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Tuning Help D:

#22
Let me be the 3rd or 4th guy to mention that if you MUST tune this way as opposed to transcribing the riffs or better yet, writing new bass lines ( I assume these are original songs) in BEADG, you should talk to the Circle K dude or just get a light 4 string set and a regular B and adjust your truss rod and intonation. Buy the strings and take the bass to a tech.
 
#23
right; there was no point in buying that 5-string.

to repeat: get a regular B string, and a super-light 4-string set (like 40-95). use them all for the 5-string, or use the lowest 3 of the set with that B for the 4-string.
 
#24
Silver9692 said:
Thanks Rockstarbassist, very big help : ) I have it set like that for my 4 string right now with a B string in place of the E, and that tuning you put with the five string, wouldnt the B string tuned down to F# be like hanging off the bass? lol
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For people like you (and me! :hyper:) who play downtuned, I can say without over-exaggerating and blowing any kinda smoke outta my backside, that the game has been changed with Skip's string designs at Circle K. I dealt for years with the same issues I see people post re: downtuning/alternate tuning but these are designed from the ground up to fix all of these problems and after having them on my basses for over a year now, I've yet to encounter issues.
I'd definitely save up and get a set soon if you plan to stay in this tuning. :bassist:

My band plays in drop C and I tune ACGCF, and we drop down to F#BF#BE at times and my low B can handle it no sweat. :) However you don't need to worry about that as I said in my original post, and stringing your bass with the BADG strings of a 5 string set should definitely suffice for now. With a slight adjustment the ADG strings are only 1.5 steps down which really isn't a huge deal IME and your B string is in it's standard pitch so there's no adjustment necessary! There's no need to create artificial tension by "tuning up" the EAD strings, either...

I'd return that 5'er if you can and invest in come CK's and a good professional setup if you plan to leave that bass in drop B. :)
 
#28
Silver9692 said:
And its hard to "spend time practiCing" when you pay $60 dollars a month on rehearsal space rent and you only have a couple hours a week to learn and you don't wanna waste valuable practice time having to cope with the guitars odd tuning.
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I would tune BEADG as most other people are suggestijng and just learn the fretboard really well so that you know where the notes are and you know what you're playing.

In your post that I quoted, I got the feeling that you don't practise at home enough, sorry if I'm wrong, but that's just the feeling I got. If you aren't then study that fretboard as mush as you can when you're not with the band so that when you are, you aren't thinking about where your fingers should be. You should just know.
 
#29
Silver9692 said:
So I just got into a new band and they play there guitars in Open B tuning (B F# B E B D) I cant for the life of me figure this out, I put a B string from 5 string Set as my E (I play a 4 string) and tuned B F# B E, Now as you can Imagine the sound like the definition of MUD, way to loose even with the B string present, I even had my older friend who owns a shop set everything up, He suggested getting a 5 string bass and tuning B E A D G and just transcribing each note they play, now I this can be done, I just wanna know if anyone has any secrets or tips to get this tuning done, Thanks
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No need for bass to match tuning of guitars, unless you mirror play some chords that would be too hard to play in standard tuning.
Standard 5 string with low B will be enough.
 
#31
Matthew_84 said:
I would tune BEADG as most other people are suggestijng and just learn the fretboard really well so that you know where the notes are and you know what you're playing.

In your post that I quoted, I got the feeling that you don't practise at home enough, sorry if I'm wrong, but that's just the feeling I got. If you aren't then study that fretboard as mush as you can when you're not with the band so that when you are, you aren't thinking about where your fingers should be. You should just know.
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This seems to be a very good assessment...
It can be frustrating not to have enough time... but if you learn the basics you will save time in the long run... plus you (the op) would not be in kid situation of starting this thread :-)
 
#33
mcnach said:
No need for bass to match tuning of guitars, unless you mirror play some chords that would be too hard to play in standard tuning.
Standard 5 string with low B will be enough.
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mcnach said:
+1
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mcnach said:
This seems to be a very good assessment...
It can be frustrating not to have enough time... but if you learn the basics you will save time in the long run... plus you (the op) would not be in kid situation of starting this thread :-)
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its_time_to_stop_posting-n1296694987668.jpg


if he's in drop Bb tuning, it's a safe assessment he isn't playing folk-roots-jazz, therefore all of these and similar posts are rendered pretty much useless. :)
 
#34
Josh Pelican said:
For the record, one of my four strings is tuned BF#BE. It's set up with Circle K strings and it sounds awesome. One of my favorite tunings.

Anyone who says it won't work hasn't a clue as to what we're talking about here and is just giving back advice on something they don't know anything about.
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:bassist::bassist:
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