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EADGC Tuning ...

#2
mlbarlow said:
I'm writing to all of you 5ers out there who tune EADGC. When does it come in handy; what kinds of music do you like to play; do you miss your low B?

Peace,
Matt
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i've been tuning my SR5 that way for so long that a 'regular' 5 tuning feels really weird to me.

it's very handy for soloing (obviously) and for chording. for me, anyway.

i only miss the B since i just sold my dingwall ABII, or after i've played my fretless 6. but it happens.
 
#3
A bunch of my friends have had five string basses over the years, and I never really liked them... I had totally written off the concept of a useable five string. This can also be due to the fact that the amps in question were also not very good... at any rate, when my one friend switch from a low b to a high c, it was pretty cool.

my old bass teacher had a 6 string hollowbody tuned like a guitar... it was neat, at lessons, he would play chords while I practised walking... sure, he could have just picked up a guitar, and even shown me the walking ideas on a guitar, but it sure put me at ease to see him doing it on a bass (also, it was kind of inspiring...)

Since I've been working at Dingwall, my whole world has changed... I went in kind of (shamefully) anti-five and came out rather pro-five... I don't think that I could ever live without my low b string again... Even though I just play church music and praise and worship stuff at youth events, I'd miss being about to throw out whole-note C's and D's that just hang in the air...

just my two cents... jmk
 
#4
EADGC is the stuff. It allows you to play the higher notes without as much shifting.

Great for soloing, and for most music. I enjoy my fives for music theatre, which has no notes under low E, but plenty of notes over next to highest C.

BEADG only gives you five notes under what the EADG gives you. Big whoopie! ;)
 
#5
MichaelVee said:
BEADG only gives you five notes under what the EADG gives you. Big whoopie! ;)
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I agree with you, and several years ago I would have agreed one hundred percent, but in my mind there's still something really cool about being able to get to those 5 lower notes!!! In my ideal world, I'd play a 6 string, but I've fiddled with a few of them, and they all feel like canoe paddles with strings...

jmk!!! (not to disrespect any 6players out there!!!)
 
#7
SmittyG said:
Does anyone packaged sets of strings for this tuning or do you just have to get a 4-string set and add the C-string on after the fact?
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not sure if anyone packages them this way; i would usually get a 4-string set & add a high C (usually .30 or .28, depending on the gauge of the 4-string set)

another bonus:

high C strings (.30 or .28) are way cheaper than a single B!

(a buck or 2 -vs- $5-7)
 
#8
I tune all my 5's that way. Do not miss the low b at all. But then i play mostly original music and i can choose what tessitura to play in. plus i like to play chords and have the whole tenor bass thing going on but with the low e string.

I use smith strings taper core medium with a .030 c string.
 
#9
MichaelVee said:
BEADG only gives you five notes under what the EADG gives you. Big whoopie! ;)
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I play 4's so correct me if I'm wrong on this, but going from a 20-fret four to a 20-fret five 5 will yeild you an additional 5 notes in either EADGC or BEADG. If you go from a 20-fret four to a 24-fret five, then you will have an extra 9 notes with the EADGC tuning and 5 notes with BEADG.
 
#10
RE:PEAT said:
I play 4's so correct me if I'm wrong on this, but going from a 20-fret four to a 20-fret five 5 will yeild you an additional 5 notes in either EADGC or BEADG. If you go from a 20-fret four to a 24-fret five, then you will have an extra 9 notes with the EADGC tuning and 5 notes with BEADG.
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RE:PEAT, you're right. Increasing the number of frets would make the difference you're referring to.

I'm talking about restringing an existing 5-string, and in that case, it'd be the same number of unique notes, not playable anywhere else on the fretboard, either high or low: five. So, actually, either way, it's no "big whoopie"! I stand amended. (I wrote that last night off the top of my head, without looking at a bass.)

It's when you get into six and seven string (or more) that you add a lot of additional notes!

I've played my fives strung both ways, and I do prefer EADGC. It's nice not to have to shift up to use notes found on the C string, especially when playing the other strings down in the lowest 5 to 7 frets area, and the high notes would be up in the vicinity of the 12th fret on the G string.

It seems to me that there is less back and forth (along the length of the fretboard) hand movement with the bass strung EADGC than with BEADG.. comments? Maybe it's about the same either way, depending on the keys you play in most often.

Since I'm playing two headless basses, I get Status Graphite double-ball strings, which can definitely be ordered as EADGC sets.
 
#11
SmittyG said:
Does anyone packaged sets of strings for this tuning or do you just have to get a 4-string set and add the C-string on after the fact?
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Warwick does, The Black Labels. Theres a Medium Lite .20 .40 .60 .80 .100 and a Medium .25 .45 .65 .85 .105. But the bad thing is, I think you can only order them from Dana B Goods, Musicians Friend doesnt carry the Hich C 5 string set. When I get my Thumb I plan on tuning it DADGC, And occasionally DADAD, So that .20 C string is perfect for me.
 
#12
MichaelVee, I would agree with you that E-C certainly opens up more possibilities with soloing. Like I said, I play 4's, but lately considering a 5 specifically for the C string. I don't know, maybe a 3-octive 4 would also do it? Still sorting out this new territory. Cheers.
 
#13
mlbarlow said:
I'm writing to all of you 5ers out there who tune EADGC. When does it come in handy; what kinds of music do you like to play; do you miss your low B?

Peace,
Matt
Click to expand...

All of my 5-string basses are tuned EADGC while my 6 fretless is in EADGCF. You can hear them here:
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Only bassists use the low B string. ;)
 
#18
I have TI Jazz Flats tuned EADGC on my Bongo 5 right now, and have used the tuning in the past, as well. I keep thinking I will eventually add a D-Tuner on my low E so I can get down to D, if needed.

When I buy strings, I'll usually buy a couple of single C strings at a time. That way, if one ever breaks (hasn't happened yet), I have a spare.
 
#20
Last time I had a five string, it was fretless and tuned in fifths from A...

A E B F# C#

Granted, it was quite a beast to play (no, I was never a cellist, it was only an experiment). I now play 6, and just can't bring myself to use a 5 at all. I have to have an even number of strings nowadays. I find that the B and C get equal use when I take out the six, but that's just me...
 

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