NBD: Why is a 4 string tuned standard EADG and not BEAD ?

[popcat]

I'm going to start tuning my basses FEUD

Sounds like it's about time to fire the drummer ...troublemakers.

 

[Drgonzonm]

I knew of at least one session bassist from the SF area who tuned his four string fretless cgda, recorded with Jefferson airplane, the Dead, and Joplins group in the 60's, so eadg while common was not the only tuning found on our favorite instrument of choice.

 

[Markbett22]

Just. Got a new 5er today ... i felt like the low B was a hidden treasure. Why was bass tuned EADG in the first place ?

I actually took an old bass and did just that. Bought a set of 5 strings and tuned a 4 string bass to a low B and trashed the G string. It played really well. But since a 4 string is typically shorter in length, intonation gets a little muddy as you move up the neck, at least on the B string. I have a 5 string now and I can honestly say that most of my fingering ignores the G. I use the G, but I like the deeper tones more than the higher ones.

 

[Adamixoye]

I also wonder if the EADG scheme is not also done to match a piano? On a grand piano, E is the lowest note. Just wondering?

I haven't read the next 8 pages to see if someone else corrected this, but I am quite sure that the standard is that 88-key pianos start on A.

 

[fydeaux]

I have never much cared for the feel of a 5-string bass, so I have on occasion taken a standard bass and tuned it to BEAD. It worked great for my needs.

 

[Davyo]

Peavey was I believe the first “mainstream” guitar maker to come out with a 5 string bass.
When I was very young hanging out at my dads music store I remember everyone at store was so excited to get a 5 string bass in, no one had really seen one before and that was a very pretty black Peavey.

I bought that 5 string Peavey, struggled with adjusting from a 4 to a 5’er, and that gave me the brilliant idea to string my 4 banger B E A D.
The luthier that worked at my dads store told me it was impossible to string a 4 string bass BEAD as it wouldn’t sound right and the neck would warp from the extra tension created by the low B string,,,,, wow,, what a dumbaass luthier !!!!!

Long story short, I’ve been doing BEAD since I was in my early teens and for a very long time thought I was the only person on the planet doing BEAD.

Nowadays as an adult all my bass’s are BEAD or 5 string bass’s,, I don’t own nor would I ever own an EADG bass !!!!

Cheers
Davyo

 

[Adamixoye]

I haven't read the next 8 pages to see if someone else corrected this, but I am quite sure that the standard is that 88-key pianos start on A.

Nevermind, looks like this was addressed on Page 2.

 

[TKnights]

Just. Got a new 5er today ... i felt like the low B was a hidden treasure. Why was bass tuned EADG in the first place ?

I once knew a player who bought a 5 string set and put the BEADs on his 4 string bass . I used to put heavier strings on one of my 4 srtng basses and tune DGCF . I broke down and bought a Fiver a few years back . Problem solved .

 

[Vara La Fey]

I started using BEAD before I knew anyone else had ever done it. Somewhere on here is an older thread with me asking if it will hurt the bass.... I luvz my BEAD and ain't going back, but I might keep a 2ndary with EADG. Still prefer a 5, but I like 'Birds and 'Splorers, and they don't come in 5. :-(

Now that you've started a freaking thread about BEAD, I don't feel so original anymore.

 

[TKnights]

I started using BEAD before I knew anyone else had ever done it. Somewhere on here is an older thread with me asking if it will hurt the bass.... I luvz my BEAD and ain't going back, but I might keep a 2ndary with EADG. Still prefer a 5, but I like 'Birds and 'Splorers, and they don't come in 5. :-(

Now that you've started a freaking thread about BEAD, I don't feel so original anymore.

Not to add insult to injury , but check out Michael Manring and some of his odd tunings .

 

[Doug4321]

Every time I've picked up a 5 string in the store I thought the B string was too loose and floppy to give a good musical tone! Not too interested. Maybe a fanned fret bass, 34" at the G and 35 or 36" at the B would be nice.

That said I've recently tried some shorter scale basses (old Mosrite and Gretsch) and really liked the tone. Surprise!

 

[Vara La Fey]

Big Eddie Ate Delicious Grapes

Bringing Earthquakes Across Da Ground.

 

[Vara La Fey]

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.

We can hear lower than A0. IIRC we go down to 15-ish. But speakers won't like that stuff, it'd be hard to string so that it's playable, and most of all it wouldn't sound musical. I don't use my open B for anything intricate, as it's just too slow and rumbly. But I totally LUV dropping huge low octaves into cover songs that didn't originally have them. Just a few sec worth, and especially in bridges. Gives the song a whole new life.

 

[Jibber]

hmm i wonder when the first 5 er came out.

See Jimmy Johnson.........

 

[bigtone23]

I love 5s, and I have wanted to do a BEAD bass, but since my 4s all have specific roles in the toolbox, I would have to get a 4 to convert since it would require a nut redo. However, I need another bass like a hole in the head and I am comfy on my 5s, so that's not happening soon. haha

The history of the electric bass part four: how many strings? | MusicRadar

"The first time a bass guitar received more than four strings was when Danelectro introduced the UB-2 bass as early as 1956."

It was 6-string, though:

View attachment 2888928

Those prices!
I ran the inflation calculator for January of 1956. Puts that spare set of strings at $68.99 and the bass at $1241.82! Even if you haggled it down 20%, you would still be paying about $1000 for that bass and $55 for the strings.
La Bella Bass VI flats are $50 today and a new Dano 6 string is under $500. An original 6er is around $1200.
Let that be more proof that we are in a Golden Age of Instruments.

 

[Vara La Fey]

C extensions have been std on 4 string URBs for centuries (?).

Truth be told, going lower than E or D tends to put the general publics teeth on edge and sounds harsh on the piano and leaves a gap in the band. Gospel spends a lotta time in the cellar, but that is a unique style.

Shred metal going to low A ... no comment.

Of course you're right. Because obviously upright bassists, pianists, pipe organists, gospel composers (a unique style), shred metallists (not a unique style), tuba players, contra-bassoon players, harpists, mariachi bassists, and EDM composers all ignore their notes lower than D1, because it tends to put the general public's teeth on edge, sounds harsh on the piano, and leaves a gap in the band.

Why these notes have even been available "for centuries(?)" is a total mystery.

(People who spout self-contradictions as laughable excuses for objective rules of thumb.... no comment.)

 

[Bassbeater]

It seems the only way to make everyone happy is not to tune it at all! BTW I'm starting a band, everything slack-tuned.

 

[Vara La Fey]

If Fender Pbass was tuned BEAD from the beginning, what was played on the bass would've been different and not cause as much shifting as someone tuning his bass BEAD and play in some cover band.

BEAD def means ya gotta shift some things around. But it's totally worth it, and I take it as a challenge.

 

[Bassbeater]

I'm trying to convince myself to sell my '82 G&L El Toro Custom. Only because I don't like playing EADG anymore and it doesn't BEAD very well, so I never play it, which is a crime against Leo.

 

[Vara La Fey]

I own several fives and one six. I get told to stay off the low notes by the people paying me.

Name me some country hits going below D.

Are they paying you to play traditional covers for an aging traditionalist generation who fell between the modern sub-E1 sounds and the older classical tuning that was below A440?