Aston Barrett's tuning in "Stir it up"

[brupo]

Hello Sir!

I'd like your thoughts on Bob Marley's beautiful love song to his wife Rita; "Stir It Up".

The Wailer's track was released in 1973, and history suggests Aston Barrett played bass.
One of the things I've always loved about it is the way Family Man tuned his bass for
the original recording. Clearly his E string is tuned nearly a 1/4 tone flat, and the tonic
note A was likely played singly on that string. The rest of his part was likely played on the
A and D strings. The performance was of course, perfect. His tuning may well have been
an oversight, or a revelation, we may never know. I've tried playing that part with
my bass "in tune" and it just doesn't cut it unless i flatten the E string.

Thoughts?

Thank you!

- Brett Cartwright

 

[Jamiebassface]

Sup Brupo!
The note is clearly "out there"...but sounds so damn groovy. Old flatwounds are funky like that (in a good way) but that's an extreme case. Whether or not it was done intentionally or not we may never know, but I love it! I'm sure you and I can agree on this one...It's the imperfections that makes things perfect. This is my first post by the way

 

[Baltimore Bass]

I've always noticed that as well. I suspect it's some kind of weird resonance caused by his speaker cabinet or an isolation baffle or something. The verses include a B, which he would almost certainly have played on the 7th fret of E, and that note is in tune- only the A is off.

 

[Jamiebassface]

I've always noticed that as well. I suspect it's some kind of weird resonance caused by his speaker cabinet or an isolation baffle or something. The verses include a B, which he would almost certainly have played on the 7th fret of E, and that note is in tune- only the A is off.

Nice observation Baltimore bass. I've played live in one particular environment three times if I recall correctly, and every single time certain notes sounded clearly "out there".