leftybassman392 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 [quote name='Maverick' timestamp='1322656795' post='1453978'] I know some people think that drop tunings are cheating... [/quote] Not at all..... it's just for people who don't know any better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftybassman392 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 (edited) [quote name='TobyB' timestamp='1322656740' post='1453976'] Interested in the opinions about a 5th's set-up .. chime with my playing to a great extent ... I mostly play rhythm/chords on a 6-string, and mostly play single-note tunes on the mando's (some chords, but not so much) ... I love how many notes you get under your fingers without shifting too much. Clearly going to be moving a lot more on the bass (just as I move more on the octave mandola than on the mandolin) ... but the lack of familiar guitar chords isn't an issue to me as I've never used that much on my 4-string ... but the double-stops familiar to any 5th's scale instrument player could work well on a bass (a finger and thumb pinch across 2 strings or a pluck with index and middle?), especially as many are open-stringed or very closely fretted so the reach of your left fingers isn't going to be too much ... The suggestion for contacting Newtone was excellent ... they got back to me last night and again this morning ... they've suggested ... "the CGDAE should be possible if you are going up from standard tuning i.e. .115 B string tuned up to C miss out an E string .080 A string tuned up to G .060 D string .040 G string up to A and something like an .018 for the E" No wonder I was struggling with the E ... not seen a bass string that light! They are sending me a couple of sets, with options of an .018 and a .020 for the E as he admitted it's a bit of guesswork ... GREAT service advice ... bought some more mandolin strings from him too! When I've got the thing set up I'll report back ... Cheers Toby [/quote] Looks like they've erred on the side of lightness (I'd say that set is based on a 40 60 80 100 125 standard set, which is a bit lighter than most people would use). The choice for the high E is very interesting (it would actually be the third string on an acoustic guitar - not really a precise comparison I know, but even so...). They've probably never been asked for one before! I'm looking forward to hearing how this lot works out. Edited December 1, 2011 by leftybassman392 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieter Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Hi, one of my basses is tuned in 5ths. It is a medium scale Warwick (32.5 inch or so). Which makes it a bit easier. 30" would be even better........ It is fun. 3 string cords have the minor or major 3rd in the top string (technically it is a 10, for it is one octave higher). For instance, an E-chord would be E, B, G#. On a normal 4-string such a chord would be E, G#, B. The nice thing is that these high 3rd give a clear flavour. (sorry, I'm from Holland, hope my English is good enough!) 4 string chords are also nice. That might be E, G#, B, D. So in this case the 7th is in the top string. Again, the note that gives flavour is best heard. A setback is that chromatical (ish) bass lines are harder. A common blues line E, G, G#, A, B is harder to play. If you jump octaves it's easier, but those bass lines sound different. I play more melodic stuff on the 5th tuned bass. Irish tunes, country tunes, it's all easier. So it tends more to the 'folk' side of things AND to the prog/experimental/alternative side. Think TOOL for instance, or 16Horsepower. I use more doublestops. I prefer to play this bass with a pick, more "guitar like" so to speak. With a pick it sounds clearer and 3 or 4 string cords are easier to play. More traditional 'groove' music is easier on a normal tuned bass. You don't want jumping melodies there, but simple lines "played in the bucket'. Top 40, or cover bands, is also easier played in normal tuning (you are copying someone, so use the original tuning...) My normal tuned basses I play fingerstyle, which gives me more control over timing and volume OTOH, I found that Jamerson Motown lines are good to play on a 5th tunings bass, maybe because he likes octave jumps ? One bassist who uses 5th tunings is the french player Yannick Top. He can be heard on the classic "Il jouait du piano au debout" by France Gall. Very nice groovy bass line (one of my favourites actually) :-) http://youtu.be/fOWmw3Qc21c I read that Yannick started on cello and kept that tuning. He seems to have no problems on the bass guitar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 (edited) I've tried tuning in 5ths - I gave up on it. It suits fixed keys - usually the bottom string serves as a drone. A capo is handy (probably indispensable) for changing key (but not [i]within[/i] a song). Tuning in 5ths is no good for key changes unless you have gigantic hands. The hand stretches are too extreme. It works on mandolins and smaller instruments but not on bass - apart from one-off songs. Edited December 4, 2011 by Spoombung Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phagor Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I've tried tuning in 5ths, and had similar experiences - anything scalic is too much of a stretch, but it was definitely interesting for 'thinking outside the box'. As for scale length, it's worth mentioning that several double bass players have played exclusively in 5ths, including Red Mitchell and Joel Quarrington. Double bass scale length is around 42". I think the technique is based around 'pivoting' around the left-hand thumb, instead of being locked into a one-finger-per-fret pattern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TapyTap Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 TobyB...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Transaxle Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I think I might give this a look too. My daughter plays cello and has small hands so I will see how she reaches for those big changes. From what I have seen it needs quick and accurate slides, which will be made slightly easier with the luxury of having frets. My daughter picked up my bass to try it a few weeks ago for the first time and accused me of cheating by having frets. (The other daughter plays violin by was trying to learn to play my mandola for a band at school but said she was finding it really difficult to get her fingers on the frets and even when she did it didn't sound too good - the thing that seem obvious to you don't always seem so to everyone else). Her cello is about the same height as my P bass but the bridge sits around the same position as my mid-pickup so obviously the scale is significantly less. It had to be really as it is tuned an octave above the CGDA I was thinking about. I suppose the next thing to think about would be how on earth to get the correct gauge tapewounds for fifths tuning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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