Guitar/Bass Tuning tips & tricks?

[imacgreg]

Hey Butch,
Stoked you're here... Do you have any special tips for getting well tuned guitar and bass takes? I'm usually working with pretty well setup guitars but still have issues due to sloppy playing/technique. I'd love to take as much time as needed and punch every chord (if needed) but most of the time, I'm working on a tight schedule.

Do you track guitars first and then bass? I've tried that, but can find it tough to get the first guitar tuning dialed without a reference to go by...

Thanks!

ian

(What tuner(s) do you use? - Jules GS admin)

[Billy Bush]

Originally Posted by imacgreg

Hey Butch,
Stoked you're here... Do you have any special tips for getting well tuned guitar and bass takes? I'm usually working with pretty well setup guitars but still have issues due to sloppy playing/technique. I'd love to take as much time as needed and punch every chord (if needed) but most of the time, I'm working on a tight schedule.

Do you track guitars first and then bass? I've tried that, but can find it tough to get the first guitar tuning dialed without a reference to go by...

Thanks!

ian

(What tuner(s) do you use? - Jules GS admin)

Hey Ian,

It all starts with the player. I've seen some players be able to pick up a guitar that is out of tune and instinctively pull the chords into place.

Second is the guitar. Intonation is a big part, but so is the quality of the fret job and also the height of the pickups. If the pickups are too high, it can pull the notes sharp.

Unfortunately, sometimes you get players that don't have the technique or you're dealing with a guitar that sounds great but plays terrible. In these cases we usually work with the player to figure out how to modify their technique (like don't hit the low E so hard!) Then we resort to punching in part by part, tuning for each chord if necessary. I'll try to figure out where the problem lies and compensate by tuning in a way that will make the chord work even if the guitar itself isn't in tune. For example, sometimes a guitar player will hit an open chord very hard pulling the low E sharp so I will compensate by tuning the string flat so when he or she lays into it, it will be in tune.

For tuners, it's always a Peterson strobe tuner or strobosoft. EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING USES THE SAME TUNER!! You'd be surprised how different even the same model of tuner can be..

This is also a pretty good time to mention that out of all the people I've worked with, Butch has the most inhuman sense of timing and pitch. He'll pick out the most minute timing or tuning discrepancy!