intonation problems on stage

[basilh]

I stay with the singer's tonal center irrespective of the rest of the band, I feel it's my responsibility to BACK the frontman.

What do you use as a reference during your solos?

ME !!

[John Billings]

I still think the guitar player is the problem. In a 4 piece, he should be playin' rhythm whenever he's not playin' a solo or a fill. Band's sound has gotta be pretty lacking if he's not playin' rhythm. You should even be playing the dreaded "rhythm steel" behind his solos!
As far as the fingerboard issues, I never used the markers as any more than a suggestion. Seems to me, no matter how you sit, that a large part of the board will be affected by parallax. Unless you have your bar centered on your nose, and are movin' your head back and forth as you move the bar. You've gotta use your ears to play in tune. In your situation, you need to hear the guitar player. Asking the bass player/lead singer to change his style could throw a major monkey wrench into his performance!
When I first started out, after 4 lessons, my teacher urged me to try out for a band. I got the job over a much more experienced player. When I asked why, I was told, "Cuz you play in tune." So,,,, I still think you need to talk to the guitar player.

[Steve Norman]

John when is the guitar player NOT the problem?
This would be a good pole,,

"What do steel players use to find there intonation?"

[Don Brown, Sr.]

The problem I've been reading, seems to me to be a whole lot more than what meets the eye.

First and foremost, if others in the band haven't noticed that something's not right, (band being out of tune) then you need to get with a better group of folks who do strive to play in tune. There is NOTHING any worse than playing in a band where there are tone deaf players.

Speaking matter of factly, that would only last until the end of the current song, before someone would be getting in tune.

I don't think muting the base, had anything to do with what you were not hearing, it was what you were hearing that was/is bothering you. And that was, simply, the band was not in tune.

Remember, if any one person is out of tune, the group as a whole is out of tune. The sad thing is, I've sat and listened to groups play and none of them seemed to even know they were playing out of tune.

My recommendation is: Get with a better group of people who can hear the difference, and strive to stay in tune during the evening. Remember, you can be the best player in the world, and sound like trash in an out of tune group as a whole.

Play in the middle? The middle of what? The middle of unpleasant noise at best.

Knowing that nothing is ever (perfectly) in unison, but it can still be very closely achieved when the group your working with, plays as close to being in tune as humanly possible. And, that also depends on the quality of the instruments being played within that group.

Bottom line is, since you didn't mention anyone else having noticed anything out of place, then we have to assume only you noticed. So, that would indicate, they either dont know they're out of tune, or they simply don't care. Regardless, either situation is a bad one...

I'd personally move on...

[Steve Waltz]

I didn't thank everyone for the help.

I played a show this weekend. It went better. I took some advise from here. I asked the bass player and guitar player to help me to hear what I need for me to play better. I asked for some bass notes to linger a bit longer. The bass player left the hollow body Gretsch bass at home and brought a fender.....big difference, that helped a lot. We also just started to use a new guitar player that actually plays chords....that helped too. We also discussed using the same tuner in the future in order to avoid any of those issues. I made sure that my amp was in the best possition for me to hear myself. I probably played louder than normal trying to make sure I could hear what I was doing.

I also installed the new fret boards from Tom Bradshaw. This is for a sho bud Professional. I think the old fret boards were original. When I put the new and old boards next to each other I could see differences in marker positions. I know the board is for reference but so far it seems to be helping me especially above the 12th fret. They are much brighter too.

I also tried to lay off the bar vibrato. I think I was overdoing it and it might have been clouding my ability to hear where I should have been. I think I'm going to put my peterson tuner on the guitar leg and plug it into the 2nd out of my pedal so that I can have a visual check more often.

I should clean the changer since I have never done it and it might be sticking a bit. Now I just need to go practice and hope that the changes in the band continue to help.

Thanks

[Garry Vanderlinde]

I've had similar experiences where when I'm having a problem playing in tune I back off and play softer. BUT that NEVER seems to work.
So now if I hear intonation problems I play LOUDER so I can hear myself better. It's not logical but it seems to help.
Bob Hoffnar's tonal center practice CD also has helped a lot!
If you haven't got...get it! Word Up West West

[b0b]

I played an outdoor gig with Open Hearts once, where I didn't have a PA monitor (no acoustic guitar sound) and the lead guitarist was on the other side of the bandstand. The only thing I could hear for pitch reference was the fretless bass. It was so bad that I was praying for a b@njo player to sit in.

[Larry Strawn]

How bad is Bad??

And the winner is!!!!!!!

b0b wrote,
"It was so bad that I was praying for a b@njo player to sit in."

Larry