Im so jealous of your cabs, especially the bottom one. God I gotta get me something like that done.
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BEAD tuning...
- Thread starter Sundogue
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Im so jealous of your cabs, especially the bottom one. God I gotta get me something like that done.
BEAD is way too far below EADG to keep tension on the strings.
This tuning isn't meant to replace drop tuning, but to make it possible to essentially turn a 4 string bass into a 5 string...sans the high G (which is typically the least used string on a 5 string).
This is correct. And that means the nut needs to be filed a bit to take the fatter BEAD strings.
A long time ago I got the BEAD idea because I figured I wasn't using the G string anyway so why not? So I converted one of my basses. Well playing it out, I soon discovered that I really used the G string a LOT more than I thought I did. So I put it back to EADG and then moved on to 5 strings and never looked back.
Not true. I bought a super cheap bass and tuned it to BEAD with the EADG strings on it. I gigged with it for years and still have it. The B is actually tighter than some actual 5 strings.
This does not work with every bass and set of strings of course, but it did with my cheap Chinese bass.
I will always have a 5 string bass with me. I just love 5 string basses for their versatility.
However, I really love how the 4 string SR400 feels, plays and sounds and I want to use both basses with my newest band. Due to at least half the songs being in Drop D, and the fact that after going through every song we do, I really do not need the G string for this one band. The other two bands I do use the G string more, and also more chordal work in one.
BEAD makes much more sense for me as a 4 string bass tuned up EADG is almost useless for me at this point. Tuning it to BEAD has gotten it out of the case and into my hands and on stage.
Had dropped into playing for a new band just seeing how it went... The guitars were tuned drop C of all things. I used the 5 tuned to B for a few rehersal and was on track then decided to try the drop C on a 4 string. What a disaster for me. I was lost.
The one guitar that was insisting on the drop C is out now. Im all better now with BEAD on the 4 banger and rolling through writing tunes instead of fighting the fretboard for notes I know are there. We do use those extra notes.
The one guitar that was insisting on the drop C is out now. Im all better now with BEAD on the 4 banger and rolling through writing tunes instead of fighting the fretboard for notes I know are there. We do use those extra notes.
I would guess that you used VERY heavy gauge strings, and messed around with the setup quite a bit. Otherwise I just cannot see tuning down 5 notes (three whole notes) to B with an E string and still have anything audible that is usable.
If have to tune any bass down more than a couple of notes it gets seriously floppy already.
How high was the action on that thing? I'm not saying it can't be done, but I can't imagine wanting to play a bass that way. I like my action so low the strings are damn near lying on the frets.
Yeah, for me it's not that I can't get used to Drop D tuning at all. It's the constant up and down from one song to the next. It's far too easy for me to forget which tuning I'm in and having to go up or down on the E depending.
Using a 5 string and now a 4 string tuned BEAD solves it quite nicely. And like you said I can just concenrtrate on playing and writing, instead of wondering where the hell I'm at on the fretboard.
The action was high by most peoples standards. It had/has Chromes on it for strings...their standard size for a four string.
I've used Chromes for a very long time. They are hex core, and while the gauge might be "standard", their tension is anything but. They are a very high tension string which would account for you being able to downtune so far (along with high action).
Certainly, being flatwound you've already eliminated so much of the fret "buzz" associated with rounds that would accompany downtuning.
I find it very hard to believe as well. I cannot imagine tuning a 45105 set of anything to BEAD - it would be virtually unplayable.
One of my basses is tuned DGCF, and it's strung with a set of 50/70/90/110 rounds, and the 110 should really be a 115.
Thanks. I painted the cabs myself. You'd be right to have a bit of jealousy with the bottom cab. It is a fEARful 15/6 after all.
Top cab is my 210/6 which I designed just prior to the fEARful craze and is kind of a cross between an Acme and a fEARful.
I used to have a fiver but could never get used to the extra width. I kept a four-banger tuned BEAD from a five string set for several years. I think Ross Valory (Journey) used to do the same thing. This is probably where I got the idea from as i was a big fan of his playing when I started out.
One other side benefit to tuning BEAD is that I have never really dug the thinner sounding D and G strings on 4 stringers. I've always EQ'd, adjusted pup height, played around with different configurations (like using flats for the D and G, but rounds on the E and A), etc. in an attempt to get them to sound meatier.
