Tuning a bass

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael Jones
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Has anyone covered tuning a bass down a half step? If not, it can't hurt to cover it again. :D That tuning is what I usually use for no good reason.
E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat. aka: D sharp, G sharp, C sharp, F sharp.
A lot of the time I will drop the low string down to "drop D" flat.
That would make it:
D flat, A flat, D flat, G flat. aka: C sharp, G sharp, C sharp, F sharp.

For a five string bass I will either use:
B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat. aka: A sharp, D sharp, G sharp, C sharp, F sharp.
Or the slightly redundant Drop-D,
B flat, D flat, A flat, D flat, G flat. aka: A sharp, C sharp, G sharp, C sharp, F sharp.


Glad I could contribute to this wondiferous thread. Keep the dream alive
 
...delivered door to door by Mr. Lpdeluxe.

LOL

But seriously, folks, the actual model number of the Sabine (current incarnation) is STX1100 (it's hard to believe that, since I bought my ST1100, Sabine has produced the STA1100, STB1100,STC1100, etc -- maybe I'm even older than I thought!). MF has 'em for $50US.

All this work, and we're only on page 19. Do something, Bassman Brad!


And to Timmerman I can only say,

"You want fries with that?"
 
lpdeluxe said:
...and I suppose I'll have to go see what model I have. My DSL is down, and I am using dial-up on my wife's laptop. Maybe I can do it tomorrow (dial-up is SO slow...)
Click to expand...

I feel your pain, lpdeluxe. When I first moved back home, in September 2001, dial-up was the only Internet available, after having used Comcast cable Internet when I was living in Indianapolis. As I always tell folks...Going from broadband Internet back to dial-up Internet is like going from a Porsche 911 to a Volkswagen Beetle.

Life is so much better, having had DSL Internet for the past 2 years. :)

Matt
 
Reggie said:
Has anyone covered tuning a bass down a half step? If not, it can't hurt to cover it again. :D That tuning is what I usually use for no good reason.
E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat. aka: D sharp, G sharp, C sharp, F sharp.
A lot of the time I will drop the low string down to "drop D" flat.
That would make it:
D flat, A flat, D flat, G flat. aka: C sharp, G sharp, C sharp, F sharp.

For a five string bass I will either use:
B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat. aka: A sharp, D sharp, G sharp, C sharp, F sharp.
Or the slightly redundant Drop-D,
B flat, D flat, A flat, D flat, G flat. aka: A sharp, C sharp, G sharp, C sharp, F sharp.


Glad I could contribute to this wondiferous thread. Keep the dream alive
Click to expand...
Hey, I just tuned all my guitars down a half-step last night. I was in the mood for something different (and trying to get the chords for "NovemberRain" down), and G-n-R always tuned down, so I tuned them all down. Opened up a whole new world to me sonically! :D
 
Tuning a bass: Rule 1a

You may recall from our previous discussion that the lowest-pitched string on the bass is tuned in Hertz to E. This is the same note as the 5th key from the left end of the keyboard on an 88-key piano, assuming a right-handed piano, that is, one with the lower-pitched notes on the left and the higher-pitched notes to the right. Now that I think of it, I guess I've never seen a left-handed piano. Maybe that's an issue we need to explore. Anyhow, there is not the same confusion over "lower-pitched" vs "lower" strings with a piano as there is with the bass, since all the keys are the same distance from the floor (if you find that, on your piano, this is not the case, check for possible a short leg on one corner of the piano. I know this thread is about basses, but if I can help even one musician level his piano, then I have added to the balance of good in the world). Where was I? Oh yes: this note, that is, the low E I spoke of earlier, is defined as having a frequency of 41.235Hz. You can easily verify this by sounding the low E note on a bass (or piano, for that matter) and counting the vibrations. Your results will be more accurate if you take several readings and average over a number of seconds. Alternatively, you can count the vibrations in a minute and divide by 60 (this last figure is the number of seconds in a minute, so by using this method you will arrive at the vibrations per second). Round to the nearest thousandth, using normal rounding methods. Or you can look it up on a table. I mean a table of the frequency of notes. I know if you tried to look it up on my dining room table you wouldn't get very far. Your table, of course, may give you better results. Tip: if your table (of whatever fashion) shows the lowest-pitch note as anything other than 41.235Hz, your table is out of tune. I know it's the current rage to detune, but don't do it to your table.

