Ooops... I forgot about the DROP D...

[TommyD69]

How many times has this happened to you?

In my last band we had a unique situation where our bass player was ALSO (thru default) our keyboard player.

So, when we played a "block" of keyboard songs, I would get the bass guitar duties.

Unfortunately, some times he would forget to "undrop" the D when he handed the bass back to me...

How embarrassing... My definition of a successful bass evening is when no one notices me... If I get noticed, its usually because I screwed up...

Those were the days though....

 

[Phalex]

We used to do 4 or 5 tunes in drop D at the beginning of the 3rd set. There was a bassplayer from another band in attendance one night, and I asked if he wanted to sit in. He did, so I said "OK, you can come up after the tunes in D".

I forgot to undrop the bass when I handed it over to him, and he was unfamiliar with the D tuner concept.........

It was not good.

That was years ago, and I still apologize when I see him........

 

[ArtechnikA]

And this is why there are Hipshot detuners ;-)
Quick flip of the lever - ta da.
it also gives you an immediate visual indication of whether it's 'up' or 'down.'
Just MHO, of course...

 

[73jbass]

That's why some folks play 5 ers. No need to worry about the lever thingy.

 

[ArtechnikA]

That's why some folks play 5 ers. No need to worry about the lever thingy.

It never ends.
As soon as you adapt to a 5-string, someone will want to play in Drop-A ;-)

 

[Hamlet7768]

It never ends.
As soon as you adapt to a 5-string, someone will want to play in Drop-A ;-)

I've never understood why Mastodon doesn't do this.

More on-topic, I've done this a few times. I can't wait till I have enough basses to have ones dedicated to specific tunings.

 

[seescottrock]

I came here to echo the praises of the D-tuner. Makes cover gigs a great deal easier!

 

[TommyD69]

I've heard of those... but I've never seen one in person...

 

[ArtechnikA]

Here's a link to an example:
http://store.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=63

For use 'live' - check out almost any YouTube video by Michael Manring. 'The Enormous Room' is a good example.

 

[john_g]

I got a hipshot detuner on my Ric because we have a handful of drop D songs, and unfortunately a couple of them you need a drop D, like Slither where you play most of the notes on the dropped string in between open D notes, and I cant use my fiver. I love love my hipshot!

 

[kcole4001]

I got a hipshot detuner on my Ric because we have a handful of drop D songs, and unfortunately a couple of them you need a drop D, like Slither where you play most of the notes on the dropped string in between open D notes, and I cant use my fiver. I love love my hipshot!

Big +1!

All hail Hipshot!


I'm thinking if I can slightly modify the G tuners on my older Ricks I can fit a D Tuner on them too.

I did forget to flip the lever back to standard once, though.
It became pretty obvious the first G I tried to play, but it's a very quick fix, so no real biggy.

 

[MatticusMania]

That's why some folks play 5 ers. No need to worry about the lever thingy.

I play a 5string, but I still prefer to detune my E to D for certain songs.

 

[Spent]

I got a hipshot detuner on my Ric because we have a handful of drop D songs, and unfortunately a couple of them you need a drop D, like Slither where you play most of the notes on the dropped string in between open D notes, and I cant use my fiver. I love love my hipshot!

Years ago I put one on my Ric too, and slither was one of the tunes; great song and fun to play.

 

[avvie]

I have used a Hipshot D-Tuner for most of my bass playing life, but have abandoned it in the past year. My ear and peg feel are good enough now that if I forget (which I often do ) I can grab it and yank it back into tune within a couple or three cents. This has been handy because the Hipshot had stopped working for me. I kept dialing it in but it would never tune correctly again. I think it's a combination of two things: an Ibanez neck and barometric pressure. I live on a mountainside, but my gigs are oceanside.