Anyone else tune their basses as I do?

[City]

I tune down my basses this way:

E > C#
A > F#
D > C#
G > F#

Does anybody else of you do so, too?

I think Black Stone Cherry tune down like this. The guitars play their bar chords as 555 or 666. There is no 355 for a G chord. Personally, I have a 5 string and tune down a 1/2 step and was very reluctant. Since the rest of the band does it made it easier to transpose, but still, my B, now A# is boarderline flapping.

The City

 

[FretNoMore]

Chromes are a high tension string, already. They take well to drop tuning.

I've also read that A440 is at a discord with our ears & brains. Drop tuning sounds more pleasant because it puts us closer to A432 (well, lower but more sympathetic).

That sounded interesting so I had to search the web for A432 vs A440. That search returned the most ridiculous mumbo jumbo of the Ancient Aliens kind. Apparently A432 is related to everything from your consciousness to DNA to Egyptian pyramids to a unified theory of natural forces. Funny stuff.

 

[awilkie84]

That sounded interesting so I had to search the web for A432 vs A440. That search returned the most ridiculous mumbo jumbo of the Ancient Aliens kind. Apparently A432 is related to everything from your consciousness to DNA to Egyptian pyramids to a unified theory of natural forces. Funny stuff.

Lol. I prefer to look just at the way the wavelengths react & how I feel when playing in A432. It definitely is more pleasant.

 

[JimmyM]

His 5th is SUCH a cliche.

Get past the first 4 bars and it isn't.

 

[DigthemLows]

Like I'd ever take advice/instruction seriously from a guy who brags about never practicing.

I've looked at my post multiple times, as well as all the others, and I'm not finding anywhere that anyone is talking about advice or instruction. Someone asked if anyone else uses a specific tuning and you jump in talking about how amazing you are for knowing the history of bass tuning, and how much easier it is for YOU to play 2 octave scales in standard. I merely came here to defend those of us who don't give a crap about "standard" things or who is famous for playing 1/5 or 12 bar blues lines in EADG. Cause, well, we are all not you, and that's a good thing. Lighten up a little..........life aint a contest, and some people play and love music without needing to do it the way you did.

 

[MarkA]

Joe Pass. Leo Kottke.

 

[castlev]

a lot of times we're at the mercy of the guitar players tuning, which often times can be a bit funky. i guess if your a bedroom rocker do as you please, but for anybody that actually writes music, alternate tunings are a must, unless you want every album to sound the same.

 

[lushba]

i guess if your a bedroom rocker do as you please, but for anybody that actually writes music, alternate tunings are a must, unless you want every album to sound the same.

I'm a bedroom rocker most of the time so please excuse my ignorance, but could you explain how alternate tunings are a necessity for writing "legitimate" musical pieces?
I always figured alternate tunings simply served the purpose of making certain ideas the musician might or might not have easier or even, by extending the range of your instrument compared to standard tuning, possible to play in the first place and thus come as a possibility after the process of writing to enable one to play the music one has written. Not vice versa to allow one to write.

Assuming "sounding the same" means consistency in sound and/or aesthetics, I also fail to see how that is a bad thing.

 

[awilkie84]

I'm a bedroom rocker most of the time so please excuse my ignorance, but could you explain how alternate tunings are a necessity for writing "legitimate" musical pieces?
I always figured alternate tunings simply served the purpose of making certain ideas the musician might or might not have easier or even, by extending the range of your instrument compared to standard tuning, possible to play in the first place and thus come as a possibility after the process of writing to enable one to play the music one has written. Not vice versa to allow one to write.

Assuming "sounding the same" means consistency in sound and/or aesthetics, I also fail to see how that is a bad thing.

I think what he was getting at is that bands tend to play in keys that are sympathetic to their tuning. This also involves using riffs centered around your tuning. By changing up the tuning, you change the key and the relative position of different notes, which can open up new lick & riff possibilities, as well as chord types & progressions.

 

[castlev]

lushba, you answered your own question, but dont put the word "legitimate" in quotes, because I never used that word. please re-read my statement.

 

[Kragnorak]

I always figured alternate tunings simply served the purpose of making certain ideas the musician might or might not have easier or even, by extending the range of your instrument compared to standard tuning, possible to play in the first place and thus come as a possibility after the process of writing to enable one to play the music one has written. Not vice versa to allow one to write.

I don't know if you've noticed but skill level varies among songwriters and composers. Someone with a brain like Mozart or Bartok will conceive the music in full and then orchestrate it (but Mozart was still sympathetic to the open strings and white keys of the instruments he wrote for). Some like Frank Zappa will write music first and let instrumentalists worry about adapting it later. Others simply noodle around on their instruments until they play what they like. Even a lot of guys considered great songwriters like Bob Dylan and Neil Young and anybody in country use the same chords over and over, so for guys like them new tunings help them break out of a rut. Or as tfer put it, it forces you to think.

Assuming "sounding the same" means consistency in sound and/or aesthetics, I also fail to see how that is a bad thing.

This statement seems at odds with your first paragraph. When I think of consistency in sound and aesthetics, AC/DC comes to mind. They rarely deviated from standard tuning except maybe to tune down a half step or if they were "close enough for rock n' roll". They also rarely used more than the same six chords. Opinions vary on them, so I don't see how you could fail to see how this could be a bad thing. The pros are that they rock, and their formula has gotten them a lot of success, and their riffs are varied enough that they can sound somewhat fresh. The con is that not everyone can do what AC/DC does. People with jazz chordal chops would find it extremely limiting to write like AC/DC and composers like John Zorn would find it extremely limiting to stick with one genre of music let alone one approach to hard rock.

 

[I am Soma]

hey all. so took a vid on my phone of showing me tuning a light gauge 100 down to A. few people on here keep saying its impossible and would have to be a 5'er or a heavy gauge string....even after stating ive been using light gauge for years....anywho here is the vid

 

[bigmoosepi]

I like c# standard.

the key of vol. 4

 

[I am Soma]

I challenge you to go try his tuning with similar gauges. I did. It won't work. He even says he plays aggressively with a pick. Not a bloody chance will it work. When your string is loose at the nut & saddle, there's no way it will be tight & clear in response (regardless of what your touch is).

hey man the video of tuning with light gauge 100s low E to low A is up

 

[I am Soma]

Soma - go for it. Be sure to play the open A (regular A string) and then the downtuned .100 string an octave below that.
It will be instructive.

Vid is up

 

[davidhilton]

I tune down my basses this way:

E > C#
A > F#
D > C#
G > F#

Does anybody else of you do so, too?

Isn't that the normal bass tuning?

 

[LowF]

Drop A standard or Drop F# standard. Depending on gauge.

 

[davidhilton]

I know it's a challenge. Still, as I've said before, it's just a matter of practice. And I really like to explore a new world of shapes and patterns.

You have any recordings with the creative tuning?

 

[davidhilton]

works for me on both my fender p-bass and jaguar. would you like a link to a recording i recently did in this tuning and string gauge? sorry man works perfectly for me

Yeah man, send us the link so we can check it out. thanx in advance...
www.basslessonslosangeles.com
Invalid Link Removed

 

[awilkie84]

hey all. so took a vid on my phone of showing me tuning a light gauge 100 down to A. few people on here keep saying its impossible and would have to be a 5'er or a heavy gauge string....even after stating ive been using light gauge for years....anywho here is the vid

Ok. If you think that is good tension and resonant, you're out to lunch. The note is not resonant, barely audible, not clear, muddy as #^%$ and you're getting more clacking than anything. Also, the ONLY reason your string isn't lifting in the saddle is because you went string thru. I'm sorry, but you pretty much just proved my point about it not working.