• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Anyone else tune their basses as I do?

Status
Not open for further replies.
#241
I am Soma said:
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

Click to expand...


I'm not a big fan of modern metal music. I find the crazy speed of everything (drums, guitars, and basses) kind of monotonous and non-musical, and the cookie monster vocals also monotonous and non-musical. I can take small doses, but... Of course, that is all MY OPINION, and I have nothing against people who do like it. Certainly, plenty of people (most I would guess), don't enjoy some of my favorites. Different strokes. However, I kind of dig the sound you get out of that bass with that tuning and those strings. I've heard some 'metal' guitars tuned way down low that I similarly liked the sound of, even though I didn't care for the music. I've often thought that some of those sounds might work quite well in different genres.

Also, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure almost every fundamental advancement in every field of human endeavor has come from people who were willing to try something that had not been done before.

Good luck with your CD.
 
#242
twoByFour said:
I'm not a big fan of modern metal music. I find the crazy speed of everything (drums, guitars, and basses) kind of monotonous and non-musical, and the cookie monster vocals also monotonous and non-musical. I can take small doses, but... Of course, that is all MY OPINION, and I have nothing against people who do like it. Certainly, plenty of people (most I would guess), don't enjoy some of my favorites. Different strokes. However, I kind of dig the sound you get out of that bass with that tuning and those strings. I've heard some 'metal' guitars tuned way down low that I similarly liked the sound of, even though I didn't care for the music. I've often thought that some of those sounds might work quite well in different genres.

Also, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure almost every fundamental advancement in every field of human endeavor has come from people who were willing to try something that had not been done before.

Good luck with your CD.
Click to expand...

I think you'd might like Tesseract then; they tune (their guitars/bass) to Bb F Bb Eb F Bb Eb, Ab F Bb Eb F Bb Eb, and A E A D E A D, just a suggestion (sorry OP for the derailment).
 
Last edited:
#243
awilkie84 said:
If your sound engineer says it sounds good, he needs his ears checked...cuz the only sound is the clacking.
Click to expand...
I kinda agree with you that to my ears it doesn't sound good. But I disagree that the ONLY sound is the clacking. With a good headset or speakers with a good deep bass extension/subwoofer I have to agree with mister Soma that the fundamental is present. The loose string does, however, clack against the strings so much that it is the dominant sound, then you have the overdrive distortion, and finally the fundamental. It's there, just not dominant.
 
#245
Shardik said:
I kinda agree with you that to my ears it doesn't sound good. But I disagree that the ONLY sound is the clacking. With a good headset or speakers with a good deep bass extension/subwoofer I have to agree with mister Soma that the fundamental is present. The loose string does, however, clack against the strings so much that it is the dominant sound, then you have the overdrive distortion, and finally the fundamental. It's there, just not dominant.
Click to expand...

I know I'm an odd duck but some of the clacking sound comes from the use of a Steel Leather pedal which accentuates the attack. I also use a micro pog at 100% dry, 25% low, and 75% high octaves wise which give off the light synth undertones. On the 100T I'm riding the distortion/mix at 7/7 with the mids tone at 9 and level at 8. When I do jam with other genres I wouldn't use this mix, but tuned this low it really helps cut through the mix and add almost a multi-layer effect. The video I provided was on my phone with the amp set below 1 so when going at concert volume level its a totally different feel. When we as a band decided to go with this tuning it took quite a while and pedal fiddling to get a sound I was happy with, but a lot of the bass players I look up to have a similiar tone so it kind of gave me a reference point :) Again - this tone/approach is totally not for everyone, but goes over well in the scene I'm in (sludge, doom, post-metal). I also still love a good smooth jazz tone as well - it's just not for me at this point in my "career"
 
#246
Shardik said:
I kinda agree with you that to my ears it doesn't sound good. But I disagree that the ONLY sound is the clacking. With a good headset or speakers with a good deep bass extension/subwoofer I have to agree with mister Soma that the fundamental is present. The loose string does, however, clack against the strings so much that it is the dominant sound, then you have the overdrive distortion, and finally the fundamental. It's there, just not dominant.
Click to expand...
The fundamental cannot be present. The cab he's using doesn't even go low enough to allow for a low E fundamental. Check the frequency ratings, it ain't there. You're getting nothing but weak overtones and huge clacking.
 
#247
I am Soma said:
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

Click to expand...

I liked your post for putting up the demo. It's not my sound, but if it works for you and your band, that's all that matters.
 
#248
awilkie84 said:
The fundamental cannot be present. The cab he's using doesn't even go low enough to allow for a low E fundamental. Check the frequency ratings, it ain't there. You're getting nothing but weak overtones and huge clacking.
Click to expand...

Glad you are back man! Was getting tired of seeing actual productive posts/discussions on approach to setup/tone.
 
#251
awilkie84 said:
The fundamental cannot be present. The cab he's using doesn't even go low enough to allow for a low E fundamental. Check the frequency ratings, it ain't there. You're getting nothing but weak overtones and huge clacking.
Click to expand...
Well, I have quite a lot of experience with both building and measuring loudspeakers, and I can tell you that "frequency rating" is not telling the whole story.
 
  • Like
Reactions: twoByFour
#253
So, this thread has given me an idea that might get me playing the Stick again. Scale reaches on a 34" scale in fifths are hard for me. That is the way bass is tuned in the standard Stick tuning and I have always found bass scales to be awkward and uncomfortable on the Stick.

My thought is to reverse the standard Stick tuning to bass in fourths and melody in fifths. That will leave the bass on Stick looking like my normal tuning on the basses and the melody strings will look about like the guitar I keep in fifths-based Crafty tuning.

Interestingly, among the many tuning variations listed for the various instruments, I don't see this tuning on stick.com. Still it should be fun to try it!

Otto
 
#254
ofajen said:
So, this thread has given me an idea that might get me playing the Stick again. Scale reaches on a 34" scale in fifths are hard for me. That is the way bass is tuned in the standard Stick tuning and I have always found bass scales to be awkward and uncomfortable on the Stick.

My thought is to reverse the standard Stick tuning to bass in fourths and melody in fifths. That will leave the bass on Stick looking like my normal tuning on the basses and the melody strings will look about like the guitar I keep in fifths-based Crafty tuning.

Interestingly, among the many tuning variations listed for the various instruments, I don't see this tuning on stick.com. Still it should be fun to try it!

Otto
Click to expand...

the fact that you own a stick makes me envious
 
#258
Thunder Pulse said:
So in other words, you have no idea. You just copy and pasted something you read somewhere.
Click to expand...

That's one way to phrase it. Another way to say it would be "Tfer made a bold statement (that top players like Geddy Lee never use alternate tunings), so I researched the veracity of his claim using the internet's #1 search engine."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back