Michael Maring and detuners

[Leftybass12]

I've been watching videos of this guy play and it is unbelieveable what he can do. I mean this guy has an excellent ear and I cannont believe what he can do with the detuners! Anyhow, my question is this, would it be wise to put detuners on all tuning keys on my bass? I would be using a 4 string. Also, since I am new to detuners I have to ask this: If I use a detuner a lot with my playing would it mess up the neck of the bass? Would there be constant matinence on the truss rod?

[thombo]

the biggest problem is that most headstocks don't have enough room for d-tuners on all of pegs.

[kesslari]

Detuning is a lot of what Manring does, because he hears it. If you hear it, then it would be good for you to work out a way to do it. If you think it would be a cool gimmick, but you don't really hear it, then I think there are other cool gimmicks to differentiate your playing.

[superbassman2000]

i agree with kesslari--it's not wise to do spend that kind of money on something you don't really have a clear vision on.

that being said, it's cool what manring does with the detuners (he also has them in the bridge) I would have a heck of a time remembering what string was tuned to what at any given time

[line6man]

Originally Posted by thombo

the biggest problem is that most headstocks don't have enough room for d-tuners on all of pegs.

+1

You need a 2X2 style headstock with plenty of space between the pegs for the levers to swing without bumping into the other tuners.

[Getaway Driver]

Originally Posted by Leftybass12

If I use a detuner a lot with my playing would it mess up the neck of the bass? Would there be constant matinence on the truss rod?

I would think the concern would mostly be with how the strings react to it... If you play in drop tuning ever, you know string tension can be an issue. When using a detuner, if anything, you're probably taking tension off the neck, so the truss rod is a non-issue. Manring does tune upward at times, but not using the detuner, he just turns the key. If he goes up with the detuner, he's simply returning it to it's original tuning.

[Implosion]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but besides the detuners at the headstock Manring also has detuners at the bridge, so it's two detuners for each string. Zon made a special special special custom work on the Hyperbass that Manring has got. As I understand Zon doesn't offer the de-tunable bridge option for us "regular people", unless you dish out some serious cash

[Getaway Driver]

Originally Posted by Implosion

Correct me if I'm wrong, but besides the detuners at the headstock Manring also has detuners at the bridge, so it's two detuners for each string. Zon made a special special special custom work on the Hyperbass that Manring has got. As I understand Zon doesn't offer the de-tunable bridge option for us "regular people", unless you dish out some serious cash

or throw a bass-extender bridge on it yourself.

[Implosion]

Originally Posted by Getaway Driver

or throw a bass-extender bridge on it yourself.

Does Hipshot manufacture them? I can't find them on their homepage or am I just going blind?

[fretlessrock]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the detuners on the Hyperbasses have the levers cut down for clearance. So plan on taking a grinder to those nice new Hipshot Bass Extenders! The bridge seems like it is a modified or custom version of the Hipshot detuning bridge, maybe the Hipshot mechanisms mounted to a custom bridge plate. I've set them up on guitars, and they are tricky. Manring runs a very low-tension setup and I think that is why it works for him. I don't think you can run a normal set of strings and expect it to stay in the detents.

Very specialized setup, but you could blow bass-tweaker cash on a lot less productive stuff. I certainly have.

[johhn smith]

manring's detuners are only available on his custom zon hyperbass for a 120 upcharge. according to zon's webpage there is no option for the de -tunable bridge . an alternative might be to try a roland v bass, with the divided pickup you can separate the strings and change the tuning for each. i heard the guitar version and it sounds great. you can program a whole bunch of weird tunings, store them and then recall them as you need them. if you're into the whole detuning thing, an interesting thing to look up is the steinberger trans - trem bridge. it is a variable locking trem ( vibrato ) that unlike traditional trems ( vibratos ) move everything in tune so you can accurately bend chords. they are still made for guitar and apparently a number were made for bass but were discontinued and they are rare.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-rjLQM4mMg david torn and the trans trem on a klein guitar

[Getaway Driver]

interesting, i didn't think the manring "signature" model was so exclusive. You're already dumping loads of cash on a Zon in the first place, it's kind of lame of them not to give you the real thing.

sounds like a whammy or pitchfactor would be your best friend if you're looking to do the manring type stuff.

[Leftybass12]

Originally Posted by Implosion

Correct me if I'm wrong, but besides the detuners at the headstock Manring also has detuners at the bridge, so it's two detuners for each string. Zon made a special special special custom work on the Hyperbass that Manring has got. As I understand Zon doesn't offer the de-tunable bridge option for us "regular people", unless you dish out some serious cash

That is true, I don't how I forgot to include the bridge part. And if you go onto Zons website the hyperbass is there, but check out this link.

http://www.zonguitars.com/zonguitars/Hyperbass.html

The base price is only $6,670, haha. And it has several custom features, similar to what Carvin does. But it really is an expensive bass

[Implosion]

Originally Posted by Leftybass12

That is true, I don't how I forgot to include the bridge part. And if you go onto Zons website the hyperbass is there, but check out this link.

http://www.zonguitars.com/zonguitars/Hyperbass.html

The base price is only $6,670, haha. And it has several custom features, similar to what Carvin does. But it really is an expensive bass

With prices like that one would think that they would include the "detuner bridge". But I guess it would double the price

[kesslari]

I wouldn't bag on Zon quite so much. Hipshot detuners are relatively cheap because there is at least some demand for them. the detuning bridge - virtually no demand. So they are like one-off's, and if you've ever manufactured anything, one-off's cost big time.

[Implosion]

Hence the "it would double the price". I'm not trying to put down Zon or the Hyperbass, probably an outstanding instrument. It's just that I can't even justify myself for buying an instrument that would have a price tag of over a grand (new). Perhaps when I learn to play properly

[Leftybass12]

Wow, with all of this information being provided on this thread I am throughly convinced not to go through with this idea. Thank you to all of you though for contributing!

[Getaway Driver]

Originally Posted by Leftybass12

Wow, with all of this information being provided on this thread I am throughly convinced not to go through with this idea. Thank you to all of you though for contributing!

Originally Posted by Getaway Driver

sounds like a whammy or pitchfactor would be your best friend if you're looking to do the manring type stuff.

...don't get so discouraged! there are methods out there!

[Danny Fox]

I've had a hyperbass since August, everyday brings up something new! Even without the detunable bridge the altered tuning possibilities are amazing. And it's a dream to record, even though I'm rubbish at recording

[251]

Lefty consider asking Michael yourself? Re-phrase your question & post it to the Michael Manring section of Ask A Pro at the bottom of the Bass Forums listing.