NWB - Community Blog

21 Nov 2010

Re-tuning/De-tuning On stage

Filed Under : Other

Posted By : Colin H | Comments : 16

Bit of a Disaster Story

Our band has just written a new track , which unlike all their other stuff is in DROP D , which they performed for the first time onsaturday night .

As only one of the guys owns 2 guitars , the other 2 had to detune on stage . We decided to cover the gap , one of the guitarists and the drummer would do a bit of an instrumental peice .

To put it bluntly , though , the whole thing was a bit of a balls up , took longer than expected and the show lost momentum .

Just wondering if anyone had any experience of this and the best way to manage re-tuning quickly and efficiently .

Cheers , Col (manager)

Comments

# Posted by NIGHT TRAIN - 21/11/2010, 16:22 (GMT)

Line 6 Variaxe!
detune at pushof a button

(or maybe one of these...ugly though innit?)
www2.gibson.com/.../Features.aspx

# Posted by The Marmosets - 21/11/2010, 16:30 (GMT)

you may want to look at something called The Morpheus drop tuning pedal..
guitars.musiciansfriend.com/.../Morpheus-DropTune-Octave-Guitar-Effects-Pedal

to make it worth your while you may need to write a couple more detuned toonz.....mark

# Posted by Jez (Route 69) - 21/11/2010, 16:45 (GMT)

why did you detune - for the singer?

# Posted by Glyn H - 21/11/2010, 16:46 (GMT)

i guess the guitarist has a floating trem... if it is a Floyd rose this could be the answer
http://www.zzounds.com/item--EVHDTUNA

# Posted by Jez (Route 69) - 21/11/2010, 16:47 (GMT)

fret king have also brought out a retuning/alternative tuning guitar.

# Posted by Glyn H - 21/11/2010, 16:53 (GMT)

i have to ask, what happens if a string breaks while playing ... no spare guitars?

# Posted by Chipps the Bassist - 21/11/2010, 18:22 (GMT)

Guys, when weve done this before on covers, both andy (and matty when he was with us) practiced going up and down in tune together over and over during practice so when we were gigging they could do it within 10 seconds and got it almost spot on each time.
:)

# Posted by Colin H - 21/11/2010, 19:43 (GMT)

Cheers for the answers folks - I`ll pass them onto the lads - I`m sure they`ll handle the situation better next time !!

# Posted by The Alchemists - 21/11/2010, 20:36 (GMT)

Either learn to do it by ear or use a floor pedal tuner, make sure its a true bypass, so you dont lose any tone.

I am right in saying that its only the low E thats being dropped to D?

# Posted by Willow (of somebig™Fish) (Reti... - 21/11/2010, 22:01 (GMT)

Col ... was the problem that the guys couldn't tune the string to the correct pitch, or that the guitars had locking stuff which prevented them tuning them quickly??
If it's a pitch problem then obviously tuners are the order of the day - and if they haven't got one - how do they tune up initially?
If its the locking stuff thing then I think you need a gizmo as above or another guitar (which is also useful for the aforementioned string snappages)

# Posted by "CRUSH" - 22/11/2010, 00:06 (GMT)

I use a de-tuner from hipshot!...once mastered, it takes a moment to tune-up before a gig and then instant change of pitch to the setting you've previously tuned to at the flick of a lever!...Not cheap, but I find them spot-on for live work! Go to www.hipshotproducts.com and then click "guitar xtenders"
Hope that helps!
Peter

# Posted by ... - 22/11/2010, 00:36 (GMT)

Only advisible with a hard tail guitar....i used to have to take 3 Ibanez out with me when we used the drop D so it was already tuned !!!

# Posted by "CRUSH" - 22/11/2010, 01:00 (GMT)

U prob right, Riffers!... never tried with whammy/floyd-rose/etc

# Posted by Colin H - 22/11/2010, 11:01 (GMT)

Yeah - its just the low E - I think the tuner 1 of `e`m had was a bit iffy - probably not good enough quality for a live show .

I think the main problem was , they tried to fill the time with the instrumental peice - just wasnt good .

I reckon next time they `ll just re-tune as quick as poss , and get on with things .

# Posted by Smitten Kitten - 22/11/2010, 12:45 (GMT)

It takes around 5 seconds to tune to drop D you just tune your E string to your D string......... you don't even need a tuner

# Posted by James - Metalleeka - 22/11/2010, 13:04 (GMT)

can be a bit longer on a Floyd-Rose guitar ;-) as Ian said.. take one pre-tuned unless a hard-tail.. I have always taken a spare hard-tail anyways..

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