bass tuning

[timgreene]

this may seem stupid, but here goes.

I have a 1983 squier p bass, sq serial number, sunburst, tortoise replacement pick guard.

My question is how does a bass tune? I used my guitar tuner, and it seems to low for the bass? The strings are awfully buzzy tuned like this. Does a bass tune to a different octave, than the guitar, resulting in strings being to loose.

I know this sounds elementary, I play guitar, and was wondering is the base screwed up, or am I completely wrong as to how they are tuned?

P.S. are these decent basses? I know the sq serial number guitars are great, what about the basses?

[Oster]

You may have tuned to an octave below standard pitch (?)
A Bass tunes like the lower 4 strings of a guitar, and a good guitar tuner will pick up the notes (E,A,D,G) just fine. Either that or the action is set too low, giving you the buzzes.

[Bob Rogers]

The Bass is one octave below the last four strings on the guitar. I'd have a hard time believing that you are tuned an octave lower than standard. The E would be about 20HZ. Pretty close to subsonic.

[feojack]

Try tuning it to a piano keyboard, if you have access to one. I can't remember exactly which keys on the piano correspond with the bass strings, but one of the more knowledgable folks around here probably do. Or you could grab a glance at a bass beginners book, it usually has it in there under tuning.
But the electric tuners I've used seem to work just fine for me.
Cheers , feo

[Admin]

Originally Posted by timgreene

My question is how does a bass tune? I used my guitar tuner, and it seems to low for the bass? The strings are awfully buzzy tuned like this. Does a bass tune to a different octave, than the guitar, resulting in strings being to loose.

As said above, the bass sounds one octave below the four lowest strings on a guitar. In other words, the "E" at the 2nd fret of the D string on a bass should be the same pitch as the lowest open string on your guitar.

BUT... the problem might be with your tuner. Some guitar tuners aren't built to pick up notes much lower than the low E on a guitar. Try using the 12th fret harmonic to tune each string and see if it doesn't give you a more accurate read. Best of luck, CS

[Harvey]

Just fret your bass on the 12th frets. 12th fret G on a bass is the same as an open G on your guitar.

[brock29609]

Cound poor set-up be to blame? Maybe your tuner's calibration is off.