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Thunderbird Club

#230,241
GonePlaid said:
I've tried tuning down to both D and Eb(not at the same time). It was OK unless I was handed a chord chart to sight read. Then I was hosed.
I get the idea(s) of heavier sound/easier to bend, but only if the whole band does it. Also, we occasionally have a guy sit in with us. He does his own material and plays(owns a)guitar. He calls keys by saying things like "Capo third fret in D". I don't play 'treble'-bass only-and "Capo 3rd fret" means nothing to me. Plus, since it's his originals and I can't hear his changes, which he doesn't always do the same, it kinda turns into a
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I don't like tuning down unless my strings are heavy enough to not be floppy but have done it if I had to at times. Capo on third fret would tell me key of G but Capo third fret D doesn't make sense to me. I play by ear anyway but yeah I've been in some weird situations, yes, train wrecks at jams.

Speaking of train wrecks, I once joined a band and they fired the bass player before I even had a chance to rehearse with them, (or more likely he got mad and quit), but did learn their stuff from a tape and I had to do a rushed gig, it was mostly original stuff so was interesting.
The night of the gig everything went well until we got to a certain very fast Queen tune which is a royal PITA to play anyway (Stone Cold Crazy) I don't know if I threw them off by the way I was playing it but when it came to the 2nd break at about 1:22, it seemed like everyone went to a different part and it completely fell apart so bad that everyone had to stop. :laugh:
I started playing the B after a few seconds and the band gradually fell in but it was the biggest train wreck and funniest thing I can ever remember being involved in*. I had always thought you never stop no matter what because the audience might not even realize but this was so bad it was like someone slowly dying of a heart attack having death throes onstage and there was no way of salvaging it until we stopped.


*edit, besides the time the Super Beatle amp I was borrowing fell off a roof, it wasn't so funny to the owner who wasn't there though.


 
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#230,243
GonePlaid said:
I've tried tuning down to both D and Eb(not at the same time). It was OK unless I was handed a chord chart to sight read. Then I was hosed.
I get the idea(s) of heavier sound/easier to bend, but only if the whole band does it. Also, we occasionally have a guy sit in with us. He does his own material and plays(owns a)guitar. He calls keys by saying things like "Capo third fret in D". I don't play 'treble'-bass only-and "Capo 3rd fret" means nothing to me. Plus, since it's his originals and I can't hear his changes, which he doesn't always do the same, it kinda turns into a
images
or
EOwa_oNUcAAM1Jd.jpg
Click to expand...

I’ve settled on tuning to D for now because I want that low D often enough to make it worth it.

Your sit-in needs to learn how to call things out. I don’t care how you capo, just tell me the real key.

The main time I’ll use a capo on bass is if I’m learning a song in one key while listening to the song played in another key. Then I can get the changes down, remove the capo, and play it in the desired key.
 
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#230,244
Miles_ONeal said:
I’ve settled on tuning to D for now because I want that low D often enough to make it worth it.

Your sit-in needs to learn how to call things out. I don’t care how you capo, just tell me the real key.

The main time I’ll use a capo on bass is if I’m learning a song in one key while listening to the song played in another key. Then I can get the changes down, remove the capo, and play it in the desired key.
Click to expand...


Yes, I ended up looking like an amateur one afternoon at a jam because the jammer couldn't call keys or communicate at all and liked to yell. I had the last laugh a year or two later though at another jam, I had a bass with a drop D tuner on it and he turned around and yelled "it's a D!" after looking at me playing the open E. I quietly told him I was playing a D and he shut up. I didn't know he was the same guy until someone else told me afterward.

I do like the low D at times too, I got so used to doing it by ear during the 70's that I can tune it down pretty quickly. I do have a drop D tuner on a TF fretless.
 
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#230,246
bobyoung53 said:
Yes, I ended up looking like an amateur one afternoon at a jam because the jammer couldn't call keys or communicate at all and liked to yell. I had the last laugh a year or two later though at another jam, I had a bass with a drop D tuner on it and he turned around and yelled "it's a D!" after looking at me playing the open E. I quietly told him I was playing a D and he shut up. I didn't know he was the same guy until someone else told me afterward.

I do like the low D at times too, I got so used to doing it by ear during the 70's that I can tune it down pretty quickly. I do have a drop D tuner on a TF fretless.
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I find it easiest just to keep my basses in D. I was going to go for C, but am already having to be picky about string size and tension not to have things floppy. D covers a lot of what I want.What killed me was having one bass in D and one in E. I’d screw up now and then and switch fingerings mid-song. And I couldn't think of a good reason to have both, anyway.
 
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#230,250
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#230,251
Miles_ONeal said:
I’ve settled on tuning to D for now because I want that low D often enough to make it worth it.

Your sit-in needs to learn how to call things out. I don’t care how you capo, just tell me the real key.

The main time I’ll use a capo on bass is if I’m learning a song in one key while listening to the song played in another key. Then I can get the changes down, remove the capo, and play it in the desired key.
Click to expand...
Because I play in a concert band reading "legit" charts, alternate tunings would(has)f---* me up. Easiest routes for me: use the 5er or kick in the Micro POG, down 1 octave for a lower D/Eb.

*oul
 
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#230,255
Miles_ONeal said:
Do you crank your Greco pickups high like you do most birds?
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Nope, it's currently cranked down almost flush with the pup ring......
I play pretty hard live so this works well - If it's closer to the strings I end up overloading the front end of the amp way too easily.

xYNrJBo.jpg
 
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#230,256
TBird1958 said:
Nope, it's currently cranked down almost flush with the pup ring......
I play pretty hard live so this works well - If it's closer to the strings I end up overloading the front end of the amp way too easily.

xYNrJBo.jpg
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I used to do that sometimes in my younger days with SVT front ends, they're very high gain anyway at least the 70's head are.
 
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