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drop d on the fly

i play in drop d a whole bunch, and i know there are replacement tuner keys taht have a little lever on em taht you just flip and it tunes the 4th string down on the fly. i wanna get one but can anyone help me out in finding one?
 
drop d on a bass helps you better simulate the tone of a 5 string as well as lets you do some really funky stuff with power chords, i wrote a song using drop d and in one part, yes it sounds crazy, but i can actually use all of the strings to almost make a chord.
 
abark000 said:
Do you need it midsong?

If not, just tune to the lowest string to A at the seventh fret.

Also, I realize the purpose of Dropped D on a guitar (one finger power chords). What is the purpose of a Dropped D tuned bass?

It is for lower notes on a 4 string.

The tuners are made my Hipshot. If you shop around you can find them for about $50 and to match any tuners. I have these on two of my basses (I am awaiting my eBay seller to ship me my 5 string Grendel) and they work flawlessly. You can pop them up and down in the middle of a song and never have to worry about staying in tune.
 
rolnaldo33 said:
drop d on a bass helps you better simulate the tone of a 5 string as well as lets you do some really funky stuff with power chords, i wrote a song using drop d and in one part, yes it sounds crazy, but i can actually use all of the strings to almost make a chord.


But, except for the lowest few which are added because of the tuning*, all the same power chords are available on a standard tuned bass.

*and also sound muddy and indistinct.
 
Joe Boom said:
It is for lower notes on a 4 string.

The tuners are made my Hipshot. If you shop around you can find them for about $50 and to match any tuners. I have these on two of my basses (I am awaiting my eBay seller to ship me my 5 string Grendel) and they work flawlessly. You can pop them up and down in the middle of a song and never have to worry about staying in tune.

Get a five, or tune BEAD.

Also why just Dropped D and not just DGCF?
 
abark000 said:
Get a five, or tune BEAD.

Also why just Dropped D and not just DGCF?

I disagree. BEAD is not the same sound as dropped D tuning. The idea with dropped D is that you have the open D string with the traditional sound on the remaining strings.

Why not DGCF? This can be done, but it significantly lowers the tension on the strings. Personally I find it easier to play in dropped D for the 1 or 2 songs that I need it rather than leave the bass tuned DGCF. There really is a difference in feel and sound.
 
abark000 said:
Get a five, or tune BEAD.

Also why just Dropped D and not just DGCF?
"Get a five?" Did you notice the part in my post where I mentioned I am waiting for the 5 string Grendel to arrive?

Just dropping E to D allows you to maintain most of the standard tuning under which most players probably learned to play, while picking up some extended range. This makes for an easy stop-gap measure whereby you do not have to completely re-learn the neck and/or completely reset your instrument to accomdate the different string set.

Some people do not have enough use for the extended range to make it worth the transition to 5 from 4. I did not previously, hence I had Hipshots. I now have a lot of use for the extended range, hence I am waiting for my 5 string to arrive.
 

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