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tuned down a half step

R

rolliefingers

Jun 1, 2005
69
0
houston, tx
#1
perhaps this belongs elsewhere on this forum and may be moved, but here goes.. i'm sure many of you are playing tuned down a half step to accomodate a vocalist or guitar player, ect. i know some guys put heavier strings on and maybe raise the action so the bass still has some tension. for those of you who play 4 string and are tuning down a half step (or more) - what kind of basses/setup do you use? any advice? thoughts?
 
#2
I had a neck-through Charvel Model 3B that didn't like being tuned down, as the truss rod had no where to go.

On the other hand, my MIM P bass took it all in stride and was fine after a minor truss rod adjustment. Sounded MASSIVE!!!

In all, a lot easier for me than the two guitarists that had floating Floyd Rose tailpieces....hee, hee, hee.
 
#3
My Reverend Rumblefish JJ is currently setup for 1/2 step down. I switched from Sunbeams to Marcus Miller DRs, which are a little heavier than my customary 100s. After I tuned down, the action remained acceptable, so I did not do any trussrod adjustment. I just a little intonation!
 
#5
All my basses get strung with DR or MTD stainless 45-105's.
I had a Rickenbacker 4001 for a short time, and it was the only bass that didn't like being detuned.
Other than that every bass I had done fine:
Jazz basses (vintage and newer)
P basses (vintage)
Stingray's (old and newer)
Spector NS4's
Warwicks corvettes and streamers
Ken Smith
G&L
Ibanez
MTD
 
#6
Ahhh yes, the wonderful band debate of down tuning. We're doing it for that wonderful save the singers voice reason. Problem is he sounds better the higher he gets, and the guitars sound 'wrong' tuned down. I just don't like the sound of flat tuning. I use one bass and retune to standard between band adventures because 90% of the music we learn is originally tuned standard. Most of my playing time is either learning new songs or playing along with CD's. My bass handles it okay with regular boomers and not too aggressive playing. Drop D from flat tuned sounds like ass no matter what I do. I don't like the sound of heavier gauge strings either so in my situation, the only acceptable solution is a second and third bass.
 
#7
i guess it depends on your instrument. My ESP, for instance, i can tune to just about anything without destroying playability...i did play it a whole step down for about 6 months, and that required heavy gauge strings and quite a truss rod adjustment, but it worked fine.

my fender jazz bass, however, doesn't work with me quite so much. even sudden shifts in the weather (i live in new england) cause the neck and action to go crazy...some days i'll wake up and almost every fret is buzzing. i have found that dropping to D during a show usually goes pretty smoothly, but anything beyond that would certainly require a whole new setup from scratch.

just experiment with different things and settings...you say that when you go down to dropped D-flat it sounds crappy...i say - FIX IT! find out what is wrong--too bassy, no definition etc-- and work it out so you can do it with ease. try adjusting amp settings, try different string gauges (maybe a little heavier on the E string??) IMO/IME, you should be able to tune any "normal" bass anywhere in the F-C range (half-step sharp to two whole steps flat) as long as you set it up according to how it responds to the change.

good luck

rock.
 
#8
thanks for your responses. i haven't tried getting it set up. cuz i play in one band in standard tuning and another a 1/2 step down. but i wonder if a bass, possibly even a cheap beater bass that has slightly high tension in standard tuning might feel "just right" tuned down... like what ihateusernamers suggested - having a bass for alternate tunings.
 

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