5 string tuning 1/2 step down?

[hrodbert696]

If the band is tuned down a half step for everything, I tune my 5 down to Bb--I've done this with about 3 bands. If it's just one or two songs and the guitarists are switching guitars to get the Eb, I just play down one fret.

Ditto here. There are some songs I just want to be able to play the open strings so I'd rather downtune than transpose. Others it doesn't matter. We play pretty much everything downtuned, except for a couple of songs that were recorded that way, which we play as is.

 

[milo]

Tell your guitarist he must buy this:
Schecter Jeff Loomis JLV-7 NT SBK - YouTube

 

[Wallace320]

the lead guitar player in my band (and studio engineer for the band) plays right that one!

Cheers,
Wallace

 

[Thumper]

I have my back-up bass tuned regular for the 5-6 songs we do in standard tuning, and we group them together so only one change needed. My tuned down bass actually sounds better to me than the standard tuned bass, the notes seem to blossom (both Ps wearing Sunbeams). Of course, the adudience never notices any difference.

 

[srayb]

I'd tune 1/2 step down to make it much easier for you!

Also try heavier gauge strings to reduce the floppiness.

It would work best on a longer scale (35") bass, rather than the standard 34" scale of most basses. I've played Ibanez BTB basses that are 35" scale and they have an awesome low string sound. With 34" scale basses, when you tune lower than a B (or even C some might say) it starts to really lose a lot of the tonal qualities at the very bottom.

 

[MichiganMadDog]

Thanks for all the thoughts on this, I have dropped down to make life easier.
I think the heavier strings would help,... I guessing because I don't know on this new bass, the strings on it are 45 - ? (Ernie Ball) High string feels too light to me so yes, new strings will be on the way.
Thanks again!

 

[nubs]

me? i tune down too, lifes a whole lot easier tuning down then transposing and relearning, but whatever works for you. some dudes can transpose on the spot, more power to them, heck i'm still tryin' to figure out which bass works best for metal

 

[Ric5]

Well, I have a guitar player who wants to play a half step down from E with his six string. He might be getting a seven string also.
Do I stay with standard tuning low B and playing a fret off or drop and have floppier strings which I don't like.
What do you guys do in this case?
Thanks!

If you need the low B flat then tune down. Or if you want to be on the same fret as the guitar then tune down 1/2 step.

Or you can keep the same tuning and play one fret lower.

 

[mymester]

Hi guys, I'm a new Forum Member as of 30 Seconds ago. I've been Trolling(Sorry ) this website for a few months Now in order to find the Right bass for my next Purchase(Schecter Stilletto Studio 5, Lefty), and Stumbled onto this thread some how. The conversation interested me, so I made an account. I'll be More active now that I went through with it. Any way, I have Nothing but Experience in Low Tuned Bands. As a Bassist, I have Never played in a band that played Over D Standard(Usually Dropped to C). I've been playing on a Squire(Yeah, that's right) P-Bass Combo package Guitar for 12 Years Now. So, That being Said, My crappy Bent old Stick Never had ANY Problems Tuning down to D/DropC. Even at C Standard I've Had Little to no issue with Strings being too lose(and this is a FOUR String, Mind you). So I'm sure that your Higher quality Bass, with 5 Strings and Thicker Neck will have No Problems, and no Noticable change in String Tension. Straight D is hard to Notice, also(And of coarse by the time we Drop to C, our neck will need a little Twist of the Truss Rod, but Very little Looseness in the Strings).

Now I just Joined as a Guitarist in a... Strange Mix between Grunge, Psych Pop, and Metal(Think American Head Charge). My First Practice With them was this past Monday. When I got there I instantly Realized I was going to have to Re adjust my Guitar, because they were Playing in B STANDARD. I had my 6 string set up for Drop B, To I had to Transpose as we Played, Not that Fun. The next Song We Played was in Drop A Tuning(THAT was Hard to Transpose on the Spot). The Bassist was Using a 5 String Ibanez Soundgear(Not sure on the Exact Model), and his Strings were Fine(although they were The heaviest Gauge Strings you can Get), and the bass sounded Like a Demon. If you want Examples, here is the Site to their Page, oh and a Warning, The Bassist in our Band is only a Few Years New, So he isn't that good: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cemetery-Spin/167024000050618

I think there's a link to our Sound Cloud there.

 

[spector_boogie]

Tuning 1/2 step down even on a light 5 string set (.125-.45) is hardly going to make much of a difference as far as alleged "floppiness". You'll spend more time doing a barely noticeable turn on your bridge and truss rod to get your intonation exact.
Just depends on what you want to accomplish. We tune down to drop C and so I need custom strings and a set up which is easy once you get past the first hurdle of figuring out the right tools for the job. My low B only goes down 1 step to an A, though. I don't go down to full G.

I've started doing BGV's for the first time ever so I'm glad I'm in the same tuning as my singer/guitard.

 

[tarafran]

One of my 7 Conklin is always tune 1/2 step down from my Hardcore days
the guitar player was detuned and it was a must to be able to double the very fast riff with the open strings.
Even to this day I still have calls from guitarist that detune like Jimy Hendricks
If I have to follow their hands it's faster than to transpose in my head

 

[smeet]

I think about detuning sometimes, but I always use the same bass with all the bands I play with, and only one band tunes down a whole step. It might sound a bit more natural if I tuned down for that band, but I hate retuning for different bands, and I have no problem transposing.

 

[247bassist]

I play guitar too and I can say that tuning a guitar down often gives you a nice deep resonant tone that guitarists love.

