I recently picked up B2B and a Yamaha BB234 which I love. Now, life is pretty busy and I sometimes won’t be able to pick up the instrument and play for ~2 weeks. Every single time I do find some time to exercise and play, the bass has not maintained tuning. For instance, a couple nights ago I picked it up after 2 weeks of not playing and my E string was F#, A was G# and so on. Is this a “works as intended” type of situation and I need to either play or at least tune it more often? Should I look into replacing the tuning machines? Am I just going too hard every time I do manage to play? Any insight/tips would be really helpful!
It’s common for the instrument to go out of tune slightly. It’s a pre-session routine for all to pickup an instrument and tune it before any thing. This doubles if you just change the strings.
I guess what confused me a bit was reading reviews of basses online and often times I would see a comment like “tuners are great, they hold they tune well” and that got me thinking “are my tuners not holding tuning well?”
In fact, is “holding the tune” even a measurable thing?
Though I digress and will make a habit of tuning prior to doing anything, as you suggested.
New strings also require time to stretch and will require tuning daily for the first week or so.
You can hasten this by pre-stretching them a little - nothing drastic, just give them a smooth but firm tug away from the bass at a few points along their length. Be careful not to break them though
I think that this is more about the bass holding tune within a single session.
As has been said above, I will check tuning before each session, and I will sometimes check tuning within a session, especially if something sounds odd. I’ve also read that one should check tuning before each take, if recording, although I must confess I don’t do that!
I have basses that appear very stable, but the tuning can change depending on temperature. For example, if I play first thing in the morning vs mid afternoon vs the following morning, where the room has warmed up and then cooled down again. It can be subtle, but it’s there.
it’s relative. My music man cutlass bass and caprice bass as well as my G&L and a few Squiers hold their tune really well but nonetheless I go through my routine anyways, if for any reason is to admire how well they kept in tune. On my strobe tuners there’s always a few cents off anyways one way or another.
This is in fact a great criterium for bad tuners. On my cheap Blackstar were cheap tuners that did not hold their tuning during a practice session.
It drove me mad, as I thought that my playing became worse, but in fact the tuning was completely off after an hour playing…
I changed the tuners to some nice Gotohs - and haven’t had a problem since…
One thing that can help is how you tune. Generally speaking you should tune up to the note. To achieve this where your note is sharp, tune down below and then back up.
Eg, your E string is E#, tune down below E towards Eb (same note as D#) and then back to E. You don’t need to go right down, just some of the way.
This helps keep the tension. The tuners on both of my bass need this, but but all my guitars do.
Just an observation but @dimpan 's original comment seems to suggest that the strings are tighter after two weeks, which is not going to be caused by new string stretch or even loose tuners. About the only thing I can think of for strings tightening (E to F# and A to G#) would be environmental conditions; changes in humidity mainly I’d guess. Or, dare I suggest, a poor tuner device/app.
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For instance, a couple nights ago I picked it up after 2 weeks of not playing and my E string was F#, A was G# and so on. "
OPs E string went sharp to F# but the A string went flat to G#. Bad tuner ?? Caught tuning pegs putting the bass in a rack or case?? Maybe some neck movement to cause some issue but not in 2 different directions.
I meant the “E goes flat to D#” and so on…Definitely not some magical back and forth on the same instrument…Again, my bad…I don’t know if it’s because I was typing it at work and didn’t want anyone to see me typing and not working, if it’s the sleep deprivation, if it’s the fact that where I’m from in Europe we go “Do-Re-Mi…” and not “A-B-C…” like in North America where I currently live…
Thanks for the great discussion though! Sounds like I should be checking tuning prior to playing and then if/when I get to proper sessions, I’ll need to keep an eye out on how well it keeps tuning during a session
Perfectly normal. I have great tuning machines and see the same thing. Those Yamaha basses are really well made. I wouldn’t expect any problems from it.
So to recap, make sure tuners hold tuning during a session/jam, if not, then change them. Other than that, you would only change them for cosmetic reasons, no need to overthink a little bit of going flat after sitting for a while.
Thanks guys!
P.S: I don’t write much in the forum, but I’ve been checking out most threads and have to say, I’ve been learning quite a bit about the intricacies of bass and bass playing that are about equally as important as the course itself
There are pro musicians that rock mid range Yamaha basses, I don’t think Yamaha fit rubbish hardware to any of their models. There is usually a screw on the back of the tuner that you can tighten slightly to increase the friction in the tuner if you find that they are slipping ( but not always depending on the style of tuner – you could post a photo if you’re not sure)
Edit–I just looked at an online photo, it’s the screw in the middle of the gear on the tuner that you would need to snug up – just a little at a time though
Exactly. Try living in the tropics, where heat and humidity are king. Of course I have air conditioning, but with the extremely expensive electricity tariffs it isn’t on all the time. So constantly tuning!
I had to reply to the tuner being the problem. I bought my tuner just as guitar center was told to shut down due to covid. So ot was grab and pay. Anyway, it has both A=440 hz adjustment as well as halftone adjustment, all on a colorful but tiny display. Nowadays i know by the ear when one of these adjustments are accidentally on, but in the early days, i wondered many times why i sounded so crappy after tuning!
it’s relative. My music man cutlass bass and caprice bass as well as my G&L and a few Squiers hold their tune really well but nonetheless I go through my routine anyways, if for any reason is to admire how well they kept in tune. On my strobe tuners there’s always a few cents off anyways one way or another.