come, he wouldn't bring it back to concert pitch all in one go. He'd get it playable, and then come back once or twice more over the next few months, gradually bringing it a bit closer until it was how it should be.

 

[AndyG]

The great thing about being a bass player ...
I'll tune up during soundcheck, then I will only check my tuning before the start of each set, but rarely have to make any adjustments.  Once my basses are in the club and warm up/cool down to the temperature of the room, the tuning stays put.

 

[Cagey]

Well, that settles it then. I'm gonna build a bass piano with an Evertune bridge, and I will never tune again! Muahahahaa!!!

 

[Ace Flibble]

I can't remember the last time I had to tune one of my guitars. I did tune one down to Drop C# recently, but that wasn't at or for a gig and was because I didn't have a guitar in that tuning to hand, not because it was out of intended tune. Hell, I can't remember the last time I changed strings. Definitely haven't since moving and that was six months ago.

But then, I am absolutely meticulous when it comes to how my guitars are built and set up and by having different guitars for different tunings/tones/songs, it's not like I've just got one beater axe that is taking two solid hours of abuse. If I can't be absolutely sure that a guitar will be in tune the moment I pick it up, I don't take that guitar out with me. In fact if I feel there is any chance a guitar may not be holding tune, I gut it for parts and get another. During my sets I swap guitars for pretty much every song and in several instances have to do so in just a handful of seconds. There are a couple of songs where I switch guitars mid-song. Even if I wanted to check tuning, I couldn't.

Though I do have it somewhat easy as I am most comfortable with very thick necks, medium-high action, looser strings and fixed bridges. You can't make that stuff shift even if you want to and a slightly sweaty metal bar isn't going to do a damn thing. It's not like I have some rickety Bigsby to worry about or one of those paper Ibanez necks that warps the moment the sun comes up.

 

[Strat Avenger]

My girlfriend's 5-string bass stays in tune much longer than any of my guitars.

 

[Updown]

My girlfriend's 5-string bass stays in tune much longer than any of my guitars.

And my girlfriend has trouble with her G string.  :icon_biggrin:


I re-tune when it needs to be re-tuned. Simple as that !!  .......  That's what I thought everyone did.  :doh:

:dontknow:  Cagey will your back handle a Bass Piano build ? 
I know mine wouldn't.

 

[Cagey]

No. But, I'll build it as an upright and let the floor handle the load.

 

[Cederick]

If the pitch is higher or lower than in tune, its out of tune. At least that is normally how these go give or take a couple of cents. Not monetary cents.

Now it may be that a guitar may seem relatively in tune with itself and be a little higher than it was before, but that does not mean it is in tune to a reference pitch of A = 440Hz for example of with other instruments.

It could be argued or stated that a guitar relatively in tune with itself unless it is in tune with a reference pitch is still actually out of tune.

Totally true. It wasn't really "in tune" when I recorded that second album but I fooled myself thinking it still was in tune.
Still sounds good enough on the recording, no big problems with intonation or anything.

Regardless of whether a guitar is relatively or actually in tune, I still wonder how it could maintain either state for any extended period of time. Although, to be fair, pianos don't move off tune in any kind of hurry, and they're essentially a stringed instrument. People have been known to leave those alone for years on end.

I know, but that guitar IS weird/awesome. Of all guitars I've played that one is the most stable and yeah I did play almost daily when it held the tuning for that time. About half a year, no problems. Never did a string change either, of course...

Most guitars I have had or played only keeps tuning for a week or so max when I'm lucky, and I guess that's normal. Mostly a big bend gets it out of tune, but that Musicmaster I've been raving about holds for quite big bends actually. Never did any huge bends during the recordings either... It's just a well setup instrument that holds tuning for a long time!

Of course I'm not talking about raising or lowering slightly in pitch from temperature (I'm sure that could happen even if I haven't noticed) but from just playing, it holds really well

 

[MikeW]

I voted 3-4 times, but that really changes depending on the gig and venue. If I'm playing harder stuff, I'm likely to be bending and moving the strings around more with the bridge, which would require tuning more often. The cover stuff, Jimmy Buffet material and blues require fewer tunings simply because the material doesn't require more stretches or moves of the strings.

We just played an outdoor gig middle of last month, and while it was cool, it wasn't cold. Still, it was enough to throw my tuning off every couple of songs, especially when I'd move around the fretboard more. More movement meant more of the string was being warmed, meaning more of the string was stretching and contracting. So then it was every 2 or 3 songs.

Really, the question should be "how often do you check that you're in tune during a gig?" The answer to that is 3-4 times per depending on what I'm playing and the venue I'm in. I can usually tell that I'm out of tune during a song and will check when we've finished playing that song. Our drummer is pretty good about getting everyone checked in before we start the next one so I'm usually covered for the few seconds that it takes to check.

The answer to the original question is, obviously, "whenever I'm out of tune". 
:icon_biggrin: