So again everyone should play the way you like it. YOU think it sounds like garbage which is awesome dude. I love it along with my bandmates and others of the same genre. Please keep telling us how awesome you are
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Anyone else tune their basses as I do?
- Thread starter Cosmiceddie
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So again everyone should play the way you like it. YOU think it sounds like garbage which is awesome dude. I love it along with my bandmates and others of the same genre. Please keep telling us how awesome you are
This sounds very dissonant to my ear. From my point of view, this points to NOT compensating for low pitched, low tension notes that pull sharp on attack. I don't dislike the concept, tones, or vocal style, or the talent of the players, but the tuning is an issue - for me.
EDIT: Why justify liking this to someone else? If you like it, you like it. That is good enough.
I don't play metal myself, but I've had similar discussions before. The moment you start to play hard and add overdrive and similar distortion, the distortion is an important part of the tone, and it is introduced at higher frequencies than the fundamental. So even if the fundamental is not reproduced, the distortion part is audible and may be what the metal bass players is after.
Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Same tuning is not same tension, dude. He's likely using a properly compensated set that is about .135 for his low A.
This relates to tension, too. If your strings have good tension, the note won't fluctuate much at all. It's the increased string travel that causes the note to pull sharp.
The cool thing about tuning 5th intervals instead of 4th intervals is that you're actually getting the reversed sequence of open string notes.
Example: EADG is 4th intervals, while GDAE is 5th intervals. This means you can get some interesting "broken" scales by reversing the patterns across the fretboard. If I look at 5th intervals like that, I find that kind of tuning really interesting.
Example: EADG is 4th intervals, while GDAE is 5th intervals. This means you can get some interesting "broken" scales by reversing the patterns across the fretboard. If I look at 5th intervals like that, I find that kind of tuning really interesting.
I agree it relates to tension. However, I think the player in the video is still playing out of tune. By experimentation, I have found that, with a light touch, I can get away with a string as small as .120 for a low B on a 34" scale bass. (I know that small a string doesn't work for MANY players, and a light touch is definitely required. This small a string *barely* works for me.) If I cross-reference that back to the Circle K tension chart (bear with me - I'm only "ballparking" the tension), I find that somewhere around 30 lbs is my minimum acceptable tension for playing with a light touch. If I want to tune to a low A, that puts me at about a .135. That is for a light touch. If I dig in, I would need to go upwards from there.
But that is for me, my playing, and my musical preferences. For the noise rock genre, some of the filler "noise" seems to be less about the pitch than it is about the ... noise. So a very light string might be perfectly fine. I don't mean that as an insult to the genre or those that play it - just an observation from my point of view.
Since you tune very low, have you tried heavy strings? Like a .145 string for your A? Did you like it?Very good point. I guess if it sounds good to me, the people that come our shows, musicians I respect, our engineer, and my favorite soundmen I shouldnt feel the need to justify it to some dude on TB.
as a guitar player i love metal, i own 6, 7, and 8-strings and have a lot of fun writing and jamming on songs with lower tunings. however as a bass player, its difficult for me to appreciate anything below B, because it gets very difficult to discern between semi-tones. i have my btb bass set up in F# standard with .160 for the F#, i dont really like it at all, but i have it set that way to use with the 8-string.
If your sound engineer says it sounds good, he needs his ears checked...cuz the only sound is the clacking.Very good point. I guess if it sounds good to me, the people that come our shows, musicians I respect, our engineer, and my favorite soundmen I shouldnt feel the need to justify it to some dude on TB.
Heaviest ive tried is 110. They all sound good but the 100s just feel/sound the best to me
Dude - everyone understands that my approach/preference is something you dont dig. Youve stated it time and time again. I think its awesome its not your bag. We arent wired to all sound the same and thats what makes music great. Not sure why you are bitter or feel the need to keep expressing your feelings to my preference but you just keep repeating the same thing. You wouldnt use my tuning or string gauge...sweet...we get it man. Do your own thing and be assured I wont be judging it as musicianship is meant to explore boundaries and come in endless flavors yo.
