Tune down and use a capo?

[oniman7]

I didn't know where this should go, so I figured I could stick it here.

Anyways, my band got a new singer a couple of months ago, and we find out he's really great at writing songs. He's brought in several with complete guitar and vocal parts, as well as skeletons of bass and drums (he plays all) and they've all ended up sounding great. However, he plays them in a lot of weird tunings, from Drop C to E standard, and we find ourselves changing tuning a lot and changing guitars a lot more than we need to on stage. He only has one guitar that he keeps in Drop C tuning all the time and puts a capo on it so he can play almost any tuning, and the only string he has to worry about changing is the lowest one. He also has things written that rely on capos as far as 7 or 8 frets up the fingerboard.

I've been using two guitars, one for standard and Drop D, and another for D standard and Drop C, but changing from song to song is getting ridiculous. I was wondering if maybe I should get my basses set up to tune down a whole step and then use capos on them. This would seem to solve that problem fairly well, and I could easily slide to different tunings. Both of my basses have 24 frets, and I doubt I'd miss the higher ones. Anybody done this before? What are any possible downsides? Successes?

[Dirk Diggler]

Have you considered using a bass with a low B string? That would solve your problems. I used to play with a group that the guitar player always tuned to Eb, was never a problem.
Personally I hate capo's on guitars and would never use them on bass, but that's me.
Dirk

[LiamPodmore]

My band used to play in E Standard, Drop D, D Standard and Drop C. I was sick of the constant tuning, so i decided to switch to a 5 string. Best decision i ever made, i only had to change basses to play certain songs we did in D standard, which i found easier to play on a down tuned 4 string. Other than that, i had access to everything i needed.

Liam

[bassybill]

Wouldn't the best solution just get one of your basses set up (with the right string gauge, et cetera) for D standard/drop C, and just play all your tunes on that one? You could play anything on that bass that you could play on one tuned higher, right? That's if you want to stick with a 4 string instead of 5, which I understand totally. No need for a capo that I can see.

Changing instruments between tunes is something I generally avoid at all costs - total groove killer from the audience's point of view, unless you have a well planned gap that gives enough time to do it without just stopping mid set.

[jordak]

Originally Posted by bassybill

Wouldn't the best solution just get one of your basses set up (with the right string gauge, et cetera) for D standard/drop C, and just play all your tunes on that one? You could play anything on that bass that you could play on one tuned higher, right?

...Then all of the open strings would be tuned lower. If he needed to switch from fretted notes high up to open notes, then he would need to rearrange his fingering which may not always be so easy.

[oniman7]

I should mention I have a 5 string as well. I love it. On a lot of songs, I can get away with going down to the low B string.

We play a lot of rock/metal stuff where the low open note is important to fill the sound, and if it's a fretted note as opposed to open, I have a hard time switching between the pedal note and the rest of the riff. It creates some weird fingerings. The only reason I'd need a capo is to change the open notes.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by Dirk Diggler

Have you considered using a bass with a low B string? That would solve your problems. I used to play with a group that the guitar player always tuned to Eb, was never a problem.
Personally I hate capo's on guitars and would never use them on bass, but that's me.
Dirk

+1. I play a 5 string and I play music with guys that capo all over the place. I rarely use open strings in my bass parts, so changing key is just a matter of moving the pattern up or down. The only trouble I have is when these guys start shouting out chords, they are relative to the capo not the nut, so I have to think "he said G but he's capo'ed up three frets so he really means Bb". ;^)

[String Theory]

Arrange you song order so that all the drop C songs are first. Next D standard. Then drop D and finally E standard. The point is you should never have to retune later in a set to a previous tuning. also once your band switches out guitars, you don't switch back. A really good writer will consider the flow of all the songs and not just each individual song.