B C F# B(?)E(?)/BCFBbEb Tuning... I am losing my mind.

[Mushroo]

I was open to this, but someone mentioned this effectively lowers the scale length (since you're moving the "nut"). Normally not an issue except tuning down 2 whole steps on the 4th string. Unless I'm thinking about this wrong.

That is a misleading statement. Using a capo doesn't change the scale length of the instrument, or the tension of the strings, or the location of the notes on the fretboard.

Putting a capo at the 1st fret is the same as fretting the 1st fret, except you are using a capo instead of your finger.

If your bass sounds good when you play fretted C at the 1st fret with your finger, it will also sound good if you play "open" C with a capo at the 1st fret. A capo is just an artificial finger. There is no audible difference (on a fretted bass; maybe fretless you could hear the difference).

 

[Nickerz]

This arcane stuff is precisely why I don’t deal with alternate tunings. Period.

Will anyone in your audiences notice any of this?

And yes, @Jawamac, I’m serious.

This is for tracking. And yes, absolutely. The reason why I say this was a revelation of mine. When guitar players and laypeople listen to good metal albums and go "wow, the guitar tone is amazing on this..." I've come to realize that is probably 60% bass playing\sound. The guitar is sitting in the pocket the bassist creates.

And so if the groove is fundamentally hammer on, while in a live situation it might not matter too much, something being put to tape, deserves that small amount of inconvenience.

Now there is a limit to this. Because I'm certainly not buying 4 basses for this. But there are some people who do that. I just want to cover the most ground I can. What I've learned over time is I want to capture recordings when inspiration and feel strikes. And that means having tunings available. Not that I have to rip out a set of strings and restring, then track. By that time, it's gone.

I realize I'm sort of having a conversation with myself here. Just wanted to talk through this and make sure I didn't come up with some idea that just flatly doesn't work or make any sense.

 

[RavenousPoe]

Put a 4 stringer in Drop B (B F# B E) and use the open F# to match the guitars (Meshuggah does not tune the bass down an octave below the guitars, they actually match the guitar octave), and capo 1st fret and move everything else up 1 fret when you need C. Make sure that you get the bass properly set up for this, and do not change the tuning drastically, otherwise that setup would have been for nothing. For this, I recommend the D'addario EXL160BT. The .120 will hold fine for B, especially if you can find a string-thru bridge 35" scale bass, and the rest are ideal tension.

Although I know that you have referenced the tone being in the hands, I would recommend considering how much cheaper it would be (even though I do hate them) to get a simulator typically pushed by Youtube guitarist personalities, or even better hire an actual bass player to play on these tracks for you. I can't tell you how often I've seen guitarists tell themselves that they can play both, only to hate their bass tone (or bury it in the mix, but it doesn't seem like you'll go that route). That's a whole other journey besides what bass to buy.

 

[Ritter667]

Meshuggah bass player plays with a drop B 5 string bass bass, with a high F#, above the B, instead of an E, that is 2 half steps above regular low E on a 4 string bass, not F#0 but F#1, same octave as the 8 string guitars.

So lowest string B0, remaining 4 strings in F#1 standard tuning (like early The Smiths).

 

[RavenousPoe]

Meshuggah bass player plays with a drop B 5 string bass bass, with a high F#, above the B, instead of an E, that is 2 half steps above regular low E on a 4 string bass, not F#0 but F#1, same octave as the 8 string guitars.

So lowest string B0, remaining 4 strings in F#1 standard tuning (like early The Smiths).

I do believe Meshuggah's bassist plays in Drop A#, and when the guitarists play in F he moves one string up to the matching octave F. But just shift every note that you referenced a half step down and you've got it!

So A# F A# D# G#