Tuning stability

Gear
1

Hi all,

I have 3 basses

  • Squier P with flats
  • Fender MIM Jazz with original strings
  • Dingwall NG3 5 strings

My Dingwall has very solid tuning stability (no need to touch tuner from one day to another)

The MIM needs retuning every 10 minutes and significant retuning from one day to another ; I also “feel” some loseness on the tuners

The Squier is somewhere in the middle but more towards the Dingwall

Do you experience the same? some of your basse are “rock solid” & some others are not stable at all ?

To improve tuning stablity of the MIM, I’m planning to dismantle the tuners and put them back - will it help ?

thanks !

1 Like
2

Yes

And no.

Tuning stability is dependent on MANY things.

Strings

String age (brand new stretch, super old too)

Bridge

Tuning machines

Neck stability

Environment

How much you play

some of my cheapest basses have more solid tuning, price matters not a a rule. Better components do help through 100%, but a system is only as good as its weakest link

But the bigger thought is…Tuning is part of the deal, shouldn’t need to be tuned every 10 min, that indicates an issue, however, wanting a bass to stay in tune for days is unreasonable as well…

7 Likes
3

It depends what the instability is, do they go flat or sharp?

4

agreed but the MIM Jazz seems to be strange

5

good question, i’ll check tonight

6

:100:

Not to mention String installation techniques. The biggest is your tuner, if you are using the Strobe tuners overtime you’ll see that it will off by a few cents. it’s just the nature of the instrument.

2 Likes
7

Lubing the contact points at the bridge and nut can make a big difference for tuning stability, as well as having properly sized nut slots.

If the string doesn’t move freely then either tuner side and body side of the string will have unequal tension when you finish tuning, then as the string vibrates they’ll start to even out and the pitch will change.

3 Likes
8

Probably this. There is a lag between the movement of the tuning peg(?) and the change of tune - a little eratic

What type of lub ? I remember someone saying he uses pencils on the nut to increase fluidity

9

Not 100% clear tonight slightly too high pitch but we moved from 12deg to 31deg during the day… and even the Dingwall can’t handle this :wink:

10

When I play in the park, the sun is moving (hopefully it’s always moving , even when I don’t play :-)) - so first, I sit in the sun, then in the shade cause of a tree near me, and finally in the sun again. Also, we never have a clear blue sky in Hamburg, so some clouds are always travelling through to say hello.

It’s: sun-shade-sun-shade etc.

I have a black park bass with a black bridge that gets so hot you can’t touch it.

So yeah, I need to retune three times per day, sometimes.

Inside, the bass keeps its tuning for very long.

11

There are guitar lubes sold I use on saddles and string trees. I use a pencil on the nut slots.

12

Typos happen. No biggie. I make them all the time. This one just reminded me of the hilarious booboo a mate made in the Army in ‘71. We needed some lube for the door hinges on our Jeeps, so he ordered “2 tubs of lube”. And, yeah, you guessed it, we received 2 55 gallon drums of hinge lube. :rofl:

7 Likes
13

Thank you all for ideas and advices (not sure I got the typo issue not being an englsih ative)

I have been paying more attention to the issue and it seems that the tuning have a lot of play - the first movement seems not to do anything with the strings or at least I feel less resistance than later…

14

remember, when tuning, always tune down a ways first, then back up to the note. not just slightly down either, this helps stability as well.

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