Tenor Bass Tuning

[bassmasta94]

Hey guys, ive recently been learning the song more love by victor wooten, and ive been tuning my bass to the tenor tuning (A D G A#) and i was wondering if this is putting to much pressure on my neck. I feel like its putting to much pressure every now and then while im tuning it up ill hear little creaks or cracks which cant be good. Is their a certain type of strings for this? My bass is an Ibanez soundgear SR500. Once when i was tuning to the tenor bass tuning i broke a string, but that could have been because the strings were old. But i was just looking for some advice or pointers.

[CBgaragebassist]

Buy either a tenor set or a 6 string set and use the high 4 and save the B and E.

[knuckle_head]

Depends on the gauge of that A string - but if you are using a standard set meant for E I'd suggest that yes you are putting your instrument under too much stress.

If you have a .100 tuned to A you are well over 60 pounds. Standard tension is right around 40 pounds.

You should consider going no heavier than .085 for your A - .075 puts you in traditional tension range.