Shooting from the hip

[FretGrinder]

Anyone out there with a hipshot managed to tune down to D and back up WHILE PLAYING, and use it as a useful technique in a bassline?

Just an idea ...

[Boplicity]

I never did that at a gig. The times I tried it at home just fooling around, I discovered that the E-string had changed its intonation slightly. That's why I didn't try it at gigs. So if I went to D, I stayed there until the end of the song when I could do a quick retune. But this was all in home practice, anyway.

However, I have to confess, as it turned out I didn't use the Hip Shot much, as the bands I was in down tuned anyway. And then once I bought a five string, I didn't need it either.

My HipShot D-Tuner came factory installed on my Yamaha Attitude Limited four string bass. It is a copy of Billy Sheehan's bass, but as it turned out, though I bought it because I admired Sheehan's playing, I never played like him anyway and that bass is beautiful, but it wasn't the bass I needed for the music I played or the way I play.

JO

[maxvalentino]

I have a hip shot on the E string of my electric and just installed 2 hipshots on my ABG. Yes, I frequently use the hipshot to tune down (or up) during a performance. Got the idea watching Michael Manring.
Two things: When you set your hipshot, tune the bass up to E, then flip the 'shot....then flip it back. You will find that the E string is now sharp. Compensate and tune it that much flat. Flip the Hipshot again, and then flip it back to "normal" tuning. Now notice the E string is in tune....and it will stay that way no matter how many times you switch the hipshot.
There is a thumbscrew on the hipshot that allows you to set the pitch of your detuned note. I have dropped all the way to B...but usually use a C on my E string (or D). On my ABG the 2nd hipshot is on the G string. I sometimes set them up backwards...so that with the switch "down" (normally detuned) it is standard pitch, and then flipping it raises the pitch. I also use a CDGA tuning quite a bit, and then change that during a performance...
Also....lubricate the little moving arm/plate on the hipshot with a dab of vaseline once a month or so....it will keep the mechanism from getting sticky and will insure smooth tuning transitions.
BTW....flipping the hipshot during a performance: sometimes the thing does and will make a percussive "thud" which can be amplified by th pickups (esp. with piezos)....the trick is to make the switches in time so that becomes a rhythmic part of the performance....
Max

[FretGrinder]

great advice, thanks Max. Does dropping the E to B still give you a playable amount of tension? I've never really tried below D.

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

I sometimes end songs in D by flipping the Hipshot lever right at the end build up to finish on the open D. I've never really had problems with the tuning - I tune up during the break in a covers gig anyway, so I don't notice any change.

Billy Sheehan uses the Hipshot in his solos- running down the E string and then dropping the lever.

[Drone]

I tune mine to C... I've seen this guy that tunes his to C and he switched it in the middle of a song. He was slapping in open E, and then for the chorus, he'd flip it to C and tap high notes while pedaling the C...Kinda different...