Tuning up a semitone?

[mcnach]

I'm going to request one more time, can we please keep the discussion to the actual mechanical details of tuning a bass up a semitone? While I respect the fact that everyone has their own opinions on the merits of different tuning formats and transposition, that is not really the information that I am looking for. In point of fact, our rep list contains songs in at least 15 or 16 different keys. I as a bass player and we as a band are quite capable of playing in any key we want. So one last time, let's leave the key signatures out of this m'kay?

Good point, patiently made.

You'll likely need some relatively minor adjustments: truss rod and intonation. Easy and reversible... go for it. If you find you don't like the slightly higher tension then you can experiment changing string gauges a bit, but it will not be a do-or-die type of situation.

Back in the day when I just played with myself (quiet at the back!) I'd tune guitar and bass to each other, by ear. I'd only tune properly if I was trying to play along to a recording, and in fact many recordings seemed not to be in standard A=440Hz tuning, so I would often be tuning a bit higher ot=r a bit lower than standard. Pretty sure I'd have tuned up by a semitone more than once. I didn't tend to adjust anything but truss rod, sometimes... so while I cannot say categorically that you'll find this much change here and there, my experience suggests it should be doable without trouble.

 

[MDBass]

You seem a bit lost - the guitarist is in open D and wants to tune up a semitone so as to play the songs in a slightly higher key but without having to relearn his fingerings. OP wants to do the same for ease of remembering the songbook.

Tuning down a semitone would give us an open Eb but also require OP to relearn all his positions, which is not what he's wanting. He already plays the songbook in E tuning against the guitarists D tuning, so will need an F standard to match guitarists new Eb tuning.

OP - I personally suggest learning keyboard or developing a transpose key for the bass. Why bother learning keys that aren't C or Am when you can just hit the key??

You’re correct.

I misread the guitarists proposed tuning as Eb standard, not open Eb

 

[darkwasthenight]

You’re correct.

I misread the guitarists proposed tuning as Eb standard, not open Eb

There is nothing worse than a guitarist who describes their tuning as "Drop B" or something awful. Do you mean BADGBE? B standard? C# with a dropped B?? Just spell it out dammit!

 

[MDBass]

Thank you for understanding.

Tuning up a half step will require a small truss rod adjustment to keep the same neck relief, but that’s about it.

No mechanical issues to worry about, unless you’re already using insanely heavy gauge strings for some reason, and likely no need to re-intonate either as long as you’re using the same strings you currently are.

Go for it, have fun, and ignore my previous well intended but sleep deprived advice

 

[Fynn]

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?

I'm a little confused. The title says tuning up, but tuning from E standard to Eb is tuning down. Or are you suggesting that you tuned to D before? If that's the case, then why are you asking what happens when you tune your instrument differently. Shouldn't you be quite fimilar with that already? Ooooor are you just talking about your guitar player and asking for suggestions on guitar tuning / setup / strings?

But to sort of give the best answers I can think of:
1. There's so many people on this forum. There's probably a person for every weird tuning experiment you could imagine on here.
2. Any change in tuning will affect the tension on the neck. Which will mess up your action slightly and your intonation aswell. Especially when you change all 4 strings on a 4 string.
3. Try the strings you currently have and detune them. If you can comfortably play all the stuff you could play before and it still sounds very similar (excluding the fact that you're up (or down?) a semitone), then you're good to go. Generally I use 45-100. and they work great for pretty much anything from D to E. Different tension strings might feel better, but it's just a halfstep difference, so I can't imagine there to be too much of a difference.

 

[Ekulati]

We play literally anywhere. Bars. Critter lodges. Legions. Old age homes. Weddings. Funerals (usually one or two a year). Birthday parties. Private stuff. Corporate stuff. Street Festivals. Pretty much any genre you can think of. Country. Western. Country and Western. Blues. R&B. Classic rock. Disco. Funk. Jazz standards. Show tunes. Mambos. Sambas. At one point last night we played Boot Scootin Boogie, Suger Pie Honey Bunch, Quando Quando, and Dancing in the Dark back to back. 20 or 30 songs? Try 50 or 60. We don't even talk about a set list - the guitar player starts (or calls) a tune and we play. Little to no dead air, unless we've been playing 5 or 6 songs back to back and take 20 or 30 seconds to regroup. Tunes are called on the basis of what type of venue we are playing at, the nature of the event, a request list from the client (if that exists), but basically anything that keeps people engaged and/or dancing.

We are a three piece band. That helps keep everybody getting decent pay.

Cool. But those genres are all pretty standard rep, and varied at that. Why does he insist on using an open tuning? Going from country to a jazz standard to Latin in anything other than standard seems like a whole lot of trouble.

 

[ShadowGroover]

Good thing OP isn't playing acoustic piano. Otherwise, think of all the strings that would have to be retuned to accommodate the "special" guitarist request.

So, if such a guitarist plays in capo position 4, does the expectation and request extend to the bassist to play capo 4 as well? And if so, would a "G" shape guitar chord always be called "G" regardless of capo position?

Communication could be so much easier, if so. Let's keep things simple, right?

 

[esoxhntr]

Let's keep things simple, right?

... which is exactly what we did... kept it simple...

We both tuned our instruments up a semitone. The gig went off without a hitch. The vocal range was better accommodated. There was a little extra tension in the strings, but not nearly as much as I thought there would be. A 1/8th turn of the truss rod was all that was needed to get the fretboard straightened out, and off we went. As a bonus... it took a little bit of low/mid muddle out of the band sound. The stage sound was clearer and punchier. I can't even think of how there was any kind of a drawback.

 

[Les Fret]

Why not just use a capo on the first fret?
Otherwise just tune up and loosen the truss rod a bit. Just try it.