Drop D... the point?

[innsmouthface]

hey, i always thought drop-d was a guitarist thing...cuz they can play power chords and riffs easier and stuff...but seeing how many of you use it, i might have to change my mind...

i use regular d tuning with my band (all strings down a whole step, the guitarist tunes like this as well), though i could have gone with drop d, adjusting to different fingerings would have been too hard, i guess...

 

[spade2you]

GET A 5 STRING BASS AND YOU WON'T HAVE TO MESS WITH DETUNING!!!

Depends on the riffs you're playing. I used to play many tunes where the open D was required since my fretting hands were elsewhere and unable to reach such a note.

 

[drden]

going to california by zep is also in drop D. well at lest the gitter is..

 

[skiscem]

i play C# on my 4 strings and A# on my 5 strings, thats 1/2 step down

 

[WarriorJoe7]

I tuned my bass DGCF in my old band

 

[El-Bob]

Well yeah, the D is the third fret of the 5th string, but you could use drop A.

I do that all the time. actually, I'm more partial to A standard these days.

 

[Darkstrike]

I do that all the time. actually, I'm more partial to A standard these days.

Heh, I guessed so with you, don't you play in G sometimes too?

 

[El-Bob]

Heh, I guessed so with you, don't you play in G sometimes too?

Yeah, not as much lately, but it's not really uncommon for me

 

[sonic assassin]

i play 5's and 6's, but some songs just need drop D. as mentioned before, RATM songs can be like this. songs like "testify" are a pain in the arse on a 5 if you're not dropped.

so if its necessary, ill do BDADG(C). but most of the time, i dont bother with drop tuning.

 

[Metal Matt]

I tune to drop B on my four strings for my drum and bass stoner rock band. String gauges are 110-55. There's songs that would be an incredible pain in the ass to learn on a 5 string tuned to standard. Plus a 125-135 B string sounds nothing like a 110 tuned down to B. I prefer the smaller gauge strings for what I'm doing, the feel the sound, everything is perfect for me. So that's my reason for using something other than standard. Plus it's not like they made 5 string T-40's anyways. I learned bass playing covers that where in drop tunings, and I've rarely used standard in the nearly 8 years I've been playing.

 

[El-Bob]

I'll also throw in that alot of Arsis's tapping riffs are pretty much impossible if you're not in drop C. there's a ton of ways to tune, because there's uses for all of them.

 

[pbass2]

It's not just a logistics thing----it's a tone thing.
I use four strings and fivers, and sometimes the drop open D just has the sound you need, even on a five string bass. Likewise sometimes the fretted low E on the B string is the s*^t for the tune, other times, only the open E string will do. It all depends---it's all part of your palette available to you---use it all!

 

[Ramstien]

Real men play in at least D tuning. No messing around.

 

[Fetusyolk]

With a 5 string drop D is unnecessary correct?

not always, i recently played some tool songs with a group of guys with a 5 string. and still had to drop the E to D . Cant exactly play lateralus/Aenema without the open D

 

[otto802]

When I first stated playing with my current band i tuned to a drop tuning so it would be easier to follow the guitarist and learn the songs. I found it frustrating since I have always played in a standard tuning.

Recently I started tuning my bass to standard tuning and re-learned the songs. It gives me more freedom to jam.

To be clear- I tune down to low C, F, A#, D#- Think that's right.....previously I tuned to C, Ab, C, F- which is dropped tuning if I am thinking straight.

 

[OxJohnson]

I voted Standard always, because it is true... but...

There are some songs (Lucky In Love - Tommy Castro comes to mind) that are written with a Low D. What to do then? Don't play it live is my answer. For me it isn't worth the hassle of chaning basses for one song.

If I played Death Metal then I would think about it... but I don't. YMMV.

Ox.

 

[debassr]

I use hipshot d-tuners on all my basses - as many have mentioned a lot of songs require it. I don't think I saw Smashing Pumpkins on the list though - they have tons of songs that I use it on.

 

[tom once dead]

With a 5 string drop D is unnecessary correct?

most of the songs I play/ed in my last band are near imposible without tuning down the E to D (D to C in my band) on a 5 string. I would even somtimes tune to B to C so if I was doing lots of notes on C I could have more string tention

 

[Bassmingo]

I used to play dropped G on my five string in my old band. a .145 gauge!

 

[fretlessguy]

I always thought that the one note that a 4 string was missing was the low D. I also use the HipShot D-Tuner, and have found it to be a handy device. It does turn the D scale into fifths, but since I play (or attempt to play) Irish bouzouki (which is tuned in fifths) it is not that big of a deal.