Hi all,
Pretty new here. I've been playing bass for 1 year and a half. I mostly wasted decades going at the guitar in all the possible ways… or close.
I like bass in many ways, it finally allowed me to set a proper foundation to my musical adventure.
So far, I own only
one bass, tuned standard. I wonder about buying a 5th strings but it is mostly gas as I don't really need one to play the pop/rock I try to cover.
I tuned my guitar in all-4th for a while, even remove a string. So I'm familiar with all-4th tuning on more than 4 strings.
At this point my G string sees really few action. Actually a lot of frets are not seeing much action at all.
My experience at this point, out of the +/-25 songs I know, is that the G string is hardly use. It is also my opinion that the G string sounds, if not bad, different from the others three strings which can be nice. More often than not I prefer to shift a lick down the neck than to involve the G string.
My limited experience that most of the groove are played on the E A and D, actually a hypothetical low B string is more likely to get involved than the G string. From there I would assert that whenever the G string is involved, it is mostly for melody playing.
I would say that the same is true for a lot of advanced players, often jazz players. A significant part of the range of the instrument is dedicated to melody and chord playing.
In that context, which can be discuss obviously, I think all-4th tuning are not the best solution to the challenge musicians face. Tom Quayle gave an interesting interview on the matter, and actually stated he regrets to have chosen that path. There are centuries of researches and experiences behind the many different tunings used on the many existing chordophones in existence. Latin America is a treasure on that matter.
From what I gathered, quiet a while ago, the «bass» used 3 strings tuned GDA. Germans proposed the still in used EADG that made playing some parts easier but was less resonant than all-5th (that debate remains after centuries as people still advocate for all-5th tuning if not for the extra range but for the resonance).
When that standard was set, the usage of the instrument was quiet different from where modern players, backed by modern technologies, have pushed the instrument.
I do not intend to try to convince people that already know their ways around the instrument to change theirs ways. The title I chose was on purpose on the provocative side but the point remains : is an all-4th tuning the best solution for modern bass players which playing consist on holding a groove and for the advanced/gifted more «melodic» playing (which resolve on playing chords and arpeggios).
I toyed with a all-5th tuning derivative and I was not happy with it. I decide to try something as when I try to play melodically there are things that bother me with all-4th especially on the 3 highest strings. I especially dislike the root position of many simple triads whether if I intend to play them as a chord or an arpeggio.
I decide to detune my G string to F# and it solved many issue for me. The intervalle of a major third is common on many tunings I tried which includes std guitar tuning and it makes a lot of things more practical.
I wonder about making that change permanent. First I like how the «g» string sounds better than in std tuning (nb 105-45). Then, I have not encountered issues playing the songs I already know. More often than not, I actually the fingering more «natural». I've no difficulty hitting octave and actually it is more easy for me to land a power chord (1 5 1) with the offset introduced by the major 3rd. The bonus is chords and noodling, it feels like an almost different instruments which it is not (I wish the instrument just got better and me too as we are at it XO ).
Back to my concern with range. It is a minimal loss of range compared to std tuning, you could not loose less actually (a semitone). For an «improviser» or composer, aka somebody not concerned about how such a change could affect the songs it covers, a modern instrument, with 24 fret, tuned D G C E cover the same range as 21 fret instrument in drop D, actually exceed the range of such an instrument tuned std, lot of chording possibility in the high range. I guess EADF# is fine but outside of cover I assume most bassists would go with the extra low notes.
If I pushed to 5 strings. BEADF# sounds like the logical choice. The type of things played on bass and ergonomics make that you want lots of strings tuned in 4th. I tried to tuned DGBE, it doesn't fit with the instrument usage. I would think the same of ADGBE: weird compared to ADGCE. It is not a guitar, usage are different but my point is that it is not the major 3rd alone that makes the guitar what it is, neither the all-4th tuning that makes the bass.
Down the line, for 6 strings, assessing my experience with all-4th tuning on guitar, BEADGC seems like a really «weird» choice, with no disrespect to the famous players that use that tuning.
They will noodle a lot, in the highs, play chords, etc hence the high C but too me going for a high C for the sake of symmetry, is kind of ignoring other symmetries as having the same note on the outer strings of the instrument (no a known string) but also from your D string how you find the same note two frets up and down on the G and high C (if you tune in B).
I'm not sure I would want to use a guitar like tuning (BEADF#B) as I always tried to stir away from that tuning.
6 strings is troublesome though, say you tuned EADF#, moved to BEADF#, and finally go all the way to six… you end up with a guitar like tuning. It is likely a bassist, would favor BEADGB which implies learning a new string (G). Anyway I won't move to 6 strings, I'm iffy about 5 and for most bassist, the point is moot. If there is a discussion it is about a high C or a high B (I would obviously advocate for the later).
I agree in advance to statement such as to each his own (ways) though I wish people will consider what I wrote it says and not for «he played guitar, etc» (*) or reinventing the wheel. Etc.
I'm not sure so much though was put into deciding the bass tuning, others strings instruments were tuned in fifth, scale length was an issue : easy answer all-4th. Good enough, sure used to this day. Now as I stated the usage case were quite different from modern (mostly electric) bass playing.
What are your view on the matter ? I don't want to be an oddlier for the sake of it but I really wonder if «the science has really settled» on the matter. EADF# is amenable to most usage, can be «dropped», may allow to cover most of the existing repertoire but allows for more ergonomic chording and fingering up and down the neck.
* on the matter of guitar, I hardly touch it anymore, and thanks to a members here, I considered a luth like tuning (EADF#BE) and I'm happy I did. Feels fresh. I like the vibe better. There more symmetry in it (2 groups of 3 strings tuned in fourth), and I like the voicing I get a lot.
