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I think D standard on a four makes the most practical sense with the exception being that 99.72% of all music was written with e tuned 4 strings or b tuned 5s
IMHO, this a bad question. Better question "why is electric bass tuned eadg...?",
The upright is typically tuned eadg,
Now electric bass, fenders 1951 patent based his design on the telecaster. So guitar based.
Imo, Fender bassman's design restrictions limit lower frequency to E1. The design limit is the output transformer. The bassman's ot is larger than some of other available amps. Another problem fender had was a high failure rate with 15" speakers. Not sure if this was a problem because of ampiflying uprights or the pbass.
So the OP has three possible reasons, 1) upright tuning, 2) telecaster tuning, 3) technology restriction.
Now choose an answer
The upright is typically tuned eadg,
Now electric bass, fenders 1951 patent based his design on the telecaster. So guitar based.
Imo, Fender bassman's design restrictions limit lower frequency to E1. The design limit is the output transformer. The bassman's ot is larger than some of other available amps. Another problem fender had was a high failure rate with 15" speakers. Not sure if this was a problem because of ampiflying uprights or the pbass.
So the OP has three possible reasons, 1) upright tuning, 2) telecaster tuning, 3) technology restriction.
Now choose an answer
With BEAD, there no money above the 10th fret. It changes everything.
Have you ever seen a grand piano???
Lowest note on a modern piano is A which is at 27.5Hz. That frequency is where the human ear can begin to hear the sound. Any lower and we can't hear it.
In addition to mimicking the upright, there weren't many amps that could deliver anything that low, when the 'standard' electric bass guitar was firmly established
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some of us sub-humans (pun int.), hear down to 20hz.
it is funny because in the same year, Anthony Jackson had Carl Thompson build him his first 6 strings bass.
It didn't occur to you that ... music would've been different if this was the standart tuning ?
AM radio, FM radio and most stereos, let alone the recording equipment.
EADG is the open tuning for the common equally tempered scale.
Oh, I'll play! The bass viol of the mid 17th century had five strings. It lost a string somewhere and became the cello though one of Bach's cello suites WAS written for 5 string 'cello. Somewhere around Handel-Mozart's time, orchestras were getting bigger and composers were calling for more bass so they commissioned what we now call the upright bass to "double" the bass parts played by the 'cellos. Leo Fender hybridized that instrument with a guitar and the "precision" bass (because of the frets) was born. Fast forward about 30 years, and someone "invents" the NEW five string bass because people who don't learn their history are doomed to repeat it.
Mugre
I really don’t think it would have. Music didn’t radically change when modern low-B 5-string basses came out and amp and speaker technology was finally able to handle the lower range. It was just incorporated into our regular music and became another resource. Bass isn’t going to cause a seismic shift in musical direction like the advent of the electric guitar or the synths did. It’s just not that kind of instrument. People can “push the envelope” if they like. And it’s good they do. But at the end of the day, the bass still has its critical role to play. And that hasn’t really changed that much despite all the new tech that’s come along. The core role and function of the bass line in a piece of music endures. It is what it is.
It is? I count 7 notes lower than a low E on my piano... as it is on every single grand piano I’ve played for the last 30 years.
Because B strings sound like crap on standard 34" scale basses.
let me guess, going down, Eb1, D1, Db1, C1, B0, Bb0, A0, seven notes, But then again, I haven't seen a new piano, in40 years.
I’d agree with “most”, but not all.
And also used at the beginning of " La Bamba ", by Ritchie Vallens. Not to mention, a lot of Duane Eddy songs.
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