Dedicated Instruments for tunings

[Kipp Harrington]

I'll just say it... I hate Eb tuning.... It feels like my bass just changes character, tone, and the strings just feel all loose and floppy. Not to mention the odd occasion I look down and I'm not fretting the note I am playing.

So I was thinking of dedicating 1 instrument full time to Eb tuning and putting on some new strings. My theory is they get stretched out on E tuning and feel loose and floppy when I tune down. So if I only have it tuned to Eb and never higher, the string will feel like they always have the proper tension. Yea? No?

So for stage performances, will have a dedicated instrument for each tuning, and then get a hip-shot for my E instrument for the 1 or 2 drop-D songs we play and just deal with 1 floppy string. The one D tuning song we occasionally play will just be tuning the Eb down

I know this is common for the stage but I am curious if anyone is 100% dedicating 1 or more instruments to special tuning to avoid floppy string syndrome?

Yeah. My Squier FSR Classic Vibe P bass is designated to Eb tuning. I love that bass. What sucks is out of the 50+ songs we're doing right now, only about 4 or 5 require that tuning. I have flats on my main bass (Fender 60s MIM Jazz) and the flats just dont cut it very well in Eb tuning. It's even worse when I have to go to Drop D for a handful of songs we do.... like Slither.

 

[Eminor3rd]

I agree with you 100% about Eb.

My solution, though, was to move to 5-string. Problem solved!

 

[mrcbass]

[QUOTE ...like Slither.[/QUOTE]
Two words for you: Octave pedal (I use the Pog). Run the line on the D string. Mix some of the natural octave in and you get a really beefy sound that will blow your guys away.

I use it for a couple of songs like that.

I hate detuning for a song or two....

You're welcome.

 

[beaglesandbass]

Get The Drop by Digitech and you can be down a half step or more with the touch a button while keeping your bass in standard tuning. No need to buy a new bass. No need to buy new strings.

 

[anton72]

Since I've moved to 5 string i can use one bass for any band with any guitarists' tunings for any gig. Problem solved. Tried to go back and forth between a 5 a 4 str for a while but always went back to 5er. Tried 4 string BEAD tuned bass but then realised how often did i use the G string. Once you got used to a 5er there's no way back IMO.

 

[Kevin Teed]

I haven an acoustic tuned to some crazy "D" tuning for playing The Rain Song on, but nothing for bass.

 

[akrachanko]

I'll just say it... I hate Eb tuning.... It feels like my bass just changes character, tone, and the strings just feel all loose and floppy. Not to mention the odd occasion I look down and I'm not fretting the note I am playing.

So I was thinking of dedicating 1 instrument full time to Eb tuning and putting on some new strings. My theory is they get stretched out on E tuning and feel loose and floppy when I tune down. So if I only have it tuned to Eb and never higher, the string will feel like they always have the proper tension. Yea? No?

So for stage performances, will have a dedicated instrument for each tuning, and then get a hip-shot for my E instrument for the 1 or 2 drop-D songs we play and just deal with 1 floppy string. The one D tuning song we occasionally play will just be tuning the Eb down

I know this is common for the stage but I am curious if anyone is 100% dedicating 1 or more instruments to special tuning to avoid floppy string syndrome?

I used to have a Squier P-Bass that I kept tuned to Eb standard so I can lay down those low Eb's without having to retune. In your scenario, it would also let you keep different strings on the instrument tuned to Eb, letting you pick a style and gauge of string specifically for Eb tuning. I use DR DDTs, because I like the way the tone and pitch scale down, as compared to changing the sound completely.

 

[fhm555]

There are strings designed for drop tuning as well, though I haven’t tried them- DR DDT is an example!

I’ve been using DR-DDT since i bought a j bass from a heavy metal kid who had the bass set up for the heavier strings. I tune it to standard and it works great

 

[bherman]

Used to play with a guitar player who used a dropdown pedal for tunes in odd keys (where the singer wanted to do tunes in Ab) and it worked great. Not sure how well it would track a bass, though/

 

[Joelc73]

Not so much for bass but I do keep an electric guitar in Eb tuning for learning 80's metal tunes!

 

[And I]

God no. Not sure it would help much anyway unless I play everything up on the 4th fret.

I mean... if the song being played in Eb, and you have a bass that has an Eb on the 4th fret of the B string, then yes, that's where you'd play it... And you play the same bass when you play a song in E, F, G, D, etc.

But I take your point to be songs that use the tuned-down open E string, or any open string for that matter, would have to be relearned. And sometimes the bassline dictates that you cannot do without having that open string...

 

[TexasEdition]

I have almost perfect pitch, and for a while I kept a bass tuned in D standard (with heavier strings) as my "low tuned" option. Sounds simple, keeps the same relative fingerings, but... my brain would hear "C" and attempt to play C where it "should" be - 3rd fret on the A string.

This is me in a nutshell... The struggle is real.

 

[TexasEdition]

Blind people navigate the world by counting steps between landmarks in their world.

Nailed it. Part of the struggle.... I'm a pretty intuitive player, and I guess I'm an old dog. So if I'm in the G-spot (pun intended) and I'm playing a Gb, I get distracted and I have to think too much what I am doing.

 

[ole Jason]

I refuse to tune a whole bass to Eb. I use a bass with a low B or just retune the E string if the low Eb is explicitly called for.

 

[Volker Kirstein]

... Seriously, I'm genuinely curious why this is so difficult for some people ...

Some people can't read a map. Some people can't fold fitted sheets. And so on.

I get it. "It's easy! Why can't everybody do this?" Unfortunately, despite claims to the contrary, we are not all created equal. There's always gonna be those who excel, those who struggle, and those who will never get it.

 

[TexasEdition]

I have the same issue. I recently tried a number of 5ers thinking that might be the answer but have yet to play one where the neck was narrow enough for my taste.

I'm with you on that. I'm part old-dog and just don't want to change. But now that I've been doing the jazz bass thing, going back to a P-Bass neck feels like playing on a baseball bat. I can't imagine what I 5er will sound like.

Plus, my repertoire is mostly classic rock, country, and gritty southern rock. So I'll loose a lot of that open string tone.

We're only talking about 10% of our overall set list... The digitech really seems like the easy button here although it feels like a cheat.

 

[bassbrad]

I do not like to retune my basses so I use a capo on my Five string bass for drop tune songs. I have three Lo B five string basses and each of them has a capo. For a while I did keep one of my Peavey Foundation fretless basses in drop D because there were several tunes we did in that tuning.
OTOH I do have three basses set up as piccolo basses in two different tunings.

 

[awakefie]

I play a 5 string with closed positions when possible. 1 bass - almost any key or tuning the band throws at me.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

LaBella DTB 760 FS (a standard 45-105 gauge) are great tuned to DGCF. I used to keep one bass like that.

 

[Woofer]

I use 2: 1 in standard tuning with a Hipshot drop tuner, and 1 tuned down to Eb. We group the songs the Eb is needed for together so I've only got 2 instrument changes.