Question Guitar tuning going down on stage... why?

[Vadauco]

Tuning up is just part of the stage setup process,

That's why I'm extremely curious to find out what pro techs like Maddi (John Petrucci tech) does. If a Dream Theater concert starts with a 20 min song, and playing along with a keyboard (which is always in pitch), John certainly won't stop the song to tune the guitar...

So what's the trick? Leave the guitar in a warm pillow for 30 mins before the concert?

 

[ksandvik]

Concerning most bands with guitar techs, I've seen them place the guitars on stage to compensate for the temperature/humidity, not taking them in from some other location and keeping them in hard cases just before use. It helps to have brand new strings in place that are stretched out and so on, lubrication on the nut and so forth. Even so, I've been in concerts where the newly grabbed guitar goes out of tune in two minutes. That's life and nothing to worry about.

 

[timtheshredder]

Agreed. It's all because of the climate in the room (which can change while you are a on stage). There no perfect way to deal with this, but here's what I do. I bring my gear in, tune it, and let it get climatized to the room for at least 30-60 minutes before the show. Then I tune again before I take the stage. It's not always perfect, but it generally works.

If you have safe place to put your gear before the show, it works better if you leave it out of the case for a while. The case will insulate it from the conditions, so it won't get climatized as well or as fast.

 

[PaulOwens]

Additionally - If you tune a guitar lying face up with the neck unsupported, the pitch will drop a few cents when you flip it 90 degrees over so that the face is pointing in its normal (horizontal) direction. This is just due to the extra tension in the neck due to its own weight. So tune the guitar in the same orientation as you play it to avoid this. May not necessarily be the issue here, but something to be aware of...

 

[Astrofreq]

I just tune up before the gig starts. I don't really think about how it might have changed from leaving home. I can't imagine starting a gig without checking my tuning.