Playing 1/2 step down - will I need heavier strings?

[Sparkdog]

I'm auditioning for a band this week and the guitarist told me they tune down 1/2 step for everything and then play the songs (mostly covers) in the original recorded key. I think they do this for the sake of the vocals so they can hit those high notes

I tried a couple of different basses yesterday with this tuning, one with flats (Chromes), one with rounds (DAD EXL nickels)...gauges on both are 50-70-85-105.

They felt a little floppy, but not terrible. That's just playing in my house of course, not thumping it out onstage. In your experience does a half step down merit going to heavier strings to keep the tension close to standard tuning?

The D'Addarios are fairly high tension, which I like. I don't have a real light touch and I like a little resistance from the strings. I was thinking of putting heavy gauge nickel rounds on a bass for this group, those are 55, 75, 90, 110. I've used those before and I like the tone, but tension was a little too high. I figure tuning those down 1/2 would probably get the feel pretty close to my regular strings. These guys play a lot and if this gig works out I wouldn't mind devoting a bass just for their tuning...I don't have any other gigs that need that though, I always play in standard tuning.

What do you guys think?

 

[Rune Bivrin]

Isn't the question what you think? What a bunch of random bass players on the intarwebz think matters not one iota; it's your bass and you who are supposed to play it,

 

[AgIdoc]

I'd think they'd feel really close to the same, but I've never tried that.

our current P&W leader tunes in Eb and makes bass/piano/violin transpose or mentally transpose. he just expects us to know that when he says "it goes to a G then a C here & here" he means F# & B haha. we can all do it no problem. at 1st it irritated me but its no biggie. so what I'm saying is you could stay in standard tuning & play everything "flat" like I do haha. the only time it really comes into play is that w/o detuning you can't play a low Eb. incidentally this is what started me down the road of switching from a 4 string to a 5 string. we did SO MANY songs in Eb that I wanted to be able to play it w/o detuning just for P&W on Sundays. I ended up loving the 5 b/c its easier to avoid open strings (which I don't like), I can play everything high up on the neck if I want to (I'm short & have short arms), and *occasionally* its awesome to bang a low C, for instance. I don't spend much time *THAT* low but once or twice per gig I can wham a SUPER LOW note which is fun.

 

[Fendbassfan]

It's only 1/2 step down so you will be fine. You are lucky. The last band I was in did a quarter of our songs 1/2 step down BUT many times didn't tell me until after I learned the song in the original keys. I brought two Basses to Gigs and tuned one 1/2 step down. Also, many songs I had to play a D or a Eb instead of a low E on my 4 string Bass AND at Gigs the keyboardist would forget to modulate his keyboards and start the song in the wrong key. So unprofessional. I did quit this band though.

 

[fourstringdrums]

Try raising your action just a smidge. I've found that sometimes a tiny tweak can make a big difference in string tension and fret buzz (or lack of) but not so much in the way of fretting strength.

 

[Sparkdog]

"Isn't the question what you think? What a bunch of random bass players on the intarwebz think matters not one iota; it's your bass and you who are supposed to play it"

uh, yeah...not real helpful dude. I will definitely be the guy playing it, but before I slap new strings and a new set up on a bass that will then not be useful to me for anything but one band I would like to know what other TB'ers have experienced.

Pretty much what this whole internet thing is about, dontcha think?

 

[fourstringdrums]

Pretty much what this whole internet thing is about, dontcha think?

I thought it was about porn..

 

[Bassdirty]

The last 3 bands I was in...and My current band...all Tune down 1/2 step.
So maybe I'm just used to it, but I've never had to get heavier strings.

If you run low action in std tuning, then you go down a 1/2, you may get a little more clickety clack.That can be compensated for with minor adjustments.

I never had to adjust personally, and I like low action.

 

[oddgrowth]

I've played 1/2 step (Eb/G#) down for over 20 years.

your talking 1 fret man, it was never even a thought that had ever crossed my mind and rightfully so.

I've even tuned to D with regular strings.

this is a total non-issue, carry on w/ your regular setup.

 

[rockstarbassist]

Yeah for a simple 1/2 step down, shouldnt' be an issue- especially for an audition.
However if you GET the gig and want to setup your bass "permanently" for 1/2 step down, you could fine-tune the intonation and action to your liking.
Again, that's if you get the gig and would be doing everything in Eb going forward.

