I am playing in this tuning for a year now without changing back and like it better than the standard tuning. So it is a keeper.
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Tuning six string bass BEADF#B (like guitar)
- Thread starter Les Fret
- Start date
I am playing in this tuning for a year now without changing back and like it better than the standard tuning. So it is a keeper.
I think that would confuse the crap out of me. I'm happy as things are. Standard 4ths between each string is super simple and consistent. Frankly, I find bass fingering easier than guitar fingerings. You always have to be aware of moving to B and E on guitar because the two strings drop 1/2 step out of the pattern of the bass strings. Whatever works for ya. God bless.
I played with this tuning for many years and really liked it. But now I’m back to standard BEADGC, although I’m thinking of trying CEADGC to get a tighter more defined low string sound on my 34” scale 6-string (I’m still convinced low B sounds much better on 35” scale basses).
Basically whatever works for you is fine. But going back to your original question I’d recommend the BEADGB instead of the F#. This keeps things pretty close to normal with the added benefit of being able to play some chords easier (like ninths), and is the same as guitar minus the high E.
Yes of course but if you want to play guitar shapes and voicings you are better of with the F# because if keeps the exact same intervals between strings as on guitar (only transposed). But whatever works for you of course.
Above and beyond the convenience of being able to use guitar-shaped fingering for chords and lines, there is also the issue of open string voicing. That applies to certain chords, but also heavily to playing certain harmonics, if that’s your bag.
I would like to tackle Steve Hackett’s “Horizons” transposed down for bass, and it will be quite a challenge to sort out the harmonics on an instrument tuned in straight fourths, as he wrote it around playing harmonics on the open strings of a guitar.
This consideration is unlikely to sway anybody one way or another, but it seems worth a mention.
I would like to tackle Steve Hackett’s “Horizons” transposed down for bass, and it will be quite a challenge to sort out the harmonics on an instrument tuned in straight fourths, as he wrote it around playing harmonics on the open strings of a guitar.
This consideration is unlikely to sway anybody one way or another, but it seems worth a mention.
I agree. To me it made more sense to have B-b for the reason of open string harmonics being more “harmonic” across the whole instrument.
Like that song. I played it on guitar many years ago. I have been re listening to all old genesis stuff again these days. Still amazing!
If you want to play Horizons on bass I will suggest using a capo otherwise it will get too muddy.
Sorry to hijack this , but seeing as it involves guitar intervals, perhaps we may be off-topic, but we can still see the topic from here.
I have a ten-string tapping instrument tuned in parallel fourths. I’m resisting GAS, but when I bought the ten-string, I actually wanted an eight-string with bass spacing, but was talked into a ten-string with guitar-spacing (the “Reggie-X”).
I still want that eight-string, and when I daydream about it, I daydream about tuning it BEADGCEA. So the bottom six strings will be the same tuning as a six-string bass, and the top six strings will be the same tuning as a baritone guitar, but with bass spacing and scale length.
My thought was to learn Horizons on that instrument, if and when I take the plunge. But transposed down a fifth so that the fingering and harmonics would transpose directly to the higher six strings (ADGCEA).
Thoughts?
I tuned my SR506 that way - BEADF#B, when I first got it. Yes, it makes intuitive sense to guitar players. But I soon found that guitar tuning was too guitar , even an octave and 1/2 lower, using Spanish tuning made it sound very much like a guitar - the voicings are the same, and I found that after playing just a few chords on the 6-string bass, I did not like the effect of that voicing. It's too familiar, and lent itself to truly "playing guitar on bass", which is not what I was after.
So yes, give it a go. I found I much preferred the 6-string in even 4ths, because this maintained what I associate with bass voicings - such as when playing Root + 10th chords - I find that voicing vital to my style, and like to be able to do it incorporating the high C string. And having all 4ths is also more fluid for me, running scales and just finding notes on the fly.
I still use a lot of guitar-specific technique on bass guitars, after all they are in one family, but in tuning, it's interesting how that Spanish guitar convention of the 3rd fundamentally changes the sound and approach.
So yes, give it a go. I found I much preferred the 6-string in even 4ths, because this maintained what I associate with bass voicings - such as when playing Root + 10th chords - I find that voicing vital to my style, and like to be able to do it incorporating the high C string. And having all 4ths is also more fluid for me, running scales and just finding notes on the fly.
I still use a lot of guitar-specific technique on bass guitars, after all they are in one family, but in tuning, it's interesting how that Spanish guitar convention of the 3rd fundamentally changes the sound and approach.
This place where basses and guitars overlap is interesting. There is such a thing as a Contrabass Classical Guitar, Aria make one. It has a longer scale length (I think about 30”) than a guitar, but not as long as a bass, and I believe it has guitar spacing.
Although the tuning is similar to tuning a bass with guitar intervals, it seems to be a guitar that is played in the bass’ octave, rather than a bass. I know it's somewhat a case of semantics, but it was made for guitar ensembles and the repertoire reflects that.
I totally get why someone (like myself) wants to experiment with guitar tuning on a bass instrument, and I also get why someone like yourself might end up returning to fourths.
