String tuning?

[PRUNEFACE]

Why would a tenor tuned fiver or a 6 stringer have a high string tuned to C rather than B?

[DudeistMonk]

So by that you mean why would a 5 string be tuned E,A,D,G,C, instead of E,A,D,G,B like a guitar?

The answer to that is simple...

The bass is tuned in perfect 4ths, C is a perfect 4th above G and the next logical string to have. The reason guitarists tune E,A,D,G,B,E is because that half step makes it easier for them to form chords. The downside of that is that it also shifts all their fingerings making it harder to run scales and patterns seeing as you have to translate them up a half step to fit. As bass players chords are far less important and we would (generally) rather have a uniform fretboard.

[PRUNEFACE]

Originally Posted by DudeistMonk

So by that you mean why would a 5 string be tuned E,A,D,G,C, instead of E,A,D,G,B like a guitar?

The answer to that is simple...

The bass is tuned in perfect 4ths, C is a perfect 4th above G and the next logical string to have. The reason guitarists tune E,A,D,G,B,E is because that half step makes it easier for them to form chords. The downside of that is that it also shifts all their fingerings making it harder to run scales and patterns seeing as you have to translate them up a half step to fit. As bass players chords are far less important and we would (generally) rather have a uniform fretboard.

ahh okay, I was assuming the guitar was "correct" becasue it came first. But then why would a bass have a low B rather than C?

[onlyclave]

Tim Bogert of Vanilla Fudge tunes his 6-string B E A D G B to make it easier to play guitar chord voicings on his bass. There are no hard and fast rules.

[broadblik]

The guitar didn't come first.

And a basses tuning is down to the player, you can tune your bass however the hell you want it.

[bassteban]

Correct=however you like it.

[coolrunner989]

Originally Posted by PRUNEFACE

ahh okay, I was assuming the guitar was "correct" becasue it came first. But then why would a bass have a low B rather than C?

Because B is a perfect 4th down from E - same reason why we have a high C rather than a high B (usually - there are no wrong/right ways to string up your bass, just ones that make more sense than others )

[PRUNEFACE]

Originally Posted by broadblik

The guitar didn't come first.

And a basses tuning is down to the player, you can tune your bass however the hell you want it.

there have been 6 string guitars around for hundreds of years (I realize different tunings) and basses have been primarily 4 string for just as long.

[EADG mx]

Short answer: guitar tuning makes the most sense because it facilitates open position and barre chords well (a lot of barre chords are simply open position chords moved across the neck). On top of that, the lower tension is easier on the treble side of the neck (not sure if this still applies with developments in string technology).

Bass players seldom play chords and very seldom barre so the high B was deemed not to be a necessity. For this reason it simply made more sense to keep the bass in straight 4ths across the board. Not to say people don't use a high B however, since there are some cases of players using this tuning.

[mwiles30]

Originally Posted by PRUNEFACE

ahh okay, I was assuming the guitar was "correct" becasue it came first. But then why would a bass have a low B rather than C?

Don't ever assume that the guitar would be more "correct" in anything relating to the bass guitar.

It only encourages the guitards.

[PRUNEFACE]

Originally Posted by mwiles30

Don't ever assume that the guitar would be more "correct" in anything relating to the bass guitar.

It only encourages the guitards.

lol I'll keep that in mind

[E2daGGurl]

You can look at the guitar as a bass with two extra strings - and the high E on the guitar is tuned one perfect fourth above the B string - so the top two strings work together as the treble "chording" unit and the four bottom strings work for the bass line.

That's how some finger pickers approach it, anyway - mostly bluegrass players. That took some of the guitar confusion away, for me.

Guitars aren't all tuned the same way, either.

[EADG mx]

Stanley Jordan is a frequently cited example of a guitarist tuning in perfect 4ths (low to high: EADGCF).

[chimpbass]

You can tune however you want! I used to tune in alternating 4ths and 5ths:

CGCGC

Also, Guitar in its modern tuning is tuned an octave up from bass, not the other way around.