Is this how most people tune a bass guitar? I really don't know, but I see photos of Paul doing this. I have played an acoustic guitar (poorly I may add), and I never held the guitar up to my ear to tune it.
As a bass player, I've never done this. But often wondered about Paul in similar photos. Might have been a reliable method in the days before portable tuners.
That's a good question. They didn't have electronic tuners, so they'd have to rely on their ears. But tuning with an amp on loud might generate vibrations in the guitar body that make the strings seem sharper than they are. Meanwhile, they may not have had much privacy in their dressing room, a lot of people blabbing while they're trying to tune up. So maybe they struck a compromise, their amps on low and plucking the strings close to their ear. A puzzler! I'm sure Paul has a simpler explanation...
Back in the "old days," if JP&G couldn't find a piano backstage to tune to, they would sound a note off of John's harmonica and tune to that. Then, as pictured above, you'd just have to make sure all of your guitars were in tune with one another ...not that anyone in those Beatlemanic audiences could tell the difference of course...
Impossible to understand a musician without being musician. We tune the bass like the guitar for sure.
ReplyDeleteAs a bass player, I've never done this. But often wondered about Paul in similar photos. Might have been a reliable method in the days before portable tuners.
ReplyDeletetuners sure have made things easier.
DeleteThat's a good question. They didn't have electronic tuners, so they'd have to rely on their ears. But tuning with an amp on loud might generate vibrations in the guitar body that make the strings seem sharper than they are. Meanwhile, they may not have had much privacy in their dressing room, a lot of people blabbing while they're trying to tune up. So maybe they struck a compromise, their amps on low and plucking the strings close to their ear. A puzzler! I'm sure Paul has a simpler explanation...
ReplyDeleteYou do it when there's a lot of background noise. He probably isn't plugged in to the amp.
ReplyDeletehave tuned my guitar like this as well
ReplyDeleteNo es John, Paul está con George.
ReplyDeleteBack in the "old days," if JP&G couldn't find a piano backstage to tune to, they would sound a note off of John's harmonica and tune to that. Then, as pictured above, you'd just have to make sure all of your guitars were in tune with one another ...not that anyone in those Beatlemanic audiences could tell the difference of course...
ReplyDelete