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  #1  
Old 03-30-2011, 12:22 PM
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Detuning - Does it warp a neck?

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Hey guys, today I finally got a Musicman Bongo 6, and it is amazing. My worry is this; the band I'm in play in drop C tuning and as I play a six string bass the resulting tuning is very weird indeed
'A C G C F A#'
So basically the E string in dropped two whole steps and every other string is dropped one. If I keep my bass in standard and only tune down like this over the weekend will it destroy the neck? Or should I just keep it dropped all the time and adjust the truss rod? I had my previous bass constantly dropped with no truss rod adjustment and it did no noticable harm, but that bass was not nearly expensive as a musicman and I'm terrified of hurting this beast! Sorry for the long post, any advice would be greatly appreciated
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Old 03-30-2011, 01:23 PM
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can't really answer your question, but:
-it will kill the strings
-your intonation will probably be quite bad

A solution that would for sure not warp your neck would be to setup your bass in your A tuning and, when you need to play in standard, tune to ADGCFA# and capo the 2nd fret.
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Old 03-30-2011, 01:31 PM
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Why not simply tune ADGCFA#.

That would work well with a set of medium or heavy gauge strings.
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Old 03-30-2011, 01:45 PM
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I don't think you need to worry too much about your neck being damaged by a bit of detuning. A six-string neck is a pretty solid chunk of wood.

However, better safe than sorry. I like djaydjay's suggestion of just tuning up one string to have normal intervals. Capo if you must. You could probably adjust to playing standard-tuned songs without the capo, also. No shortage of positions to play things in on your bass!
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Old 03-30-2011, 01:51 PM
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Only basses I've had that were neck dorked were over tuned.. not under tuned...

Many closet queen basses tuned up 3 or 4 steps will develop bumps, jumps and ramps

---

Why not set it the way you like it... dial in the neck/truss/action/intonation.. then maintain it?
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Old 03-30-2011, 02:44 PM
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Old 04-01-2011, 06:32 AM
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Dropping a whole step does in fact alter the neck. It's not very much, but I can tell. It's nothing to be worried about and a simple (light) truss-rod adjustment will set you right where you need to be. Check out Circle K strings. They have detuned sets that have the right tension for your tuning. -Luke
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Old 04-01-2011, 07:08 AM
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you'd probably want/need a strings gauge set that is atleast, or close to, 35-50-70-90-110-130.
Tuned ADGCFA#, I don't see why you couldn't keep it in that tuning while the guitars play in drop C (CGCFAD); what i have done in the past and what I've seen/heard other players do when guitars play in a drop (lowest string down one step) tuning, is as long as their lowest open string is on the 3rd fret of your lowest string it shouldn't be too hard (sometimes easier) to play the parts.
For example, I used to play in a band that played in drop D (DADGBE), (obviously everything explained here would apply to you just the same just one step lower) but as a bass player I don't really like playing in drop tunings I guess that kinda comes from my jazz experience in highschool. I exclusively play 5 string basses (BEADG) for the past 11 years, playing the guitars low D on my third fret of my B string was not difficult, in fact most said and I agree that the low D on the third fret of a B string sounded thicker/fuller than a low D on a drop tuned 4 string which is what their previous bass player did. There kinda are pros and cons to this method, but for my playing style it seemed more to my advantage. Ya kinda have to get used to a bit of fretboard acrobatics and skipping strings, but like I said it wasn't that hard to adjust to and ya get used to it.
BUT if doing that doesn't seem like it'd be your style or something you can pull off successfully, then I don't know think going back n forth D to C will damage yer neck, you just might have to get pro setups more frequently. Maybe you might want to get a 115 gauge for your second low string which might be a bit better for intonation of going back n forth with that OR maybe you can get another truss rod installed on that bass if possible, which could be pricey though might be worth it to you.
I hope what i've explained here is helpful in some way. Good luck. rock n roll.
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