Members peckhart Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 At our gig last night we had a rowdy crowd (pretty much the norm for this place) and there were some people really getting into it up at the stage with fitsts pumping. On two occassions someone hit my tuning peg for the 3rd string and knocked me out of tune. So in the middle of Runnin With the Devil my third string is out and I could hear it sounded like poo. On the one verse I dropped volume and tried to correct, but couldn't in quick fashion so I just pressed on with it out of tune. So what does everyone else do for those situations? My singer plays on some songs...for those I would have a shot at dropping out for a second without it being too obvious, but for songs where it is just me and bass...keep plugging away or drop out to try to fix it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members captain average Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 bend, or do hammer ons and tune it, or play around that string. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The*Ataris Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 If I can narrow down the problem string, I can usually do a pretty good job of avoiding that particular string and play chords in different positions. I don't play a lot of big open chords though, so it's not really an issue. If it's a lead line, it's not that hard to bend to pitch... But honestly? Don't let the audience know by stopping and tuning in the middle of a song because I guarantee they can't tell otherwise... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SanDiego333 Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 But honestly? Don't let the audience know by stopping and tuning in the middle of a song because I guarantee they can't tell otherwise... Totally agree. You'll always be your wosrt critic. But just do as best you can, then dial it in at the best opportunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ggm1960 Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 The only solution I've ever had is to avoid the offending string even at the risk of not being able to play leads or chords fully. I've tried to tune on the fly but it rarely works out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nick Steen Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 Smash the guitar on the stage and yell "NOW WHERE'S MY {censored}ING SHAMROCK!?!??!?!" and then dance around making the "horns of pan". Well. Erm... That looked better in my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raskolnikovs axe Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 if you have a tuner pedal that mutes your signal, just find an appropriate place to drop out, quickly check, and come back in at a change so that it seems like you did it on purpose for dynamics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Centaur Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 I just make a lot of guitar faces and rockstar poses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members B Money Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 just hit your tuner pedal and fix it. Only takes a couple of seconds and probably no one will notice. Even if the audience does notice, what's worse: playing out of tune for an entire song or dropping out for 5 seconds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lsits Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 Keep on playing. An out-of-tune guitar never stopped Chuck Berry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flannery Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 if you have a tuner pedal that mutes your signal, just find an appropriate place to drop out, quickly check, and come back in at a change so that it seems like you did it on purpose for dynamics +1 I play around the string that's out of tune until I can drop out and tune up (I use a Boss TU-2). Then I wait for an appropriate moment to come back in..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigfatmonkeyboy Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 just hit your tuner pedal and fix it. Only takes a couple of seconds and probably no one will notice. Even if the audience does notice, what's worse: playing out of tune for an entire song or dropping out for 5 seconds? +2. Its live music, mistakes/disasters happen. If you can get through them quickly and calmly, noone will remember that you dropped out for a few seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 Next time some stage diving maniac knocks your axe out of tune during running with the devil, you take off your guitar and hit him with it, then jump in the pit and start moshing furiously. . The audience will not notice you are out of tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 if you have a tuner pedal that mutes your signal, just find an appropriate place to drop out, quickly check, and come back in at a change so that it seems like you did it on purpose for dynamics There ya go - on running with the Devil you could drop out on one of the verses and let the bass carry it until you get tuned up, since the guitar is only playing simple clean power chords during the verses. If the song calls for a chord with open strings then wait for it and reach up and tune while sustaining that chord (like a g - it's pretty easy to tune up a bad G or B string if you let the open G chord ring out). Guys like Hendrix, Jake E Lee, and Eric Sardinas are masters at tuning up on the fly - might wanna check out how they did it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mahon451 Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 I just make a lot of guitar faces and rockstar poses. +1. If you notice that your guitar is out of tune, and you know you can't stop and tune it, do something that takes peoples' attention away from the way you sound and puts it toward the way you LOOK. Dropping your pants and whipping out teh junk always accomplishes this feat nicely, especially if you have no intention of ever playing that particular venue again, and/or if you don't mind spending a night or two in jail. You might get beat up if the crowd is especially homophobic, but it's a small price to pay... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Badside Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 Do like Hendrix, tune back to pitch while playing Works for me 50% of the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jimi Ray Halen Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 That happened to me at my last gig. F'ing G string dropped about a whole step. It was the second time this happened. I know I tuned up properly. Gibson Deluxe my butt. When I heard it sounding like ass I tried to tune on the fly. Nope. So I hit my tuner and dropped out for a few seconds (seems like hours) before the first solo came up. We were playing Crossroads by Cream and there was no way it was going to sound good being that out of tune.I replaced my tuners the next day. I know it's the tuners because I had replaced one of them already just for that reason. I should have just replaced all 6 then but woulda' shoulda' coulda'.........At one time I would have died a little inside. Now I chalk it up to {censored}e happens and carry on as if nothing was wrong. (And fix the problem asap) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mosby Posted June 18, 2007 Members Share Posted June 18, 2007 If you get the chance - tune it up during a break or something, try to get in tune somehow. However, if there is no opportunity - suck it up, and play through it. The worst thing you could do is try to do something to fix it and end up killing the song (screwing up the bass, or the drummer). Mishaps, and things like this happen all of the time. I've never not made some sort of mistake when I was playing live (some worse than others). Sometimes you come in early, miss the change, etc.... but you gotta keep going. If you want to see a horrible trainwreck look for the evanesence video where the guitar techs tuned the guitars a 1/2 step off from the key they were supposed to be playing in.... now, that's an extreme example, but it sorta makes the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassred Posted June 19, 2007 Members Share Posted June 19, 2007 I had a bass string out of tune after some nasty slapping this weekend, I noticed it in the first verse, and had it tuned before the first chorus, just played the notes of the song on different strings then played the sam note on the bad string and tweaked it back, no one was any wiser about it but me and my drummer (we use a lot of visual cues, so we tend to watch each other...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TimmyP Posted June 19, 2007 Members Share Posted June 19, 2007 Just hit the chord and hold it, tune the offending string, and when the song comes back around to the chord you held, continue playing the song normally. The faster you fix it, the faster folks will forget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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