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How many of you guys use BEAD tuning?

theophilus762

theophilus762

Nov 4, 2006
1,342
43
39
Arlington, VA
#1
A few years ago, I was converted to a 5 string player, and now I absolutely cannot live without that low B string. However, since I play rock, I don't really play that high G string much. Also, I don't think a 5 string neck is uncomfortable, but a 4 string neck is more comfortable for sure.

So, I've been thinking about picking up a 4 string and trying the BEAD thing for a while. How many of you guys have basses with this tuning? Pros? Cons?
 
#5
I'd say yeah if you're getting an extra bass, but I wouldn't get rid of a perfectly good fiver.

The experimentation sounds good if you have the time to do it, but I say if it ain't broke.. don't fix it?

Doesn't Tim C. of Rage/Audioslave go BEAD?
 
#8
When I played with a Blues band a couple of years ago, the singer did a lot of stuff in the keys of G & D.

The bass I had at the time was a wide-necked 5er & as I have a small hand I was getting pains stretching.

I restrung an Ibanez Roadstar and my Westone Thunder III Fretless as BEAD - all that was needed was the widening of the nut slots - and the slimmer necks made life a lot easier. They didn't even need the trussrod adjusted - there's less pull on a B than a G.

On returning toe EADG there were no problems either, as the Roadstar had a good stringtree and the headstock on the Westone was well cranked back.

They are strung BEAD here:

Westone:

P6050091.gif


P6050092.gif


P4070583.gif


Roadstar:

P4070582.gif
 
#10
bamba22 said:
I don't understand what is wrong with the regular EADG
Click to expand...

Well, it's not low enough to double riffs played by downtuned guitars one octave lower, for starters. The sound of detuned guitar riffs doubled by the bass one octave lower is what a lot of rock/metal styles are based on. If you're not in a band that plays that style of music, you'll probably do fine with regular tuning.
 
#11
I have two fives and two fours. The fretless four is strung BEAD. I like to be able to play middle of the neck. Lot less hand movement and there is the option to walk down the B when I want.

On the other hand, I enjoy keeping one EADG. Just a luxury, really. Happily go BEAD on all of them.

The issue, I suppose, is whether you play up on the G string much now. If not, give it a try.
 
#12
Personally, since I have basses set up in both E & E flat tuning...
I can drop down in standard tuning to C, and drop down to B in flat tuning.
And I still have everything up there including the G string!
So basicly I have a 5 string range on just 4 strings. Why need a 5th string, or downgrade an instrument's tonal range?
 
#13
Honestly, I don't understand why so many people think a 5 string neck is so uncomfortably wide. Generally they're only a few millimeters wider than a 4, and the strings might be 1 mm closer to each other. I get the attraction to a 4, the simplicity and lack of extraneous options can be quite liberating. But you play whatever the gig requires. My preference is for 5 or 6 string basses, I feel more comfortable with the b string there. But if the gig specifies a 4, I play a 4.

Although I do emphasize that it's absolutely possible to play 4 string bass on a 5 or 6. It's really a matter of context. Some songs just don't sound right with the lower octave notes. So just don't play them.
 
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#15
Well I barely use my G too and I playing EADG, If I'm going a little higher I prefer to play above the 5th fret of my D then play on the G cos it sounds deeper to me. If an average bass had 8 strings I'd quite happily give up the high ones because I just wouldn't need them, I think I use my G in about a 1/4 to a 1/3rd of all the songs I play bass on at the moment, and when I do I don't use it very much. Drop tuning also makes you lose loads of tension on your bottom string which I don't like the sound of, the lowest string has the least tension in the first place.

I'd love to give it a go if I could get used to it, plus my amp is rubbish and doesn't really project E very well at the moment never mind anything else.
 
#17
I have been doing the BEAD tuning/strings on ALL my 4 bangers for at least the last 10 years or more.

My bass's are, 1 Fender Jazz Arodyne, 4 P-bass's, 1 Dean, 2 acoustic bass's (one is the Fender Kingman) 1 Steinberger Synapse and a Stagg Upright,,,, all my G strings go in the garbage can.

Most of my bass's I have to do a very slight modification, file'ing the nut string grooves just a tad, and some slight widening of the string hole's on some of the bridge's.

Back in the early 90's when I starting doing this I was not aware it had ever been done by anyone else, so the first bass I did was kinda scary, but it worked great.
I even had my local guitar stores telling me it could not be done when I asked about it,,,, pretty funny looking back on that now.

Anyhow, like most,,, if not all of us back then,,,,, I started out with 4 banger's as 5 bangers had not really been invented yet, or at least known about that much.

When the 5 bangers came out I bought a few of them and played them for years,,, but never really felt as comfortable with the 5 string spacing as a 4 string spacing,,, that combinded with the fact I always like playing in the lower register made me do the BEAD set-up.

I play rock, classic rock, blues, some country and some blues, all pro gigs and have never had anything but great response from fellow bandmates over the years,,,,,, and I have NEVER missed not having a G string.