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For me, tuning a bass with medium or ideally heavy strings down more than 3 semitones, does not produce a usable sound/tone. C# tuning on a 4 string is as low as I will ever downtune, and even that will not be without a fight.
I gig almost exclusively 1/2 step down to Bb, Eb, etc. on my 5ers, and that is fine IME even with ultra light strings.
Having said all that..... I mainly play classic rock, funk, blues and older metal/heavy rock. Anything tuned lower than D (other than the odd song tuned to open C#) sounds like $h!t for what I play. Also, I have a very hard touch. Open A would physically just be clacking and farty overtones.
"For what I play" being the key. For experimental stuff of certain kinds of metal, I guess it works in the mix. Not for me, but might work for others. I can't see many blues, country or classic rock players playing open A with a standard E string as a rule, and there are a lot of these players on TB.
I gig almost exclusively 1/2 step down to Bb, Eb, etc. on my 5ers, and that is fine IME even with ultra light strings.
Having said all that..... I mainly play classic rock, funk, blues and older metal/heavy rock. Anything tuned lower than D (other than the odd song tuned to open C#) sounds like $h!t for what I play. Also, I have a very hard touch. Open A would physically just be clacking and farty overtones.
"For what I play" being the key. For experimental stuff of certain kinds of metal, I guess it works in the mix. Not for me, but might work for others. I can't see many blues, country or classic rock players playing open A with a standard E string as a rule, and there are a lot of these players on TB.
That's cool. I used a 110 on my E (tuned to E) a long time ago and it wasn't for me at all. Lately, I have been experimenting with what I consider really light strings: .095 E and .120 B. I'm getting ready to start looking in the other direction. It is going to be gradual. My next set of strings will have a .125 B. After that, I plan to try a .135. I'll stop when I become unhappy with what I'm hearing. What I have found in the past is that the lighter strings tend to be "floppier," but the string has more character. The heavier strings have more tension, but become more thump than tone after they get too big. It has been a while, though, and I am curious to see if I still have the same opinion.
Maybe I'll get crazy and drop my B and/or E down to an A to see what you are doing. I can't see it working for me, but you never know - using lighter strings for a while now has given me a little different touch than I've ever had. I could be surprised.
While I do not use the tuning the OP uses I am surprised at the direction this thread has taken. Scordaturas or altered tunings are quite common in classical music as well as other musical genres that are not so inclined to use Italian terms for every little thing. They were particularly common for our instrument's progenitor, the double bass, which practically did not have a standard tuning in the early years. Altered tunings are generally only used for particular pieces in the classical world but in other types of music artists may adopt them for all their work. The notion that people do this to seek attention is just silly. I have been playing a bass tuned in fifths in my church for about three years and no one has ever noticed this. If you think that using a different tuning with get you attention you will be severely disappointed. For three years I have walked into every rehearsal, sat down at the piano, plunked out CGDA on the keyboard on a stage full of other musicians while watching my tuner to see where the piano was tuned this week, and no one has ever noticed. How more obvious could it be?
The only reason to tune in a different tuning is to achieve some musical goal. If you have a tuning that allows you to meet some goal that you have then use it. If other people on TB cannot understand why you would use a different tuning then just ignore them. Yes, the musical education system will try to force you to conform but who cares? If you cannot find an instructor or school that is willing to work with you that is a condemnation of the system, not you. You can always tune a bass in fourths so that they will condescend to teach you what they know but once you have learned it and want to go into areas they apparently are incapable of imagining then you will have to leave them behind. Excellent students eventually have to do that will all their teachers anyway. I decided to try fifths (which is not even close to being a standard bass tuning) simply to get the range of a five string bass, which I hate, from a four string bass, which I love. I quickly realized that I just love the tuning for itself and I cannot really tell you why. For some reason it just seems right to me. Maybe I missed my calling by not taking up the cello?
