The original bassist for Slipknot played a 4 string in BEAD. His biggest string was a 115 gauge. He did it so you can too
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BEAD/EADG
- Thread starter Hercules
- Start date
Well, that set would be a good candidate for what the OP asked.
[Again, I'm taking it as an idle question ("what could work both as a BEAD and an EADG set"), not as a practical course of action ("...to be routinely tuned up and down and back"), which it wouldn't be.]
I'm not saying *you* have to try it in standard - you would very probably not like it, given you're fine with tuning it BEAD - but three out of four of its gauges are by no means unprecedented, as standard tuning gauges go (in particular, the 067 is only two mils larger than what most bassists use or have used at one time for their D); and, by definition, the tension of the remaining one (the 120) is roughly the same as the other three, so, compared to them, it shouldn't be any less comfortable, at least to 065 D string users.
Disagree with you there. I have a bass that I keep setup in D standard, sometimes tune down a half step to C# standard and a few times usually when the strings are more worn in and I'm not too worried about it, I'll tune it up to standard to record a quick song.
That being said its not ideal and I don't recommend it often...but it can be done lol. I use Labella 45-105 for all the tunings
Tuning down a whole step reduces the string tension by 25% - you're not going to be able to set the bass up to work well with both tunings with that difference in tension.
It’s not impossible, but it would require a ton of discipline by the player. I think the only possible way is to go with the heaviest gauge AND stiffest set of strings made to be tuned EADG so they would be somewhat playable dropped to BEAD. That’s where the player discipline comes in. You would have to change to a much lighter touch or learn to like string rattle.
I received a set of LaBella 760 FM (Deep Talking Flats, medium-gauge) back in October as a gift. They were way too heavy for me, gauges .109, .089, .069, .049. These are also very stiff strings. I thought I would try them at BEAD tuning. I tried them on a Gibson Thunderbird and a Peavey GBass. Too floppy on both. I tried them on a Sterling by Music Man Stingray, and with the truss rod adjusted properly they were playable. It took control by me not to overplay them, but it wasn’t too bad at all. It was also easy to get the intonation set properly. Later, I decided to take them back to standard EADG tuning. They were high action and stiff tension until the truss rod & action was reset, but it wasn’t impossible to play, just close to impossible…
I received a set of LaBella 760 FM (Deep Talking Flats, medium-gauge) back in October as a gift. They were way too heavy for me, gauges .109, .089, .069, .049. These are also very stiff strings. I thought I would try them at BEAD tuning. I tried them on a Gibson Thunderbird and a Peavey GBass. Too floppy on both. I tried them on a Sterling by Music Man Stingray, and with the truss rod adjusted properly they were playable. It took control by me not to overplay them, but it wasn’t too bad at all. It was also easy to get the intonation set properly. Later, I decided to take them back to standard EADG tuning. They were high action and stiff tension until the truss rod & action was reset, but it wasn’t impossible to play, just close to impossible…
One thing I considered is how often would I use my BEAD bass over EADG. The BEAD is my secondary option so I went with an inexpensive bass. I think that helped me justify owning two basses instead of feeling like I had to get something nice for moderate to light use. Personally I don’t care to play five strings anymore but I wanted lower tuned options, but just sometimes.
Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I have been a 5 string player for many years but I have a 4 string that I have been thinking about converting to BEAD since I play the B string a lot more often than the G.
^^^This^^^
However, we are here to enable you, so buy another Bass, I'd recommend a 5er, best of both worlds!
i use these for cgcf and dgcf...didn´t try to tune the thick string to e either, feels scary to tune farther up than d
I enjoy regular/medium gauge strings tuned to BEAD fresh from the box.
If they get tuned up to EADG for even just a minute, they are pretty useless at going back down to BEAD.
-One bass tuned BEAD and use a capo
-two basses
-5 string with a narrow neck and get good at floating thumb
If they get tuned up to EADG for even just a minute, they are pretty useless at going back down to BEAD.
-One bass tuned BEAD and use a capo
-two basses
-5 string with a narrow neck and get good at floating thumb
I'll add in my vote of NO. A waste of time really with the extreme tension change.
As you see in this thread, lots of opinions and possible justifications.
Why not just try it and see if it works for you or not.
Good luck.
As you see in this thread, lots of opinions and possible justifications.
Why not just try it and see if it works for you or not.
Good luck.
I tried a BEAD 4 banger after 15 yrs of playing only 5s.......now I rarely play my 5er.
You need a graphite neck and higher action and a compromise on intonation and that would still be iffy on both tunings. Probably easier BEAD and a capo.
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It’s in the realm of possible, but I think a lot of people would find that the caveats are too impractical.. particularly that even if it works, you would have such a drastic tone and feel change that you’d need to have extremely niche idiosyncratic playstyle and/or tolerance for variation and adaptability for it to be usable, let alone practical. If you aren’t splitting time between a Korn cover band and a top 40s band, you’re likely to have a better option
I think most other options would work better- pay for another bass, learn 5 string, play the BEAD all the time, do some kind of drop tuning.. even a super cheap bass is going to play better than a bass with extremely over/undertuned strings .. especially considering how great cheap Ibanez are..
I think most other options would work better- pay for another bass, learn 5 string, play the BEAD all the time, do some kind of drop tuning.. even a super cheap bass is going to play better than a bass with extremely over/undertuned strings .. especially considering how great cheap Ibanez are..
I doubt it. I don't care for the feel of the thin G string. Tried to put a D string on and tune it up - didn't get there before it broke. I'm a fiver guy, so that's my solution to needing BEAD and EADG.
Doable but impractical. Not so much using the same strings at either tuning, but switching between the tunings would not work that well. Pick one tuning and optimize the rest (strings, setup, technique…) for that tuning. I downtuned a 100 E to a C (maybe even B), and it was acceptable. But not great. Other strings were also fine, but I only did one step down (basically dropped C).
I've tried this with the La Bella 54's on a 34". The 052 075 and 095 for GDA or DAE respectively, all be it with really big time stiffness as GDA. But then you run into the problem of the lowest string. The 110 loses playability , for me at least, lower than C#. If you were to swap out the 110 with the 128T of the 5iver set, you get B no prob and can tune it up to E1. Pretty tense and stiff, but playable. I've done this with Chromes 132 100 75 and 50 too. Of course, as practical issues arise, like trussrod adjustment and intonation when you flip between them. Better to have a dedicated axe for BEAD
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