Ideas for playing with a detuned bass?

[N. Kentucky Bass]

So I just hooked up with a blues guitarist who likes to play with a detuned electric guitar. His preference is fat-gauged strings, so that along with singing range makes him favor detuning. I've never played with a detuned bass before and because my ears were expecting different pitches with my notes, the first session didn't go well. I'm trying to get more comfortable with this approach and wondered if anyone can weigh in with ideas for playing with a detuned bass? It's just a half-step down but I'd like to make my delivery more smooth. Thanks!

 

[Slevage]

I play with my bass tuned to A=440.
I have a 5 string wit a low B. Any lower and I’m an octave up.

 

[Les Fret]

Just play it exactly the same way as a bass tuned in E. Think in E not in E flat. Nothing special or hard about it. Unless you have perfect pitch?

 

[ardgedee]

By "detuned" do you mean dropping the tuning by a half-step or more, or do you mean playing with a tuning frequency below A=440?

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

By "detuned" do you mean dropping the tuning by a half-step or more, or do you mean playing with a tuning frequency below A=440?

Detuned is turning the tuning fork down a half step. So the E string becomes Eb, the A string becomes Ab, D is Db, and G is Gb.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

Just play it exactly the same way as a bass tuned in E. Think in E not in E flat. Nothing special or hard about it. Unless you have perfect pitch?

No "perfect" pitch, but some of those oft-used note pitches (i.e. location on the fretboard) are pretty burned in.

 

[ardgedee]

Detuned is turning the tuning fork down a half step. So the E string becomes Eb, the A string becomes Ab, D is Db, and G is Gb.

In that case you're not so much detuning as playing A=440 and transposing.

Plenty of threads on this site about it, the key phrase is "drop tuning". Here's an old one addressing exactly what you're dealing with:

B

Thread 'Drop tuning'

Apr 29, 2012

I have a gig coming up where the guitarist/vocalist drop tunes a whole step for all the tunes. Does anyone else do this on bass? Any negatives to doing this?

Thanks

• baileyboy
• Replies: 9
• Forum: General Instruction [BG]

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

In that case you're not so much detuning as playing A=440 and transposing.

Plenty of threads on this site about it, the key phrase is "drop tuning". Here's an old one addressing exactly what you're dealing with:

B

Thread 'Drop tuning'

Apr 29, 2012

I have a gig coming up where the guitarist/vocalist drop tunes a whole step for all the tunes. Does anyone else do this on bass? Any negatives to doing this?

Thanks

• baileyboy
• Replies: 9
• Forum: General Instruction [BG]

I always associated drop tuning with the hardware device used only on the E string. Same idea, although most of a the comments in that thread relate to making the E string a "D" instead of Eb, etc.

FWIW, I'm using La Bella 760FLs, so they are relatively easy to detune a half step and hold the pitch well. I understand thinner strings might be harder to detune and hold their pitches?

 

[Lo-E]

Speaking just for myself, it was just such a guitarist who prompted me to buy my first 5-string.

For me, the transposing was a hassle. I guess if that’s the only way you ever play it should be easy enough to adjust but I was playing with other people at the time and the idea of using a different tuning for one project just seemed inane to me.

Of course, there’s nothing saying you have to go down to the low Eb. You could simply play in standard and play that one note up an octave.

 

[Les Fret]

No "perfect" pitch, but some of those oft-used note pitches (i.e. location on the fretboard) are pretty burned in.

If you don't have perfect pitch it shouldn't be any problem at all. Just think in E and don't overthink it.

 

[dmrogers]

So I just hooked up with a blues guitarist who likes to play with a detuned electric guitar. His preference is fat-gauged strings, so that along with singing range makes him favor detuning. I've never played with a detuned bass before and because my ears were expecting different pitches with my notes, the first session didn't go well. I'm trying to get more comfortable with this approach and wondered if anyone can weigh in with ideas for playing with a detuned bass? It's just a half-step down but I'd like to make my delivery more smooth. Thanks!

So, to be clear, the guitarist tunes their guitar down half a step?
If that is the case, just tune your bass down half a step and then forget that you are tuned down. Unless I'm missing something, it's as simple as that.

About two years ago, I started subbing with a really good band. I do two gigs a month (sometimes more), it pays well and they are great players. They all tune down half a step. So, I tune my bass down half a step and everybody is on the same page. I never think about the fact that I am tuned down. I still play "Folsom Prison" in "E" (technically, the song will be in Eb, but we are all in the E position).

