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Anyone else tune a 4 string down a half step?

markjazzbassist

markjazzbassist

Apr 19, 2005
13,033
4,743
Shaker Heights, OH
#1
I despise 5 strings so I had a session one time where the artist asked if I could tune down a half step to get that low E flat. I fell in low with that tuning. Have had it ever since. It does help to take a little tension off the neck as well which is nice so I can play heavier strings without worrying about my neck (69 Jazz) or fingers.

Holler for Eb, Ab, Db, Gb

Good enough for Jamerson and Hendrix, good enough for me.
 
#2
I've been playing in Eb and D since I started in '97. I dislike standard tuning. I've also played in C# a lot as well as Eb drop to also make C#. D is home to me, feels right but I dig Eb. Alice in Chains, Ozzy, van halen, Guns N Roses and on and on.
 
#9
Not normally but I do it every now and then. Subbed for a band that dropped quite a few songs 1/2 step and I was so used to playing those songs in the normal positions and didn't feel like changing so I downtuned and it was great. I'm actually about to install a Hipshot detuner on my 2 4 strings.
 
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#11
Not a half step, but some 8-9 years ago, I tuned down a whole step. I liked it a lot so I kept it like that for at least a year, IIRC. Then I switched back to standard tuning for some reasons. 4 years ago I did it again. Kept it like that for a year or two. Then I decided to tune one more step down, to C-F-Bb-Eb to better suit the music in my band, and changed to a DR Strings DDT (drop-down tuning) set (fantastic strings by the way!). Kept it for about a year and was happy with everything, except for the occasional time I needed to play after a lead sheet; it was way trickier finding the right notes. :-) This spring, when I wanted to re-record a bassline of one of my band's songs needing a low C#, I figured it was terribly difficult to play the new bassline with that tuning, so I tuned down a half step more, to BEAD, i.e. the standard tuning of a fiver except the G string. Now I'm happy and will probably stick to this tuning for a long time, at least on one bass.

I never really liked 5-strings before. Whenever I picked one up, I thought the string spacing was too small and I kept hitting the wrong strings. Now I'm actually again considering a 5-string as I've gotten used to the tuning, but to be honest I don't really miss the high G. :-)
 
#13
+1 on the vocals thing. We have 3 old guys in a tiki bar trio. We tune down a whole step to D std (D G C F), but play stuff in the original key chord positions for an automatic whole step transposition, for vocal sanity. Also helps things sound a little warmer in a trio setting. I keep a bass (Brice 30" 6er strung like a Bass VI) tuned that way, along with my Strat and 6 strg acoustic guitar.
 
#15
I tuned to E flat for years while working in a band that did a lot of Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, & Aerosmith covers. We tuned flat simply to give relief to the lead vocalist. Regularly, I'd tune back up to E while playing with other groups and giving lessons.
 
#17
All 3 bands I'm in tune 1/2 step down , mainly for the singers benefit (we're all a bunch of geezers.)
I have chromes on both my main and back up basses and I really don't notice the difference in tension on the strings. I have a bass that I keep in the practice room that's also tuned down and it has rounds on it. I do notice the tension difference on that bass but not enough to bug me.
 

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