 

[Sparkdog]

That all makes sense guys, thanks.

I know it's only a half step, but I could definitely feel a significant difference. I'm just going to tune down my current setup for the audition and see how it goes.

Playing in standard tuning and dropping down a fret is probably not an option, these guys have tons of vocals in their tunes so I'll be singing either lead or backup on almost every song...that's enough to worry about!

It sounds like a good gig though, these guys play the big clubs in town and also open for national acts once in a while with their original material. If it clicks and I dig it I don't mind devoting a bass with special strings and tuning just for them.

Cheers!

 

[BrianVengeance]

You shouldn't have any problem with a lighter string gauge at a lower tuning. We play in C# and I just put a pair of light Chromes (100s) on my J and they sound great. Better than the Rotos they replaced IMO.

 

[rockstarbassist]

That all makes sense guys, thanks.

I know it's only a half step, but I could definitely feel a significant difference. I'm just going to tune down my current setup for the audition and see how it goes.

Playing in standard tuning and dropping down a fret is probably not an option, these guys have tons of vocals in their tunes so I'll be singing either lead or backup on almost every song...that's enough to worry about!

It sounds like a good gig though, these guys play the big clubs in town and also open for national acts once in a while with their original material. If it clicks and I dig it I don't mind devoting a bass with special strings and tuning just for them.

Cheers!

Good luck!
Detuning (as long as it stays in standard) isn't that hard to overcome, especially if the songs are in the same position. It only gets a little weird when you throw "dropped" into the equation. I wish we could play in a standard tuning but eh, not that hard.

 

[AHDBassist]

I've played in drop a with mediums before. I actually prefer the floppier strings myself.

 

[Spleenface92]

My Squier Katana is tuned in D standard and it's fine. It needs a bit of a setup, but the strings don't feel super floppy. Did I mention it's shortscale?

 

[Corey Y]

My Carvin SB4000 has pretty light strings on it and I tune to Eb. I had them set it up for that at the factory when I ordered it and it's got a nice low action, plays beautifully and no problem with string tension. I used to tune my Ric 4003 the same and never needed to make any big adjustments. It could depend a lot on the individual bass, but a little setup at most should probably be fine. Your mileage may vary of course, since my idea of adequate string tension might not be yours.

 

[aaronhutson]

In my experience, you wouldnt need them. I have even used 105g tuned to drop Bflat and they handled it pretty well. So 1/2 step shouldnt be a biggie at all.

 

[James Judson]

I hate tuning down. Seems to suck the life out of my basses. I own 7 basses and 4 amps with about 7 cabinets. No combination could make me happy. Conclusion??? I'm tuning up to pitch and you tune however you want. Playing in the key of Eb is a bit a harder but doable.

 

[Rune Bivrin]

"Isn't the question what you think? What a bunch of random bass players on the intarwebz think matters not one iota; it's your bass and you who are supposed to play it"

uh, yeah...not real helpful dude. I will definitely be the guy playing it, but before I slap new strings and a new set up on a bass that will then not be useful to me for anything but one band I would like to know what other TB'ers have experienced.

Pretty much what this whole internet thing is about, dontcha think?

Well, my point is just that if it feels weird to you then it does. The down tuning is such a minor action that I'm not sure you'd notice it unless you tested it against a tuner. I know I wouldn't, and it's not unthinkable that you percieve the difference to be much bigger than it is simply because you expect it to be so.

Noone here can tell you what you need, we can only tell you what we like. Which might be very different.

Now, I don't down tune; I've got a fiver and I don't much like open strings so if the guitar player in my band started detuning I'd wish him good luck.

 

[lunarpollen]

I'm auditioning for a band this week and the guitarist told me they tune down 1/2 step for everything and then play the songs (mostly covers) in the original recorded key. I think they do this for the sake of the vocals so they can hit those high notes

That doesn't make much sense... First off, if they play everything in the original recorded key then it doesn't change anything for the vocalist. Second, all it does for the string players is arbitrarily lower the key of all open-string chord options by a half-step. I suppose it reduces string tension a tiny bit too.

Also, if they *didn't* play the songs in the orignal recorded key, and instead played them all a half-step lower "for the vocalist's sake", I'd be really weirded out by the fact that they seemed to have bizarrely chosen a setlist of songs where the highest note of every single song was one half-step higher than the vocalist's higest reachable note.