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New Bass - New Tuning

#21
dru_nasty said:
I'm playing around in this G#C#G#C#F# tuning and it's a bit strange to me.
I'd still have to transpose some of our songs or i wouldn't really use that 5th string at all.
We play a lot of open C# and I really don't want to have to hit that 5th fret on the 5th string all the time (even though it sounds ballsy as hell).

I agree I'll need to get some different gauges, I normally played Ernie Ball .130 - .45.
It'd be nice to have a .130 for my 4th string and the .150 for my 5th.

Any body have any other tuning suggestions to try out while I'm ****ing around?
Click to expand...

What you said is the reason I don't "correctly" double-drop my B string the same as my E string.
Technically my setup for drop C on a 5'er should be GCGCF. I tune ACGCF. Try only tuning your B string half-step to A# and see if that helps. That way you can arguably have an "easier" way playing octaves n' shizz on the B and A strings.

Also, you may just not have use for the low B and in that case go get a 4. I at first didn't use my low B in this dropped tuning that much until I got a 5'er I couldn't live without and I had to incorporate those lower notes into our stuff over time.
 
#22
Nice thread!

I had the same dilemma when I got 5 string bass... and was very hesitant, borderline going back to another 4 (already owning one).

But now I came to love 5er, since i play 70% with pick - very fast paced riffs following guitar, smaller distance between strings on 5 helps for me as well.

We play in drop D, and I am tuned to ADADG - which is pretty much acceptable with standard gauge strings.

Lower A for me comes in handy in many cases, mostly adding that extra bass drops in slower parts - if used right, can be very effective. (Though i do have 4stringer with fatter strings on it - dropped to C, which i use for fun / covers).

I'd keep 5er for sure, if I were you.. w.e it takes + I own the same bass and its awesome!
 
#23
Dr3thepooner said:
Nice thread!

I had the same dilemma when I got 5 string bass... and was very hesitant, borderline going back to another 4 (already owning one).

But now I came to love 5er, since i play 70% with pick - very fast paced riffs following guitar, smaller distance between strings on 5 helps for me as well.

We play in drop D, and I am tuned to ADADG - which is pretty much acceptable with standard gauge strings.

Lower A for me comes in handy in many cases, mostly adding that extra bass drops in slower parts - if used right, can be very effective. (Though i do have 4stringer with fatter strings on it - dropped to C, which i use for fun / covers).

I'd keep 5er for sure, if I were you.. w.e it takes + I own the same bass and its awesome!
Click to expand...

Yep. Again, I gotta retrack pretty much my band's entire EP with my 5'ers because I used a 4 to record with.
Just isn't there when the beef is gone. :bassist:
 
#24
genericusername said:
...get a custom stringset from circle k strings or somewhere so that all the strings have roughly the same tension...
Click to expand...

Ding Ding!
Found myself in exactly the same position a couple months ago. My guitarists started using drop C# so I wanted to string up a 2nd bass to G# C# G# C# F#. My problem has always been finding a low string that actually feels right, even for a B string. And now this?! I looked through every single gauge available from every single manufacturer & found that even in standard tunings, ANY set offered from the top selling companies will vary wildly in tension throughout the set because they're still using gauges that became common some 40 years ago. Circle K is the only one that's properly taken this into account - instead of a "balanced" set from say, Ken Smith, adjusting gauges by .002" or so, my current setup is a Drop tuned 4 of .041/.057/.076/.112 plus a .150 G#. A 45-130 set of D'addario prosteels in standard tuning has a swing of about 16 pounds of tension, I'm now at about 3.
When I was first looking through the numbers, I thought I'd give CK a go but didn't really expect a big difference in feel but it's not just a placebo effect - this homemade Warwick in this stupid tuning feels better than even my standard tuned Roscoe with DRs. Switching back & forth kinda feels like I'm fighting the Roscoe just a bit in comparison. I play fingerstyle pretty hard at the bridge pickup, so the set I use is just a bit more flexible than usual. But they also have waaay more selection than anyone else. The next one up would be .043-.118, plus a .158 G#. Yeah, it's a manly lookin thing but flabby low end gets you nowhere fast.
That's what nevermind.
Look through CK's tension guide, it might help you avoid the hours I've spent just staring through my screen at numbers. I'd rather be playing!
 
#29
knowles said:
Yeah, for the recording, they actually used drop B on guitar, with him in F# B F# B E. After playing a few shows, they realized that Chad's voice was more comfortable in that half-step up.
Man, Ryknow made things possible for me.
Click to expand...

Ok that's right-
I remember reading something in Bass Player Mag (them being wrong?? go figure :rollno:) talking about using GCGCF, but then in Ryan's cover article from like 06 maybe? He said they were in drop B w/ the tuning you aforementioned, and yeah.

Low F# had to have been brutal from an intonation standpoint. I know he was and is using DR's, and said his low "E" was a .140, so I'm curious as to what DR even provided him with for that F#, considering the biggest B they make AFAIK is a .130!
 
#30
Ya, he had mentioned the 4th string's gauge, but not the lowest. He basically plays his 5s like a 4 anyway, only using the bottom end for volume swells on multiple open strings or barred harmonics.
Anyway, we're way off course here...I hope our friend has found an answer eh! :bassist:
 

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