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Installing A Zero Fret

#21
Seems like I get my low E like that but at the cost of losing my 4 & 5 roots from the bass string that I have now. In other words the trade off looks like gain one but lose two. Correct me if i`m wrong please. I don`t know why I bother you people with this silly stuff. Its so elementary. Bead tuning allows me to keep the 4-5 on the same location as is presently but in addition being able to have that fifth fret frette E root. Take care. Bob
 
#22
apparently the new trend with country bass guys is to play vintage-looking 4-string basses, but tune them down to like C or C#; this accommodates songs in drop-D or whatever low tuning the new pop-country guys like, as long as the player doesn't mind transposing keys and using no open strings.
 
#23
Not sure what you mean about losing roots. With DADG tuning you are gaining a couple of notes, not losing anything. The only difference is that notes played on the 4th string will now be two frets higher on the neck. This means you can get root 5 and octave by barring 3 strings. It takes only a short time to get used to it IME.
 
#25
The bass could be tuned to anything that you could get used to playing. If you tuned DGCF you could have a fretted E (4-2) and 3rd (3-1). You'd have to practice muscle memory to be able to grab what you want to play without transposing.

If not having a G string wouldn't be a large inconvenience , stringing your bass BEAD may be the answer. It's becoming more prevalent than in years past with rock and country players. Use the low strings from a 5 string set. The nut slots will need to be widened to accommodate the larger gauges and the saddles will be about 1/8" farther back for intonation. Changing to EADG would only require minor setup tweaks.

For any non-standard tuning make sure that anyone who may watch you for chord cues knows, otherwise train wrecks will result.

mech

mech
 
#27
Robert Spencer said:
walter what would be the overall tuning for the four strings if not eadg or bead? I would like to have a fretted E on my bass string with easy access to the following 3 note one string up. Is this the case in drop C tuning? Pardon my ignorance. I do not know anything about unconventional tuning. Thanks & take care. Bob
Click to expand...
the idea is not "drop C#" or whatever (where you tune the bottom string different than the rest) but "straight C#", where the whole thing is tuned down until the low E becomes a C#.

all your patterns and scales are the same, you just have to "pretend" you're in a different key than the rest of the band.

(if they're in E, just pretend you're in G, with the third fret of the bottom string being your root.)
 
#28
You don't even need to tune that low. If all you're after is a fretted E, you can just tune the whole bass down a half step. Then you just transpose all playing up one fret. Personally, I can't see what's wrong with playing open strings. Musicians have been doing it for decades, but if it were me, I'd get a 5 string or get used to drop D. Anything else would be a hassle, unless the rest of the band adopts your tuning as well.
 
#29
^ Just because one instrument is tuned a certain way doesn't mean the others need to be. An F is an F, a C is a C, etc. What difference does it make? None. Keith Richards tunes to Open G with only five strings on his guitar and Wyman kept E standard. If your band likes standard and you like C, C#, B, D, Drop D, whatever , they do not have to change!, only you and your hand position has to change, that's it
 
#30
Absolutely. However, there are many bands (especially in jam, or improv type settings) that cue off each other by looking at what other players are doing. If one guy is using an alternate tuning, it could cause some confusion. Alternate tunings can be a hassle too when learning new songs if you like to use tablature found online, or by copy what you see musicians doing in videos.

Of course these problems can be minor or irrelevant depending on your situation. For me personally, I like to let my guitarists watch me for changes they may be unsure of.
 
#32
96tbird said:
^ Just because one instrument is tuned a certain way doesn't mean the others need to be. An F is an F, a C is a C, etc. What difference does it make? None. Keith Richards tunes to Open G with only five strings on his guitar and Wyman kept E standard. If your band likes standard and you like C, C#, B, D, Drop D, whatever , they do not have to change!, only you and your hand position has to change, that's it
Click to expand...

This. Just make the ergonomic choice regardless.
 
#36
frankly, if you're a little shaky on the needed intervals to transpose like this, you probably shouldn't bother.

basses sound perfectly good tuned normally, open strings and all.
 

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