Drop A on precision bass

[Nephilymbass]

Hey, so I have a 2000 american deluxe precision bass and am wanting to tune it to D standard and drop the low string to A. I was planning on buying .145 kalium/circle k string. Do you think that my bass could really deliver a good/clear tone with such a low tuning and heavy gauge? Also, I would also expect to have to file the nut and set the intonation for the heavy string. Thoughts?

You will def have to put in some work on the nut to get the string to sit properly in the slot that was cut for an E string. . We have some songs in drop A. I actually use surprising light gauges. Dr hi beam .125. I just play a little closer to the bridge when dropping to A to so the tension doesn't feel weird.

 

[Korladis]

I read these post and keep wandering..

Why this obsession with such low tunings on a traditional 34" 4 string p-bass? I get tuning to D-standard which seems to support deeper male vocals and truthfully so many popular tracks include that low D. But much lower i feel that you loose the characteristic punch and growl of at p-bass to cut through the mix..

And do the bass really need the drop tuning. I thought that was more for power riffing guitars in drop D or drop C.
And not a fan of att lot of distortion on bass or A-tuned baritone guitar. Just a small amount of harmonic tube overdrive and compression.

I play a Rickenbacker (33.25" scale) tuned BEAD and it sounds great.

For some genres, the lower tuning just... works.

As far as drop tunings (where the lowest two strings are separated by a 5th instead of a 4th)... never been a fan of them on bass, personally. But if other people want to use them, whatever.

 

[Nephilymbass]

watched it and am keeping it in mind, only wish I had a warwick. that was mu backup idea, just to save up for an NT thumb

Stick with it. You won't regret it. I'm on my third thumb now. Had the bolt on 5, then the neck through 5 and now the neck through 6.