Hope this helps.
 
I am afraid I took all the strings off my piano to boil them. When I reinstall them, I plan to put the thickest one at the right; this is because I am more inspired with a keyboard when hanging inverted from the ceiling (it's a sex thing) and this way the lower notes are on the left for me.

While we are on the subject, where do I set the speed control on my girlfriend's Rampant Rabbit (as featured in Sex and the City) to get 41.235 Hz? I begin to see the potential for multi tasking here ;) Oh, and we are English - we cover up our table legs.
 
Where do I set the speed control on my girlfriend's Rampant Rabbit?

This is definitely a situation where you need to tune **TO** something rather than to an arbitrary standard. I would simply try it at different speeds and, when I found the maximum, um, squeal, perhaps mark the knob with a laundry marker so you could repeat the setting. As with many issues in music, the overall feel will be found to be more important than any technical accuracy. You may also find that different situations or numbers of participants will call for different speed settings.

I commend you for covering the limbs of your piano.
 
We are REALLY scrapin' the bottom of the barrel, here, guys. :cool:

Oh, and regarding LPDeluxe's Sabine tuner -- I definitely want one. I've already got three tuners but, if there's one thing that we've clearly established here, there is no limit to the lengths that one should go in pursuit of a well-tuned bass.
 
Bassman Brad said:
We are REALLY scrapin' the bottom of the barrel, here, guys. :cool:
Click to expand...

I don't know - I thought it was just getting interesting. ;)
 
No, it's been a pretty interesting read throughout the entire thread. Perhaps you should go back and review the previous 18 pages of posts.
 
Reggie said:
No, it's been a pretty interesting read throughout the entire thread. Perhaps you should go back and review the previous 18 pages of posts.
Click to expand...

er...I was being facetious, dear heart. 'twas in fact my suggestion (on page 1) to see if we could stretch such a simple question into 100 pages ;) (not that I ever thought we'd get past about 3 :))
 
yeah buddy, me too. :rolleyes:
I guess my sarcasm doesn't translate very well over The Intranetweb.



Or was your comment just a trick to drag this thread out some more?
Touchè.
 
Reggie said:
yeah buddy, me too. :rolleyes:
I guess my sarcasm doesn't translate very well over The Intranetweb.



Or was your comment just a trick to drag this thread out some more?
Touchè.
Click to expand...
It worked. Let's drag it! :D
 
Some times, when I'm alone, late at nite... I tune FGCA, but then I tune it right back.
 
lbanks said:
Some times, when I'm alone, late at nite... I tune FGCA, but then I tune it right back.
Click to expand...
I know a guy who does that when he puts brand new strings on. He'll tune it to FGCA, then let them sit overnight, come back and slack all the strings then tune back up to EADG. He says he does that to get the strings stretched out quicker so it stays in tune better. I don't know if it works, but he's been doing it for years...
 
Rokket said:
I know a guy who does that when he puts brand new strings on. He'll tune it to FGCA, then let them sit overnight, come back and slack all the strings then tune back up to EADG. He says he does that to get the strings stretched out quicker so it stays in tune better. I don't know if it works, but he's been doing it for years...
Click to expand...

I know that guy too, he's always out of tune! :D

p.s., this was just to make 20!
 
ez_willis said:
I know that guy too, he's always out of tune! :D

p.s., this was just to make 20!
Click to expand...
Actually, Rokket was talking about me. I got the idea from a guy who played guitar and about 12 other stringed instruments with in the early 80's. He would do that when he changed all the strings on his guitars if we were gigging heavily so that he wouldn't have to mess with retuning in the middle of a set. It works pretty good, if your action and intonation are already set.
 
Aha, intonation! This should give us some more material to cover. Anyone want to cover how to get proper intonation on a bass? Just as important as getting the open strings in tune.


BTW, what is the standard tuning for bass again? I forgot already. :confused:
Thx

:D
 
Intonating a bass

Just tune your bass so that the proper note sounds when you fret each string.

Since I am a naturally generous person, here are the frequencies for each note, starting with the low B on a 5-string.

The lowest frequency is the low B; the highest frequency is the high E on a 24-fret guitar (OK, I know it's not bass, but if you had a 48-fret bass, you could use these numbers).
 

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