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Conversion from EADG to BEAD

IGotGas

IGotGas

Cajun Rocker
Sep 26, 2011
572
134
Baton Rouge, LA
#1
I'm finding more and more that the main reason I play 5 string is for the lower (B) tuning. And rarely do I play music where my G string is a must. So, I'm thinking about converting a few of my 4's for giggles and grins.

So...is converting from EADG to BEAD just an issue of strings and a new/recut nut? What else might be involved?
 
#7
IGotGas said:
I'm finding more and more that the main reason I play 5 string is for the lower (B) tuning. And rarely do I play music where my G string is a must. So, I'm thinking about converting a few of my 4's for giggles and grins.

So...is converting from EADG to BEAD just an issue of strings and a new/recut nut? What else might be involved?
Click to expand...

New nut, setup/strings are all you need.

But not every bass that sounds good in standard tuning will sound good in HEAD - in my experience most of them do not, but it`s worth a try.
 
#9
I converted a Fender P-Bass to a BEAD P-J and found one other change needed in addition to the above mentioned nut change (I kept my original nut made a new one for this tuning). My standard bent plate bridge gave me a very undefined weak B, so I put on a like-new Babicz that I picked up cheap and that made all the difference. I think any of the more solid bridges (HipShot, etc) would also work fine. It now sounds nice and even across all the strings.
 
#10
I had broken the original nut at the E position on the G & L, so when I replaced it, I went to BEAD. Took awhile to get used to.... Found myself lost in the middle of a song several times. I just picked up ny first five string to compensate for losing the G string.....
 
#12
I highly encourage this set up. Heck, I didn't even bother to buy a full 5 set. I just went out and bought a .128 and moved all the strings over. My intonation is remarkably good considering I didn't do a setup and I have had no issue with tension or lack thereof. The nut was in need of replacement and so the wider gauge strings actually helped get rid of some buzz I had in standard tuning. I had been having hand cramps for the last few years, so I switched to a 30 inch scale bass for my main bass. But my former main, an '83 P Bass is now BEAD and I love it. I am 5'4" and my little hands would never be able to handle a 5 string even if I wanted to. The BEAD bass has now become my kid's number one bass since he's into prog metal and all that stuff has 7 and 8 string guitars, so it fits in with his style more. But for my band's harder stuff, I still use it. I love the resounding boom of the B string which I thought I'd never be able to have until I discovered BEAD. I am even thinking of getting a Warmoth Jazz neck for this bass to make it even more comfortable for my tiny hands. If so, the kid's going to have to buy his own darn bass.
 
#13
IGotGas said:
I'm finding more and more that the main reason I play 5 string is for the lower (B) tuning. And rarely do I play music where my G string is a must. So, I'm thinking about converting a few of my 4's for giggles and grins.

So...is converting from EADG to BEAD just an issue of strings and a new/recut nut? What else might be involved?
Click to expand...

Just filing the nut a bit, getting the strings for it (I just use the bottom four strings from a five string set), and a setup.

The set up is needed because the tension on the neck will be a bit different (usually there will actually be less tension), and the intonation will need adjustment.

There really isn't much else that's strictly necessary. Another poster mentioned making sure you have a good bridge, which is something I recommend. I put a new, better bridge on my first bass when I converted it to BEAD.
 
#14
Sartori said:
Just filing the nut a bit, getting the strings for it (I just use the bottom four strings from a five string set), and a setup.

The set up is needed because the tension on the neck will be a bit different (usually there will actually be less tension), and the intonation will need adjustment.

There really isn't much else that's strictly necessary. Another poster mentioned making sure you have a good bridge, which is something I recommend. I put a new, better bridge on my first bass when I converted it to BEAD.
Click to expand...

This ^

But just as a data point, let me say when I went BEAD, I thought I really wasn't using the G string, but after conversion to BEAD it was obvious that I was using it more than I thought. So I gave up on BEAD and went 5er. From my experience I'm thinging DGCF tuning might be better than BEAD, but I never tried it.
 
#15
It really depends what you're using the low notes for. If you're in a band where they're tuned to standard and you just want some lower notes for emphasis and such, DGCF might be sufficient.

I generally use my BEAD bass in bands that are tuned down quite low, however. It's also really easy to find strings for that tuning.

So far I haven't really needed the G in the same context that I've needed the B.
 
#16
If you can wrap your head around it, het a HipShot D-Tuner and set it for low C or even B.
Will Lee has his set for a low C.

I have them in both my 4 string basses. But I also have the DoubleStop lever installed which gives me two drop positions- D and B.

If anyone thinks or feels a .100 or .105 won't sound good, I'll post up a few links to live clips of me using it with my E dropped to B.
And yes, going back and forth from E to D to B and back, the bass holds tuning almost perfectly.

So I would suggest going the HipShot direction myself.
 

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