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Alternate Tunings and String Number

S

skabassist13

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 8, 2004
Messages
1,209
Location
Houston, Texas
I like to drop tune my bass to C, so its in a drop C setup(think drop D a whole step lower). but i get a bad tone. so i was wondering... would i be easier to get thicker strings and still drop tune? or would it be easier to get a 5 and up tune(?) the B? obviously the 5 string route would be a bit more difficult because of money, but im in search of tone, and the more than 4 idea is becoming appealing to me. what do you guys think?
Travis
 
Travis,

I'd go for a 5 mate.

I think dropping a 4 to a C is pushing it beyond the job it was built for.
 
skabassist13 said:
I like to drop tune my bass to C, so its in a drop C setup(think drop D a whole step lower). but i get a bad tone. so i was wondering... would i be easier to get thicker strings and still drop tune? or would it be easier to get a 5 and up tune(?) the B? obviously the 5 string route would be a bit more difficult because of money, but im in search of tone, and the more than 4 idea is becoming appealing to me. what do you guys think?
Travis
Click to expand...

Your tone is sucking because you have insufficient string tension when you detune. Using heavier strings would help matters. You really need to tailor the gauge to the specific tuning for used each string.

I don't know what strings you're using right now, but if you were using, say, EB super slinkies for regular tuning (.045, .065, .080, .100), you'd need to bump the gauge up to power slinkies (.055, .075, .090, .110) to keep the tension right if you were just dropping all the strings a tone. The fact that you want to drop the E to a C would require you to go to a .120, or maybe even a .125

The best option in my (subjective) opinion would be to buy single strings to make your own custom sets.

I've heard of people using the B, A, D and G strings from a five string set for this purpose.
 
skabassist13 said:
I like to drop tune my bass to C, so its in a drop C setup(think drop D a whole step lower). but i get a bad tone. so i was wondering... would i be easier to get thicker strings and still drop tune? or would it be easier to get a 5 and up tune(?) the B? obviously the 5 string route would be a bit more difficult because of money, but im in search of tone, and the more than 4 idea is becoming appealing to me. what do you guys think?
Travis
Click to expand...

First of all, I don't know your style of playing or your reasons for wanting to tune in drop C, but I do know it will never sound good to drop an E string to C. My personal oppinion is that a bassist (especially if you have enough strings) should never have to tune the bass to anything other than standard tuning. With a 5 string you should be able to cover alomost any note in any desired octave that you would need. The only note I can think of that you can't get is a low A below the B string, and you can always try tuning the B string down one whole step. This is just my philosophy, I'm sure there are people with the need to tune in alternate tunings.

I say move up to a 5 string. You will never go back. :cool:
 
nismaniac said:
First of all, I don't know your style of playing or your reasons for wanting to tune in drop C, but I do know it will never sound good to drop an E string to C.
Click to expand...

If it's set up correctly, there's no reason it shouldn't.
 
Go for the fatter strings. Sparkley Blue is actually set up for C. I can't remember the gauges I'm using of the top of my head, but it plays just as beautifully as my other basses...
 
ebmuscmanlvr83 said:
wouldnt it just be easier to play a 5??
Click to expand...


Let's see it took me 4 weeks to be able to move around and play my 5 like I did my 4.
Now I play both pretty much equal. Now if I were to detune the 4? Probably another 4 weeks to play accurate on that.

Only opinion I have is use your tools to the best of your ability.

tk
 
thanks for the input. what about getting a B to go to a C? for the type of music i play CGCF tuning would be ideal. it would also help me figure other peoples music out because they use the same tuning. how do you think a B would feel raised a step? im definatly seeing a 5 in the future, but for now the 5 string set seems like the thing for me to do. thanks again.
 
Psychicpet said:
Would still work because tuning a B up to a C is only a half-step and won't monkey the tension much at all.
Click to expand...

It's the others that are the main concern.

If you're raising an E, A, D to G, C, F you're going to have a lot of tension. Dropping an A, D, G to G, C, F you're going to have pretty flappy strings.
 
Above true as stated. However, after playing with some of this when making those changes I notice when the intonation is correct those flabby strings need the bridges pulled back to intonate. That takes some of the floppy away. At least enough one could stick a foam mute under the strings ahead of the bridge and get away with it just fine.

Once again IMHO (Understand not all will subscribe to this theory)

tk
 
Man, if I were fabulously well-to-do, I'd

(a) delete this thread and
(b) buy you a damned 5 string.

It certainly would be simpler.
 
im sorry bovine. feel free to delete this if you want. i was just curious how to go about getting rid of the floppy strings. i have some ideas now. delete away if you desire.
 
It sort of is, I think, but only because I think, well, if I need a low B or a low C or whatever, I'll just play a fiver.

All this alternate tunings business just confuses me, because I'm old and HEY, YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!
 
i see. im young and dont know better so what are you gonna do? in my opinion, with the music i play, having the open C would be much easier to handle than playing a first fret C on a B string. but thats me.
 
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