The only thing I will suggest is, you might want to raise your action just a tad. I like my action on the higher side, so I am good to go.
I use four string Precision basses and D'Addario XL Nickel Wound Round wound strings (45 - 100).

I hope this helps (and makes sense).

 

[gln1955]

Yeah, just tuning down a half step with the guitarist is the easiest thing to do, especially if he does a lot of "blues in E". You just need to practice enough that your ingrained sense of pitch is reset.

 

[jdjk7]

In that case you're not so much detuning as playing A=440 and transposing.

Plenty of threads on this site about it, the key phrase is "drop tuning". Here's an old one addressing exactly what you're dealing with:

B

Thread 'Drop tuning'

Apr 29, 2012

I have a gig coming up where the guitarist/vocalist drop tunes a whole step for all the tunes. Does anyone else do this on bass? Any negatives to doing this?

Thanks

• baileyboy
• Replies: 9
• Forum: General Instruction [BG]

To be pedantic, drop tuning isn't necessarily what the OP is talking about. Drop tunings are the ones that are "dropped"-- drop D, drop C, etc, where the lowest string is tuned a whole step lower than the rest. Like the difference between tuning DADG (Drop D) or DGCF (D Standard).

Otherwise, the more general word to use is downtuning.

 

[SteveCS]

I always associated drop tuning with the hardware device used only on the E string. Same idea, although most of a the comments in that thread relate to making the E string a "D" instead of Eb, etc.

Which in reality is all you need to do. There is no need to maintain 4ths tuning, just take the E down to D and all the new notes you need (all 1 of them plus a bonus D) are there, and everything else, in terms of the pitches you expect at certain positions on all the other strings, remains intact.

 

[JonathanPDX]

It helps to leave your bass tuned to Eb or have one in that tuning so the strings stabilize, and it helps your ear adjust, too.

I played a Hendrix tribute show a while back and we tuned to Eb to keep everything close to the actual live performances. My ear didn't like it at first, since I'd played those songs in E for many years, but you'll adjust.

Just make sure everyone is actually tuned to Eb (A=440). If he's just kind of feeling the tuning without checking then your only option is to tune to him by ear.

 

[ardgedee]

To be pedantic, drop tuning isn't necessarily what the OP is talking about. [...]

Otherwise, the more general word to use is downtuning.

Pedantic but fair

 

[iqi616]

Which in reality is all you need to do. There is no need to maintain 4ths tuning, just take the E down to D and all the new notes you need (all 1 of them plus a bonus D) are there, and everything else, in terms of the pitches you expect at certain positions on all the other strings, remains intact.

I was about to say that only one string need be affected. I'm learning Boys Of Summer and rather than retune the whole bass, I'm just dropping the E to Eb.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

It helps to leave your bass tuned to Eb or have one in that tuning so the strings stabilize, and it helps your ear adjust, too.

I played a Hendrix tribute show a while back and we tuned to Eb to keep everything close to the actual live performances. My ear didn't like it at first, since I'd played those songs in E for many years, but you'll adjust.

Just make sure everyone is actually tuned to Eb (A=440). If he's just kind of feeling the tuning without checking then your only option is to tune to him by ear.

Yeah, I just dedicated a Jazz bass to this idea and down-tuned all four strings a half step. For a while, the strings were not precisely retaining the new pitches but as you say, they stabilized after several hours and are now holding the pitches with accuracy.

 

[Gopherbassist]

How low is he going? Just some food for thought:

The guitarists in Meshuggah tune way low. Way way low. Lower than standard tuned basses, or so I've read. The bassist? He's in standard. All that low end from the guitars means the bass doesn't need to be super low.

So maybe getting used to the difference in the sound of his guitar is all you need to do.

 

[ravlin]

Depends on how you talk about it. If he tunes to Eb but still calls it E, then just tune yours to Eb and pretend it's E. My guitarist will Capo the 3rd fret and call it an E chord to the (ex) rhythm guitarist, confuses the heck out of me because it's a G but you get the idea, the words used will frame your understanding.
As for me, I'm an odd duck and have come around to tuning to C# when a guitarist plays standard tuning, so I know my E is on my 3rd fret but it took me a while to relearn my fretboard.