Converting five-string to EADGb tuning.

[Extropy]

I am a guitar convert who has been playing bass for the last five years. Recently I started a two man project with a drummer that necessitates the expansion of the tonal range beyond my standard four-string, as the music requires me to carry both the bass and melody making some of the fretboard gymnastics and stretches nigh on impossible. Ideally, I would have gone with a shortscale option like a Fender VI or a baritone setup for an octave below standard tuning. However, my minimal (read: "nonexistent") budget dictates something else.

My alternative is purchasing a standard five-string bass, such as this offering, and removing the low B-string which I would never use. As I am more familiar with having a high b, I would not tune it in perfect fourths (EADGc) which I am hoping would relieve some tension Obviously a new nut may be required, as well as the typical truss rod adjustment and intonation.

Has anyone done this before? Is there anything else I should take into account? Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

[MutronIII]

IME, you'll definitely want to get the nut re-done..

I'd reexamine going with a high b. Yes, you're used to it on a guitar, but guitars are tuned that way in order to facilitate certain chord fingerings, and those voicings just aren't going to work so well on bass. With the high c, you're just going up another perfect fourth, and it shouldn't take much effort at all to shift the scale patterns you already down and across the fretboard. Just MHO (as a gtr\bass doubler), but it's yr movie... good luck.

[Beej]

This is an easy and common changeover. You might need to adjust your nut, relief, intonation and action, but most players end up doing most of that anyway any time they buy a new bass...