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A Fast way to Tune to BEAD without Changing The Nut?

#23
Gare Boo said:
Hello. What's the fastest and easiest way to tune a 4er to BEAD without the need to change the nut? I'm thinking a headless bass might do the trick because unscrewing the headpiece is easier than changing the nut but I'm not sure. Thank you!
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Drop your E string to B, A string to E, D string to A, G string to D. You dont need another nut. You don't even need higher gauge strings. You just get a more solid tone out of it if you do. But, it sounds wicked with just 105 - 50.
 
#24
Double-neck! Done!
Apr20_PG_CLM_Sons-of-Apollo_Billy-Sheehan-2019-Photo-by-Hristo-Shindov_WEB.jpg
 
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#28
Gare Boo said:
Ok I think I got you guys confused here. I'm trying to ask that is it possible for me to go back and forth between EADG and BEAD tunings on the same bass within a short amount of time, like 10 mins so I don't need to bring two basses to a gig. Thanks!
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It can be done, but I'd advise not gigging this way based on my experience. As others have mentioned, a heavy set of strings will be your best bet. I did it at home with a Steve Harris set and it did work. It was pretty playable tuned BEAD. Since I like TI Jazz flats normally, I was OK with very low tension. A couple drawbacks from my experience:
  • Since the tension was OK tuned BEAD, it was way too high tension for my liking in standard tuning.
  • Intonation was not spot on switching back and forth, but was probably good enough.
  • What would likely be a problem for gigging this way is that each time I changed the tuning, it took a song or 2 to "settle in" and I had to retune several times and then it would stay in tune.
Given these observations, I concluded it worked OK for playing around at home, but was not practical for any kind of real gig. I also realized that the number of times I went below D was very, very small. So for me, just doing drop D for a few songs was far and away the best solution and met 99%+ of my needs and avoided the drawbacks. YMMV, IMHO, etc...
 
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#29
I've spent a lot of time detuning four-stringers, and I can't imagine any circumstance in which the same set of strings and the same bass setup would capably handle both EADG and BEAD tunings during the same gig. If you don't need a ton of low-B notes during the set, and you don't want to leave your bass in BEAD for the whole gig, I would probably recommend getting an octaver and using it to drop in the low notes when needed.
 
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#33
Gare Boo said:
Hello. What's the fastest and easiest way to tune a 4er to BEAD without the need to change the nut? I'm thinking a headless bass might do the trick because unscrewing the headpiece is easier than changing the nut but I'm not sure. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Are you planning to play it in BEAD for the foreseeable? Then just widen the nut grooves as required and be done. If you want it back to EADG in the future, put a new nut in (cheap).

Are you planning to switch between the two tunings? Then the fastest and easiest is... a 5 string bass.
 
#35
As many others have said, what you’re asking about is very impractical. Besides the likely need for other adjustments, you would need time for the strings and the neck to settle and stay in tune.

Use a 5 string, or get another bass for the second tuning. Get a cheap one if you have to, and use that for the tuning you use less frequently.

Also, having a backup bass at a gig isn’t a bad idea. In a pinch, you can use one for all of the songs and just substitute notes as needed.
 
#38
Gare Boo said:
Yes, that's exactly what I meant! Is it possible to change tuning back and forth within the same gig? Thank you!
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A drop pedal was mentioned a few times. I just bought my kid a Digitech Drop for his guitar. I'm going to 'borrow' is to see how well it tracks on bass. Much cheaper and easier solution than anything else proposed.

My 2nd favorite option: 5 string.
More expensive, but you get a new bass!
 
#39
Using a capo on bass seems odd to me.

I could kind of get it if you needed open-string pedal notes in an awkward key like C or F, but for playing “standard” tuning songs on a BEAD tuned bass - why bother?
 
#40
Gare Boo said:
Ok I think I got you guys confused here. I'm trying to ask that is it possible for me to go back and forth between EADG and BEAD tunings on the same bass within a short amount of time, like 10 mins so I don't need to bring two basses to a gig. Thanks!
Click to expand...
4 Hipshot D-tuners?

Actually, I think this is not going to work well. With the same strings the tension difference between EADG and BEAD will be large and your action will be wrong unless you adjust the truss rod.

Bring two basses.
 

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