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about BEAD tuning...

Discussion in 'Hardware, Setup & Repair [BG]' started by (hed)-less, Nov 28, 2001.

  1. Nov 28, 2001 #1
    (hed)-less

    (hed)-less

    Aug 5, 2001
    Northern England
    hey, ive been thinking for awhile about getting a new four string and giving it a low B and tune it BEAD. i want a low B but i dislike the thicker necks of 5s and 6s. well anyway someone told me that this may not work because my pickups wouldnt recognise the low B and wont pick it up. as the pickups on a 5 or 6 string are configured specifically to pick it up. is this true or not? if so is there any way around it? and what other configurations will i have to make to the bass so that every thing works acordingly with the new tuning. ive been taking lessons for a while now and i can play quite well; but i generally dont take my bass out of standard tuning and i dont tinker around that much. i dont know how to setup a brandnew bass or anythin. i dont know anythin bout bass mechanics...i can just play them

    thanks for anyhelp
    AnT
     
  2. Nov 28, 2001 #2
    Turock

    Turock

    Apr 30, 2000
    Melnibone
    I have a bass set up this way and I don't have any problem with my pickups not picking up the B.
     
  3. Nov 28, 2001 #3
    neptoon

    neptoon

    Jul 25, 2000
    Kings Bay, GA
    pickups are pickups...they can sense frequencies lower than your ear can...now, some of your pole type pickups have to designed specific to an instrument due to placement of the strings, i.e., spacing...if you don't think they can pick up a low b, try this....play an open e and detune the mud out of your e string...goes all the way down on your amp, right? also, do a search on this...we've talked about setting a 4 stringer up with bead tuning a zillion times before. lots of good information already here...
     
  4. Nov 29, 2001 #4
    lo-end

    lo-end

    Jun 15, 2001
    PA
    The pickups you have will work fine! They are not a problem! :) All you'll need are some 65-130 strings and a new setup. Thats neck relief, pickup height, action, and intonation. You'll to adjust your setup because the thicker gauge strings will change everything about it. Also, you might need to widen some of the slots in your nut to accomidate for the heavy strings. Have a luthier do this, please!

    You can get those heavy strings Im talking about by buying a 5 string set and using the 4 heaviest ones. By the way, my favorite 5 string set is the Ernie Ball Slinky 5 string. Its cheap! You can use the G string for... well you know what I mean ;)

    :eek: