Tuning down to Drop D
 

First of all, hello everyone!
My guitar player decided to write a few songs in Drop D and I was thinking if by tuning down my E string to D (1 step down) will hurt/warp/damage/**** up the neck of my bass in eighter short or long period of time. I don't plan on tuning down the whole bass, just the E string.

PS: I plan on doing that on a Fender AVRI 62 P-bass strung with Ti flats (JF344).

Thank you.

nope wont hurt a thing. I only play in drop d. All you will need to do is raise your e string saddle up a half turn or so to make sure the looser d string isnt flopping on the frets. no neck warping or anything like that on my p basses

It's fairly common to tune that way, unless you have the most fragile bass out there, you should be completely fine.

+1

It won't hurt a thing even if I do it back and forth? I mean, I don't plan on keeping the bass as DADG forever. I plan on tuning up and down in between songs.

Thanks for the answers.

Think about a 5 string? No re-tuning for any weird guitar set ups.

I tune down to D for two songs my band does and then tune back up. No problems at all.

I really like the tone I get with my current bass, I don't plan on getting a 5 string.

That's nice to hear. What I'm worried about is by doing that at every pratice/gig it could cause a damage in a long period of time, but looks like it's just a myth.

Thanks for the answers.

^^ he's got the idea. That switch makes dropping to D and back up very easy.

And changing tunings won't hurt your neck. I frequently have to change between drop D, E standard and Eb standard in the current band that I'm in.

I go back and forth several times over the course of a gig. I don't like or trust the Hipshot. A good tuner and about 8 seconds is all it takes.

I have a Hipshot on every bass I own. I swear by it. I can't imagine tuning to or away from drop D in between songs when I can just flick a lever.

Hipshot xtender is a good ideia, but I have no problem downtuning manually.

Thanks for the answers and suggestions!

Yup - love my Hipshots for Drop D... and to the OP: no neck damage from doing this...


- georgestrings