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F# tuning? Not that sure!!

#44
Animals As Leaders tune down to drop E as in, a full octave down.

For me personally, these string gauges will be useful for tuning to my bands usual tuning of G#C#G#C#F# (the guitarist playing in drop C# with a six string guitar, and me dropping both the B and E strings on the 5er), as the F# and B string would work well for tighter strings and more stable in those tunings. I don't think I'd ever go lower than that though.
 
#45
eyvindwa said:
"This video contains content from Vevo, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds." =(

What/who was in the video?
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It's the song "Diesel Uterus" by Mnemic. Solid band.

thebrain said:
Just out of curiosity, why tune that low? After Bb or A, is it even loud enough to hear over the drums? Pretty soon one of you extreme down tuners are going to crap in your pants when you find the brown note, lol.
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It's going to be hard. The lowest note I'll be hitting with my Dingwall is D0. That still doesn't compare to Jauqo's madness.

Callum_Carcass said:
Animals As Leaders tune down to drop E as in, a full octave down.
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They don't have a bassist though. It's a bit different. Danza is the best example of a low E for bass.
 
#46
Metal Matt said:
Bongripper (TB user Ron_Now's band) tunes to low F. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drzzGClaEKU)

Meshuggah plays in low F but the bass player, instead of trying to match them an octave down, tunes UP from standard to match the guitars in the same octave range. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk9G1JlQeFs)

I think metal and it's associated genres are all about pushing the limits, whether it's speed (or slowness), technicality, volume, and tunings included. I'm glad there's bands pushing the limits of their instruments like this. It's relatively uncharted territory. It's like back in the day when the low B started getting used, a lot of people said it was useless and sounded like crap, now it's a standard for a lot of people. It's hard to say if low F# and beyond will become as widely used as low B. Time will tell.
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Dude... Ron_Now is in Bongripper? That's awesome!
 
#47
#49
Metal Matt is right and I totally believe that the 8-string guitar like the Ibanez RG2228 is the future of guitar. That means Bass is going to be getting interesting also to keep the pace with a new breed of guitars. Probably amps and stuff will have to be most radically altered to deal with sub frequency notes. Actual bass instruments will likely come standard with 36-40" scale necks, offered by all major players in the biz within 5 years.

Now I'm thinking about the most badass custom metal monster I can imagine. . . What do you guys think about a 5-string sized (like 1 1/4 size body) slab Precision bass body fitted with a 4 string neck in 40" scale and strings somewhere around .160 - .70 HELL YEA!!
 
#50
pyroponic said:
Now I'm thinking about the most badass custom metal monster I can imagine. . . What do you guys think about a 5-string sized (like 1 1/4 size body) slab Precision bass body fitted with a 4 string neck in 40" scale and strings somewhere around .160 - .70 HELL YEA!!
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you make it, i'll buy it ;)
i wanna start a band with std guitar / bass and another bass an octave ish below that :)
 
#53
LoveMyBass said:
Since low is about 31 Hertz (correct me if I'm wrong), I wouldn't think tuning all the way down to F# would actually be audible (overtones not included).
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From wikipedia article about infrasound...

"Infrasound is sound that is lower in frequency than 20 Hz (Hertz) or cycles per second, the "normal" limit of human hearing. Hearing becomes gradually less sensitive as frequency decreases, so for humans to perceive infrasound, the sound pressure must be sufficiently high. The ear is the primary organ for sensing infrasound, but at higher levels it is possible to feel infrasound vibrations in various parts of the body."

That last sentence is the best way I can explain how low F# (23.12hz) sounds/feels. I can hear the fundamental just fine, but it's a little quieter than say a low B, but it becomes more of a physical thing the lower you go. The second harmonics are "normal" volume (in relation to higher notes) and what gives you note definition this low. Our brains also fill in missing sound information based on the harmonics that stand out (when you talk on the phone, you still hear the bass in the persons voice, even though the tiny speaker can't produce it), so while I know that the fundamental I hear isn't as loud as it seems, it sounds like it, and what tells me it's definitely there, and that my speakers are truly putting it out there, is how much you feel it. Doesn't mean the fundamental isn't there, it is and it's plenty loud, it's just that our ears aren't as sensitive to it so we start to sense it physically a bit more than aurally and all the information comes together to sort of trick you in a way into hearing it as being no different than any other note.

It's a little goofy to explain, and it probably sounds a lot like "I'm hearing something but I'm not", so I hope I got that across clear enough. ha
 

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