So I have actually switched tunings. It really is not a difficult thing to do. If you are an accomplished bass player then you know how to do tons of things that have nothing to do with where the notes are on the fretboard. The notion that a tuning change would be akin to starting over is false. You do have to relearn your fretboard. The late, great double bassist, Red Mitchel switched to fifths from fourths in one intense week of practice. I played my first worship service in fifths ten days after deciding to try the tuning. It does take some effort, it is nothing like starting over. Some people who switch to fifths continue to play basses in both tunings indefinitely. A lot of people have Hipshot tuners to switch between a normal and a drop tuning on a song by song basis carry both tunings around in their heads for years. You can live and play in two worlds while you are evaluating an alternate tuning or forever if you like. Some things written for fourths are more difficult to play in fifths, most are about the same, and a few are actually easier. Playing in a different tuning will often force or at least push you to approach things a bit differently. That can definitely spur your creativity and result in you developing a style that is a bit different from all the other kids. This is not a bad thing. The standard tuning is the standard tuning because it works quite well. There is nothing wrong with it. There is nothing wrong with other tunings either however.
On my 34 inch basses I use 0.128 to 0.145 C strings. They give me a string tension similar to what you get from standard fourths tuning string sets. I have a Squire VI tuned CGDAEB and the heaviest string I can get for it is 0.120. That works reasonably well on a 30 inch scale although you will need to use a light touch. The recently posted video proves that you can tune a 0.100 string down to an A and wail away on it as hard as you can without it flying out the nut or bridge but that same video also proves to most of us that the results are unmusical. Tastes vary and I do not criticize those who do this for doing it or enjoying it but most of us would use a heavier string. I'd be hard put to even describe the "tone" of that A string!
The only reason to tune in a different tuning is to achieve some musical goal. If you have a tuning that allows you to meet some goal that you have then use it. If other people on TB cannot understand why you would use a different tuning then just ignore them. Yes, the musical education system will try to force you to conform but who cares? If you cannot find an instructor or school that is willing to work with you that is a condemnation of the system, not you. You can always tune a bass in fourths so that they will condescend to teach you what they know but once you have learned it and want to go into areas they apparently are incapable of imagining then you will have to leave them behind. Excellent students eventually have to do that will all their teachers anyway. I decided to try fifths (which is not even close to being a standard bass tuning) simply to get the range of a five string bass, which I hate, from a four string bass, which I love. I quickly realized that I just love the tuning for itself and I cannot really tell you why. For some reason it just seems right to me. Maybe I missed my calling by not taking up the cello?
So I have actually switched tunings. It really is not a difficult thing to do. If you are an accomplished bass player then you know how to do tons of things that have nothing to do with where the notes are on the fretboard. The notion that a tuning change would be akin to starting over is false. You do have to relearn your fretboard. The late, great double bassist, Red Mitchel switched to fifths from fourths in one intense week of practice. I played my first worship service in fifths ten days after deciding to try the tuning. It does take some effort, it is nothing like starting over. Some people who switch to fifths continue to play basses in both tunings indefinitely. A lot of people have Hipshot tuners to switch between a normal and a drop tuning on a song by song basis carry both tunings around in their heads for years. You can live and play in two worlds while you are evaluating an alternate tuning or forever if you like. Some things written for fourths are more difficult to play in fifths, most are about the same, and a few are actually easier. Playing in a different tuning will often force or at least push you to approach things a bit differently. That can definitely spur your creativity and result in you developing a style that is a bit different from all the other kids. This is not a bad thing. The standard tuning is the standard tuning because it works quite well. There is nothing wrong with it. There is nothing wrong with other tunings either however.
On my 34 inch basses I use 0.128 to 0.145 C strings. They give me a string tension similar to what you get from standard fourths tuning string sets. I have a Squire VI tuned CGDAEB and the heaviest string I can get for it is 0.120. That works reasonably well on a 30 inch scale although you will need to use a light touch. The recently posted video proves that you can tune a 0.100 string down to an A and wail away on it as hard as you can without it flying out the nut or bridge but that same video also proves to most of us that the results are unmusical. Tastes vary and I do not criticize those who do this for doing it or enjoying it but most of us would use a heavier string. I'd be hard put to even describe the "tone" of that A string!
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