On a side note,,,, many years ago, before 5 string bass's were mainstream or even really know about,,, I would have bass players that had come to my gigs and ask to sit-in,,, I would say sure and hand them my bass, without telling them about my BEAD tuning,,, wow,, that would be huge fun watching some of them fumble and not know what the hell was going on,,,, it was always in good fun though and no one ever got pissed at me.

On a nother side note,,, a few weeks ago I went to an acoustic open mic jam to sit-in and hang out,,, took my Fender Kingman with the BEAD tuning,,,, a bass player asked if he could use my bass to sit-in with,,, against my better judgment I said yes,,, and then told him about my tuning more than a few times before I even handed him my bass,,, I told him NOT to try and retune it,,,,, while he is onstage "trying" to play my bass he grabs the tuners and starts cranking them,,, I ran to the stage to stop him but was to late,,,, he was trying to tune my B string to an E and broke the nut on my brand new Fender Kingman,,,,,, the Kingman goes to the repair shop this week for a new nut, and I have to pay for it,,, the moron that did it did not even offer to pay for it,,,matter of fact he did not even say sorry,,,,,,, never again to I let people use any of my bass's to sit-in with,,,except for my sit-in thrasher bass thats tuned EADG,,,, from now on, anyone wants to sit-in at any of my gigs I will hand them the beat up EADG tuned bass to use.

Geeze,, I did go off on a rant,, sorry.

Cheers
Davyo
 
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#18
Ooops, looks like I failed to mention this in my post above: I once went BEAD only for a couple of years because the band I'd just joined downtuned and I couldn't afford having two basses for different tunings.

I must admit that I really missed my G string when I got the opportunity to solo and slap (especially when doing both at the same time) with other bands/projects (It's not like I got to do either that often, but still). Then I missed it at home when trying to play along with more complex bass lines. Thankfully, I have a five string now.
 
#19
Before I had my 5, I used to detune my 4 with EADG strings to BEAD. The strings go quite floppy (useless for slap) but with the right set of strings and a little practice you can adapt easily. This also gives your bass a very cool and unusual tone. I'd suggest trying this. You doin't need to adjust anything on your bass and your current strings might work fine.

I still use EADG a fair bit but I love unusal tunings. I find it helps me to keep things fresh. It doesn't hurt to try these things! Maybe you won't like BEAD, but unless you try it you won't know.

I also use an assortment of guitars including a baritone (detuned to A), 7-string (Standard BEADGBE) and a 12 string acoustic (open G).
 
#20
Davyo said:
I have been doing the BEAD tuning/strings on ALL my 4 bangers for at least the last 10 years or more.

My bass's are, 1 Fender Jazz Arodyne, 4 P-bass's, 1 Dean, 2 acoustic bass's (one is the Fender Kingman) 1 Steinberger Synapse and a Stagg Upright,,,, all my G strings go in the garbage can.

Most of my bass's I have to do a very slight modification, file'ing the nut string grooves just a tad, and some slight widening of the string hole's on some of the bridge's.

Back in the early 90's when I starting doing this I was not aware it had ever been done by anyone else, so the first bass I did was kinda scary, but it worked great.
I even had my local guitar stores telling me it could not be done when I asked about it,,,, pretty funny looking back on that now.

Anyhow, like most,,, if not all of us back then,,,,, I started out with 4 banger's as 5 bangers had not really been invented yet, or at least known about that much.

When the 5 bangers came out I bought a few of them and played them for years,,, but never really felt as comfortable with the 5 string spacing as a 4 string spacing,,, that combinded with the fact I always like playing in the lower register made me do the BEAD set-up.

I play rock, classic rock, blues, some country and some blues, all pro gigs and have never had anything but great response from fellow bandmates over the years,,,,,, and I have NEVER missed not having a G string.

On a side note,,,, many years ago, before 5 string bass's were mainstream or even really know about,,, I would have bass players that had come to my gigs and ask to sit-in,,, I would say sure and hand them my bass, without telling them about my BEAD tuning,,, wow,, that would be huge fun watching some of them fumble and not know what the hell was going on,,,, it was always in good fun though and no one ever got pissed at me.

On a nother side note,,, a few weeks ago I went to an acoustic open mic jam to sit-in and hang out,,, took my Fender Kingman with the BEAD tuning,,,, a bass player asked if he could use my bass to sit-in with,,, against my better judgment I said yes,,, and then told him about my tuning more than a few times before I even handed him my bass,,, I told him NOT to try and retune it,,,,, while he is onstage "trying" to play my bass he grabs the tuners and starts cranking them,,, I ran to the stage to stop him but was to late,,,, he was trying to tune my B string to an E and broke the nut on my brand new Fender Kingman,,,,,, the Kingman goes to the repair shop this week for a new nut, and I have to pay for it,,, the moron that did it did not even offer to pay for it,,,matter of fact he did not even say sorry,,,,,,, never again to I let people use any of my bass's to sit-in with,,,except for my sit-in thrasher bass thats tuned EADG,,,, from now on, anyone wants to sit-in at any of my gigs I will hand them the beat up EADG tuned bass to use.

Geeze,, I did go off on a rant,, sorry.

Cheers
Davyo
Click to expand...

I found your "rant" entertaining and educational. What's there to be sorry about?
 

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