HEY, ALL & Kwik Kwestion

[David Tyler]

I'd like to give the new guy nod to everyone. I discovered these boards by accident. I was looking for some reviews on equipment.

You see, I'm a guitarist but I've mostly played bass in bands ... because bassists - good ones - were hard to come by. Does that actually make me a bassist? I guess I'm both. I love 'em both.

But, back to why I ended up here. I was looking for new gear because an opportunity popped up to possibly audition for one of my favourite bands around town. I've been concentrating on my guitar gear but haven't upgraded my bass gear for quite some time. I figured, if I want to compete, I better step up .. so... I wanted to see what was out there and did a lot of google searches.

I saw this and joined.


So Hi and here's my kwik kwestion: Drop D tuning is pretty much the shared standard these days. So how do most of you handle it when you have to jump back and forth in your set list from the regular tuning to drop D? Do you take your five string and tune the low B to a D and leave the rests of the strings tuned regularly? Do you just have the whole guitar down to D and just figure out how to play phrases requiring open strings in a different configuration? Do you just work with a 4 string and use a hip shot for the D note?


Maybe it isn't such a kwik kwestion.

Still, I would appreciate anyones thoughts on this.

thanks

David

[David Tyler]

bump

[JeffSki]

Originally Posted by David Tyler

Do you take your five string and tune the low B to a D and leave the rests of the strings tuned regularly?

I can tell you that noone would ever do this. If you have a five string, you would just play the low D on the 3rd fret of the B string.

I'm not a fan of Drop D tuning so I'll give you the options I've seen most mentioned in the forum in no particular order.

1. Use a 5 string
2. Use a Hipshot
3. Have one bass tuned standard and another bass tuned Drop D

[James Hart]

I've played in a few "Drop D" bands. I always use a low B tuned to low B. I just play the riffs in standard tuning.

Welcome to TB! Lots of use here play some guitar too

[bobstefntes]

Originally Posted by David Tyler

I'd like to give the new guy nod to everyone. I discovered these boards by accident. I was looking for some reviews on equipment.

You see, I'm a guitarist but I've mostly played bass in bands ... because bassists - good ones - were hard to come by. Does that actually make me a bassist? I guess I'm both. I love 'em both.

But, back to why I ended up here. I was looking for new gear because an opportunity popped up to possibly audition for one of my favourite bands around town. I've been concentrating on my guitar gear but haven't upgraded my bass gear for quite some time. I figured, if I want to compete, I better step up .. so... I wanted to see what was out there and did a lot of google searches.

I saw this and joined.


So Hi and here's my kwik kwestion: Drop D tuning is pretty much the shared standard these days. So how do most of you handle it when you have to jump back and forth in your set list from the regular tuning to drop D? Do you take your five string and tune the low B to a D and leave the rests of the strings tuned regularly? Do you just have the whole guitar down to D and just figure out how to play phrases requiring open strings in a different configuration? Do you just work with a 4 string and use a hip shot for the D note?


Maybe it isn't such a kwik kwestion.

Still, I would appreciate anyones thoughts on this.

thanks

David

Most guys either have a bass tuned each way or use an octave pedal. I don't drop D on the bass as there is a nice, low D on the B string 3rd fret. I have dropped all of em' a half step on a 4 string, for AIC and such.

[David Tyler]

All good points but I was actually referring to a song like Velvet Revolver's 'Slither' which Duff did using an open 'D'.

Here's what I was getting at, though, if I were to go ... say ... from Slither to ... oh... Whitesnakes 'Still of the Night' one or the other is going to be played with more involved fingering than if they were both done in the same tuning.

Now, I'm not saying I can't do things that require the agility... I'm very capable.. but the swing will be a bit different... maybe not enough for listeners to notice ... but I will.


and just for nuts and giggles... I do play Slither in a standard tuning on my 5.