Tuning a bass

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael Jones
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This is not getting our basses tuned, people!

Let's stop having fun and get back to work.
 
lpdeluxe said:
Let's stop having fun and get back to work.
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Not sure about this Mr.lpdeluxe, you see, people may find their own voice, or rather, their own tuning.................then they can go public about it here.

So has any one of you found his/her own personal tuning yet?

At the moment I am still very pleased with the E A D G, oh some of you may find that a bit boring.............................and yes, the alternative tunings are nice too.

NOw off topic but it is a bass one: Why oh why should I want a 5 string bass? Is it really that good? CAn I play much faster and louder on a 5 string since there is an extra string, or should I not bother and go for a 6, 7, 8, 9 or even higher string number bass?

Oh lpdeluxe how was the Middle East talks? Any success yet? You think you could also add your skills to the Northern Ireland tuning process, guess they could do with your help as well, what do you think?

Eddie
 
I brought peace to the Middle East...

For 3 minutes and 14 seconds, beginning at 9:29 am (local time) on May 12.

Now then: get a 5-string. I bought one (tuned B-E-A-D-G). I really bought it because I was gigging on bass with some folkies, and I wanted an instrument with an appearance a little more in harmony with the guitars, mandolins, banjos etc on the stage with me, than one of my solid bodies. I don't use the lower notes that much, but now I can play in F, for example, and stay in more or less one position (this group capoes a lot to accommodate harmony vocals, and they will fearlessly play in any key they can find with the capo -- all with C-position chords, of course).

The particular bass I have is an "acoustic bass guitar" (in quotes because very few of this breed have any significant acoustic output) which I restrung with Labella black nylon tape-wound strings. I was used to a slender neck (I have 2 4-strings, one with a vee-neck and the other with a cee-neck, each of them 1-5/8" at the nut) but it's not a problem. A smaller neck would mean closer string spacing, which doesn't excite me much.

I still have -- and play -- the 4s, but there are a lot of situations where the 5 is quite convenient.
 
Oh yeah, here's a picture...

...of the bass. It's an Ibanez AEB305LG (I think I have deciphered that correctly).
 

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years ago I got angry at a drummer during a practice at my Mom`s house. I pulled out all the stops on drama and forcefully threw my Hofner bass down onto the sofa.......except the edge of the body hit the end table right next to it and split it open along the top seam, opening the bass up like a suitcase. I had the keyboard layer stand on it while I taped an enire large roll of 4" masking tape around it to hold it together. I played it another year or so.
If you let drummers get to you, you get nothing out of it.... :(


just so you`d know :)
 
timmerman said:
NOw off topic but it is a bass one: Why oh why should I want a 5 string bass? Is it really that good? CAn I play much faster and louder on a 5 string since there is an extra string, or should I not bother and go for a 6, 7, 8, 9 or even higher string number bass?
Click to expand...

Faster and louder? no. The same speed and lower.


Though it's not uncommon for people to swap the BEADG for EADGC: taking the higher option rather than the lower. That's becoming an increasingly common practice.

The best idea is to try and get a hold of an ERB for yourself and make up your own mind if it's worth it, it was for me.
 
timmerman said:
NOw off topic but it is a bass one: Why oh why should I want a 5 string bass? Is it really that good? CAn I play much faster and louder on a 5 string since there is an extra string, or should I not bother and go for a 6, 7, 8, 9 or even higher string number bass?

Eddie
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Eddie, I've played 4, 5, and 6-string basses.

I love a 5-string and will never go back to 4. I played a 6-string, tuned B E A D G C, but I found that for me, I was never playing on the C string, so I went to 5, and I haven't looked back.

But I am a strange one, so take that FWIW....
 
Rokket said:
But I am a strange one, so take that FWIW....
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Yes I know that, and you are also post aholic.................where do you find the time for doing all this??

Yes I can see your point with the 5 and 6 string bass, and what others have mentioned about being able to stay in one position while being able to play diffent keys............................

You know people, for any musical scenario in this world you can find a "dedicated" piece of gear, and if you go along with that you will end up with a lot, a lot of instruments, amps, effects and recorders. Fun? Yes, but than sometimes you may find that adjusting your tools you DO have to the jobs you are doing may be as much fun.

I still believe that most of us have to count their pennies before they decide to buy whatever they want, so.................................

lpdeluxe, I love that acoustic bass which you did put in the image, and playing something like that with the folks you described before probably makes more sense than using a Jazzbass or a Percision.

For the moment I will play a virtual 5 or 6 string bass, just to educate myself and stay on topic with you guys.................. :D

Eddie
 
So how did you tune that virtual bass?

I've been playing with my new g**t*r amp, and haven't had a chance to catch up with bass. So how do you tune one?
 
lpdeluxe said:
I've been playing with my new g**t*r amp, and haven't had a chance to catch up with bass. So how do you tune one?
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G, D, A, E...then ya turn it upside down, and it's in tune. ;)

Matt
 
I heard somewhere that is how Jimi Hendrix strung his bass when he played. He rarely played bass, however, because he was embarassingly terrible at it.
 
I have a bass! I would like a better one, though, but that costs money, which needs to go to pre's and a new geet amp, and other non recording (gasp!) stuff.
 
Reggie said:
I heard somewhere that is how Jimi Hendrix strung his bass when he played. He rarely played bass, however, because he was embarassingly terrible at it.
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He probably had to change the nut, as well 'cause Hendrix strung his guitars the right way for a left-handed player, but simply turned the guitar itself upside down...why pay the extra bucks for a left-handed Strat, when there's a cheaper solution, right? Then again, there's Dick Dale, who simply plays his guitars upside down, which looking at it from a player's perspective would be E, B, G, D, A, E.

I was being more facetious than anything, in my suggestion to tune a bass G, D, A, E then turn it upside down and it'll be in tune. This thread dropped out of site long enough, and when somebody asked the "how do ya tune a bass" question, bringing this thread back toward the top, I just couldn't resist. Well...I tried to resist...

Matt
 
Speaking of bass tuning....
What is a good brand of bass tuner machinehead post thingy? Does Grover (not from Sesame Street) make bass tuner heads? Might be thinking about upgrading sometime.
 
Gotoh and Grover make good bass tuning machines. But, to tell the truth, the cheapo knokoffs on my 1981 Korean-made JB copy keep that rascal in such tune as it enjoys.

Next week I'll have a new Peterson Virtual Strobe Tuner (no, dammit, not a little guy who pops out and cranks the keys for me) and then we'll see.

Or hear.

Or something.
 
OK, I got the Peterson Strobe tuner...

...and it displays the note names and everything.

But what's all this about sharps and flats? Anyone?
 
...I've got a Modulus bass and that thing NEVER goes out of tune. EVER. The only time I need to tune it when I change strings......

umm..yeah...standard tuning sucks IMO. :p
 
So I guess you're stuck with however it was tuned when you got it?
 
Well, you're pretty much shooting yourself in the foot by tuning your own bass anyway. You need a bass mastering engineer with fresh unbiased ears to tune your bass in order to get a professional sound. A few layers of bass traps in the room are pretty necessary too.
 
You need a bass mastering engineer

That's true. One of the disadvantages of living in a small town is that it's hard to find a good bass mastering tuner.

The advantage of living in a small town is that most people can't tell whether your bass is in tune or not.
 
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