Tuning guitar - big shows - famous

pintspiller

I remember Chris Stapleton getting a different guitar for each song. There was a rotation generally of three guitars, so I assume it may have been different tunings or fine tuning between each song.

thegummy

They avoid les Pauls so they don't have to tune the g string after every song

lukedlb

Go to 05:17 to see Jimi play Hey Joe with a really out of tune low E and 30 seconds later fix it with inclusive charm. On all accounts a little stoned and as he says I've forgotten all the words and then he stops playing this rubbish and dedicates Sunshine of your love to cream, receiving a ban from BBC.
http://www.openculture.com/2012/09/jimi_hendrix_wreaks_havoc_on_the_lulu_show_gets_banned_from_bbc.html

ToneControl

fastonebaz said:

During gigs I occasionally need to tune a string between songs.  Sometimes whilst I'm playing I can detect a string might be a tiny bit sharp or flat and I'm unsure whether to try to adjust it on thr go,  or wait till the song is over.

And that got me thinking,  when big bands put on a huge show with dancers, outfits,  choreography etc, and their guitarist realizes they need to tune between songs what do they do?   Because everything is so choreographed like a theatre show,  they can't really just turn to thr singer and say hold on a second whilst I tighten my G string. 

I wondered if anyone has been to these kind of big shows and saw how they manage it? 

Easiest way is to fit an Evertune bridge

However, some guitars rarely go out of tune anyway

I think most stage performers have a tuner on the board and can sneak a quick retune if they don't feel confident doing it by feel. Many can tell which string it is, and have a quick tweak mid-song, I've seen classical performers do this 

Litterick

ICBM said:

However do classical musicians manage with only one instrument?!

The string players are seated in a hierarchy. If the First Violin (who is seated closest to the conductor and closest to the audience) loses a string, he will swap instruments with the Second, sitting behind him, who will swap with the Third behind him, and so on to the back.

alexh

Yes, and if there's a violin soloist they would outrank  the first violinist.

ICBM

Litterick said:

ICBM said:

However do classical musicians manage with only one instrument?!

The string players are seated in a hierarchy. If the First Violin (who is seated closest to the conductor and closest to the audience) loses a string, he will swap instruments with the Second, sitting behind him, who will swap with the Third behind him, and so on to the back.

Maybe in a large orchestra. That isn't really going to work in a string quartet though...

My point was that we have this multiple-guitars thing so ingrained now that rock musicians seem to find it hard to believe that anyone can possibly play a gig without a rack full of guitars. In fact in the past quite a few big-name rock musicians didn't always have backups on stage either - they were able to tune their own instruments, and often did in the middle of a song.

Kittyfrisk

^ Much like when Paul Kossoff of Free smashed his '59 LP in Newcastle & had to beg/borrow a guitar from the support band 'Beckett'.

pintspiller

It was probably Townshend or Page that had the backs up for my backup that people caught onto. They usually stuck to the one guitar though.

FarleyUK

thegummy said:

They avoid les Pauls so they don't have to tune the g string after every song

None of the 6 Les Paul's I've owned have ever had this problem. Either it's a myth, or I'm the world's best Les Paul re-stringer.

digitalkettle

FarleyUK said:
None of the 6 Les Paul's I've owned have ever had this problem. Either it's a myth, or I'm the world's best Les Paul re-stringer.

Truth...my LP gets tuned once before a two hour gig and once again at the next show...unless it gets interfered with by a stray bass player

Strings are usually an embarrassingly old set of Elixir Optiwebs.

thegummy

FarleyUK said:

thegummy said:

They avoid les Pauls so they don't have to tune the g string after every song

None of the 6 Les Paul's I've owned have ever had this problem. Either it's a myth, or I'm the world's best Les Paul re-stringer.

I'm just much more of a bender than you

FarleyUK

thegummy said:

FarleyUK said:

thegummy said:

They avoid les Pauls so they don't have to tune the g string after every song

None of the 6 Les Paul's I've owned have ever had this problem. Either it's a myth, or I'm the world's best Les Paul re-stringer.

I'm just much more of a bender than you

I do also coat the g string in nut sauce, which might help.

OOOH MATRON.

idiotwindow

I thought it was the norm to fiddle around tuning between songs. Most of the artists I've seen recently seem to do it all the time. Bill Frisell often tunes a string or two whilst he's even playing a song.

impmann

Nah, you just continue with an out of tune guitar glaring at the horn section when there’s a clash....

Rabs

How about breaking a string during a solo 

idiotwindow

I quite like Iggy's insouciant attitude here. Who needs more than 4 strings?

thegummy

FarleyUK said:

thegummy said:

FarleyUK said:

thegummy said:

They avoid les Pauls so they don't have to tune the g string after every song

None of the 6 Les Paul's I've owned have ever had this problem. Either it's a myth, or I'm the world's best Les Paul re-stringer.

I'm just much more of a bender than you

I do also coat the g string in nut sauce, which might help.

OOOH MATRON.

I only said my original comment in jest.

Having said that, when people on this forum said the LP stays in tune as long as the nut is well cut I found it so hard to believe because the g string problem seemed so ubiquitous and talked about by top players with big collections of guitars.

So I had planned to install a "String Butler" when I got my LP but, to my surprise, when I had the nut cut by a professional it stays in tune pretty much as well as any other guitar I've got so I haven't bothered with the Butler.

Kittyfrisk

Excellent post, says it all. 
The Iggster knows best.