The same thing is not true for bass. The length of the strings on most basses are just long enough to work and tuning them down usually makes them sound and play worse. As Smeet says for some types of music there can be exceptions.

Unfortunately it seems down-tuning guitarists have made some bass players think they need to tune down too. Well, if you play a 4 string and you've got a bunch of bass lines memorized for all the songs your band plays, then the thought of reworking all your bass parts to play with a down-tuned guitarist may not be very appealing.

But for the 5 string player, let the guitarist down-tune all he wants. He can't tune down enough to get out of your range and still play his instrument. Of course it's best if you have 5 string basses where the higher frets of the B string actually play and sound pretty decently.

The beauty of a 5er is you can move your starting point to any fret or even sideways to other strings to play in any down-tuning or any key a singer demands. Love it.

THIS. this is what I do. this is why I bought a 5-er in the 1st place, even tho I later figured out that I am a 4-banger at heart all the way.

it's the new/hip thing to play everything in Eb. ESPECIALLY in Christian praise & worship. it's rampant. it makes me laugh b/c our guitarist/leader tunes in Eb....and then capo's every song SOMEWHERE. he never, ever plays in open Eb. it's quite comical to me b/c (a little light-hearted ribbing here) he plays a "vintage" acoustic guitar with a hole in it from strumming so hard (& missing the pickguard?). well said vintage instrument not only has ALL KINDS of electronics problems (b/c they were all added later, see), but also has horrible intonation. so he "tunes" in Eb...then promptly never, EVER plays any song open. all with capos, with varying degrees of bad intonation (the higher up he capos, the more "out of tune" he is). it's horrible and I hate it.

but my polite mentioning of this to him & the music director gets shrugs. they don't care, I guess...mostly b/c I don't think they can hear it. I don't see how they can't b/c to me it's super obvious, and I don't consider myself to have a pro ear or perfect pitch or anything. "better than average" ear, maybe.

the other thing those constant-capo'ers do is...they always talk about the song in the key THEY'RE playing in, which cracks me up. "so when you hit the C chord here (really B), hold that 4 beats the second time before going to the G (really F#) of the bridge..." haha. for me it's nothing. I don't even say anything b/c I know what he means. but boy we get us a fill-in keyboardist and they are L-O-S-T immediately. I have to go over & explain to the keyboardist that they're going to have to transpose a bunch of stuff or at least be cognizant of the fact that the leader is "playing in a different key" b/c of the stupid capo.

anyhoo sorry that was a long rant there lol...but yeah I bought a 5-string jazz for the praise band for the sole reason that I had to have that low Eb & low D w/o de-tuning b/c the guitarist has to tune to Eb b/c that's the new, cool thing lol

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

Why not tune to the guitar? It will be easier, plus if a guitarist down tunes, they tend to base almost all of their songs in Eb or D or whatever the lowest string is in my experience, I bet this guy falls in the same category. The riffs will be built around the open Eb and having the open Eb will come in handy. Just use a larger gauge if you really have too, I use really light strings and they can handle a half step no problem without becoming too sloppy.

 

[spector_boogie]

Why not tune to the guitar? It will be easier, plus if a guitarist down tunes, they tend to base almost all of their songs in Eb or D or whatever the lowest string is in my experience, I bet this guy falls in the same category. The riffs will be built around the open Eb and having the open Eb will come in handy. Just use a larger gauge if you really have too, I use really light strings and they can handle a half step no problem without becoming too sloppy.

This. You're not going to experience any floppyness at all just 1/2 step down. If you had to take a double-blind test on the same bass you probably would have a hard time telling much difference!

So much disinformation in these threads it's sad and also easy to see how rumors and just flat out wrong answers are perpetrated when it comes to this stuff...... :scowl::scowl:

 

[smeet]

Where's the disinformation???
Either way it's a compromise, pick your preference.

Some people don't like to transpose. Then tune down.
Some people don't like to retune. Then transpose.

Simple.

 

[lomo]

Our band tunes down a halfstep for everything. No biggie. I leave a bass downtuned just for the band. If your strings are floppy-try thicker gauge, a longer scale length or both.

 

[spector_boogie]

Where's the disinformation???
Either way it's a compromise, pick your preference.

Some people don't like to transpose. Then tune down.
Some people don't like to retune. Then transpose.

Simple.

1/2 step down = floppyness
i read this every day on this forum multiple times. even on crappy $10 strings, you won't get it. there's others. just read around some. mostly comes from people who have little/no experience with it yet chime in. would be akin to me giving advice on a 70's SVT rig with a '63 P-bass. i'd be blowin' smoke outta my you know where.

 

[Mushroo]

I've tuned down as low as B many times on a wide variety of basses; it is still perfectly playable.

Also, since I tune every time I play, it's no big deal to retune for different projects.

 

[mikezimmerman]

This. You're not going to experience any floppyness at all just 1/2 step down. If you had to take a double-blind test on the same bass you probably would have a hard time telling much difference!

So much disinformation in these threads it's sad and also easy to see how rumors and just flat out wrong answers are perpetrated when it comes to this stuff...... :scowl::scowl:

Having tuned down a 1/2 step for lots of bands, in my experience there IS a difference in tension. The difference varies depending on which bass and strings I'm using, but I certainly can tell the difference playing "before and after".

That said, having slightly less tension is not at all the same thing as being "floppy". It's more like going to a slightly lighter set of strings.

Edit: Have a look at the Circle K string tension chart at Link Removed , which is kinda interesting information. The difference in tension on their .130 string tuned to B vs. Bb is about 4lb (36.0lb vs. 32.1lb), and the next lighter gauge, .124, is 32.9lb when tuned to a B.