Now the D is the lone wimp. LOL.
Seriously, I still really love the D and G on my fivers, simply because there are times I do chordal work (like when writing) and there is a place for them obviously. But I'm no soloist and I seldom need a G string.
The longer I play the 4 stringer tuned BEAD the less I feel I even need a G string. At least for one band.
Now the D is the lone wimp. LOL.
Seriously, I still really love the D and G on my fivers, simply because there are times I do chordal work (like when writing) and there is a place for them obviously. But I'm no soloist and I seldom need a G string.
The longer I play the 4 stringer tuned BEAD the less I feel I even need a G string. At least for one band.
Here's the BEAD bass with the four string set of Chromes I mentioned earlier. I paid $34 shipped for this bass new in box.
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buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
No interest in a 5, and need the G. I have a hipshot on the E for when I need it. Ican e en pop back up to standard tuning mid song if I want
Drop D works for the guitarists, but not me. I play below that...down to the low B on some. So a low D still doesn't get me where I need to go.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Still might be worth checking out. I tune it to D, but it can go down to B according to reviews I read. Obviously if you are cool with the BEAD stick with it, but I wouldn't get a bass without one now. Michael Manring was known to have them on all 4 strings of his bass, because he always played in different strange tunings.
I drop my B and E strings down to Ab and Db, respectively... The other three strings go down a half step. 5 is the only way to go for me... I rarely use the Gb string, but I still want it there... Just in case. The few songs I do use it in, I use the heck out of it.
Since we are talking gauges, my low G#/Ab is a 145.
I'm just the opposite of you guys, standard tuning confuses the crap out of me. I've written and played in drop D or a similarly shaped tuning almost exclusively for almost 20 years now... Guitar-wise that is. Being fairly new to bass, "relearning" standard tuning just seemed silly.
Since we are talking gauges, my low G#/Ab is a 145.
I'm just the opposite of you guys, standard tuning confuses the crap out of me. I've written and played in drop D or a similarly shaped tuning almost exclusively for almost 20 years now... Guitar-wise that is. Being fairly new to bass, "relearning" standard tuning just seemed silly.
I tune my bass BEAD, I am currently detuning a regular 4 string set ( DRs, black beauties or more recently pink neon, wanted something different) now I love the sound and feel of DR coated strings, some players in here dont care for them but I think theyre great....however, I tried not too long ago a set of DR DDTs, they are meant for drop tuning and come in avariety of gauges, I loved everything about them except they are super bright and didnt suit the tone Im currently chasing, or mabye Im just used to the coated strings, either way, they held the tuning perfectly and felt great, I put them away for a different project foe a different day. Mabye they will work good for youre current bass setup, you might want to consider giving them a try. I tried many strings over the years but After playing DRs I wont switch to anything else, they have a bass string for everything.With one of the new bands I play in, there is an awful lot of drop D tuning, and even on the ones that aren't I'm finding I use the low B string of my 5 string quite a bit to carry some of the lower notes, or just for positional ease. I REALLY hate drop tuning. It's always messed with my head.
I had been using my 5 string almost exclusively, but I really dig the light weight and tone of my Ibanez SR400 4 string. So I wondered about stringing it up BEAD instead of the standard EADG 4 string tuning.
I went through the song list and found that almost every song that I do use the G string on, is on runs where I can easily that play higher up on the D string. Not only is it just as easy, it actually sounds better anyway because it sounds "meatier" and carries that part better with the other two guitars. This music is for the most part, harder rock so it fits perfectly with what I'm after.
I've been playing my 4 stringer strung up BEAD for a few days now and I am REALLY digging it. Of course I had to file the nut (no biggee) and give it a new setup, but I'm actually finding that thin little SR400 neck to be more stable in this tuning. It settled in nicely and no matter the temp or environment has kept the tuning better than when it was EADG.
I think (not sure) that BEAD actually has less tension than EADG, which I base on the fact that I had to loosen the truss rod to get the action where I wanted it (which is super low with just the slightest fret buzz and clank...think Squire).
With my other two bands, I just use my 5 string where I do use the G string a bit more (one where I use more chords and another where there seems to be more octaves at play).
I know this tuning is nothing new, although it's new to me and having played a 5 stringer for so long, it's easy to get used to not having the G string.
