Tuning up a semitone?

[esoxhntr]

My guitar player wants to tune his strings up a semitone. Currently he plays in open D, so I guess now we are going to try open Eb... what I'm wondering is:

1. Has anyone here ever tried this?
2. What did it do to your set up?
3. Any particular strings that you would recommend?

 

[michael_t]

My guitar player wants to tune his strings up a semitone. Currently he plays in open D, so I guess now we are going to try open Eb... what I'm wondering is:

1. Has anyone here ever tried this?
2. What did it do to your set up?
3. Any particular strings that you would recommend?

What brand/type/gauges of strings do you normally use for the standard tuning?

 

[arbiterusa]

Requires reintonation and truss rod adjustment. My band is trying this right now. I hate doing this (I'm a fretless player and it obviously presents me with some problems) and am going to insist on standard tuning going forward.

 

[esoxhntr]

Requires reintonation and truss rod adjustment. My band is trying this right now. I hate doing this (I'm a fretless player and it obviously presents me with some problems) and am going to insist on standard tuning going forward.

Yeah, I kind of expect truss rod adjustment. Were you able to get your neck and fretboard unbowed eventually? Having gone through it, would you suggest setting up a bass specifically for this type of thing?

 

[LetItGrowTone]

Uptuned Bass Players Esoteric Society -^@^-[U.B.P.E.S]-^@^- A Higher State of Tuning

 

[arbiterusa]

Yeah, I kind of expect truss rod adjustment. Were you able to get your neck and fretboard unbowed eventually? Having gone through it, would you suggest setting up a bass specifically for this type of thing?

It's easy enough to reverse, just a bunch of really annoying adjustments. I did set up a bass specifically for it.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Or just play as you are tuned and transpose to meet the guitar.
You both don't have to be the same tuning at all.
However communications become challenging now that everything gets translated.

 

[micguy]

Every half step is about a 12 percent change in tension. Some folks may not notice it, but you will probably have to adjust your setup. If he's moving to E flat, though, that should be tuning below standard for you. Am I missing something?

My solution is a 5'er in standard tuning. I play in lots of keys (church gigs where singers call the keys) - transposing is our superpower.

 

[zubrycky]

Most of The Smith's songs are in F# tuning (one step higher).

You can use a capo, OP.

 

[wysiwyg248]

1. Has anyone here ever tried this?

Many players used to do this back in the day prior to Hipshot X-tenders (D-Tuners).

 

[Stewie]

Refuse. The guitar player will now be forced to transpose or play out of tune

 

[Pings Bass]

My solution is a 5'er in standard tuning. I play in lots of keys (church gigs where singers call the keys) - transposing is our superpower.

This is my standard answer (bass is a 12-key instrument!), but I don't play genres that are dependent on a lot of open strings. I don't have a problem playing standards in Eb on any standard tuned bass (4,5 or 6 string).

But if the bass parts have a lot of low Eb pedal tones, and the riffs center around open, down-tuned guitar strings, and the set list is mainly songs in keys corresponding to open, down-tuned guitar strings.... I can see down-tuning the bass.

It's not like you're going to have some diva singer want to sit in and do a song transposed up a fourth or fifth.

 

[Killing Floor]

What’s the difference as long as you’re in tune? I’ve worked with singers wanting 1/2 step relief.

 

[KaraQ]

My guitar player wants to tune his strings up a semitone. Currently he plays in open D, so I guess now we are going to try open Eb... what I'm wondering is:

1. Has anyone here ever tried this?
2. What did it do to your set up?
3. Any particular strings that you would recommend?

If you're in D-standard now, going to Eb-standard should require only minimal adjustments, if any.

I've got a Thunderbird that floats between D-standard & Eb-standard, depending on if I'm playing songs by Motley Crüe, or by GnR.

I just change the tuning, no intonation or truss-rod adjustments necessary.

I've done the same on other basses, with different brands/types of strings; that one currently has DR neon red coated strings.


That being said......unless you're planning on doing a lot of open string pedaling with the Eb tuning, I'd just leave it in D.

 

[BarfanyShart]

What key do most of the songs wind up in? ( I'm guessing Eb Major) I knew a lot of gospel players who tuned their bass guitars in Eb standard (Bb standard on 5) because they wanted lots of ringing open-strings for those choir tunes in flat keys. I tried it once or twice on DB for church gigs, but it didn't vibe for me. You don't really need special strings to tune up or down up to a full step, but you do need to adjust your truss rod to match your new tuning.

 

[Klangfarbe]

Just to be clear for anybody: OP seems to go for an Open Eb tuning. Since he is now in open D/ E standard (D/E,A,D,G)this means his A,D,and G string had to come up a half step. Tuning therfore would be Eb,Bb,Eb,Ab.

In regards to set up and/ or adjustments i think it all comes down how rigid the neck of your bass is. If it's realy hard, there is a good chance that no adjustment is necessary. If not so, just do the adjustments. Its not to difficult and a good way to get more familar with your instrument anyway.

 

[Ekulati]

Just to be clear for anybody: OP seems to go for an Open Eb tuning. Since he is now in open D/ E standard (D/E,A,D,G)...

Hmm, I don't see that being said by the OP, that he's in any kind of open or dropped tuning. Re-reading it seems the GUITAR player is tuned down, but it's not clear at all that the bass is in anything other than standard E.

 

[Element Zero]

Just tune up and try it. It might not be off enough to warrant a full setup or even adjusting intonation.

 

[ShadowGroover]

Who cares what tuning a guitarist uses? Play in the key of Eb (or whatever) from standard bass tuning.

Terminology problems? Welcome to guitar-dumb

 

[superheavyfunk]

This is a bit OT but I’ve often wondered why we as bassists don’t just tune to D standard as our default. Considering how often the songs we play (And the guitarists/horn sections/keyboardists that we play with) are tuned down or play in flat keys, it would seem to me that this might save us a lot of aggravation.