6 String bass with EADGBE tuning

[tauzero]

[quote name='eponymous' post='166522' date='Mar 30 2008, 07:31 PM']Thanks for this useful answer. Why are people acting like an EADGBE tuning for a six string bass isn't a legitimate tuning? I know that there are bassists who play it this way.[/quote]

I can see your point of view, but you may discover the logic of tuning in even 4ths for a bass after a while. It means you can move the same pattern across the fretboard any number of strings and you will still be playing the same relative set of notes. Were it not for the fact that a guitar is fundamentally a chording instrument, its tuning would more logically have been in even 4ths or 5ths (cf. double bass for even 4ths, cello, viola and violin for even 5ths).

[quote name='eponymous' post='166522' date='Mar 30 2008, 07:31 PM']My biggest concern is the string I guess, not the guitar. I would like to have the string gauges for the 4 lowest strings the same as on a traditional 4 string bass. Any suggestion of string for the high B and E?[/quote]

You can get single strings in thin gauges from [url="http://saitenkatalog.de/shop1/"]saitenkatalog.de[/url] (you can get them elsewhere but saitenkatalog seems to have a wider range than elsewhere) - as someone else said, Overwater is also worth going to and they may well make you up a 6-string set consisting of the top 6 strings of a 7-string set without you having to throw one away.

Is there a particular reason for starting with a 6-string, rather than with a 4-string (which is, after all, the same tuning as a guitar, just a subset of the strings)? What role do you envision your bass playing taking within a band context, if that's where you'll be using it?

[josh3184]

[quote name='bnt' post='166309' date='Mar 30 2008, 12:53 PM']I played bass first, and tried guitar later, and when I did I found myself at odds with the standard guitar tuning. I came to the conclusion that the tuning makes sense in one specific context: for strumming full 6-string chords. Coming from the bass side, however, I was used to the strings being a major 4th (5 semitones) apart, so could I tune the guitar EADGCF? Turns out it works just fine for many things, and I still do it today, though I don't play guitar much. I have a system of working out chords (a spreadsheet), and the chords can be transposed in two dimensions - up the neck and across. There are even some chords that I can strum on all 6 strings: just not as many compared to standard tuning.

Since you're (generally) [b]not[/b] going to be playing 6-string chords on bass - ewwww! - I think you have no reason to want the same tuning on the bass as the guitar. I think this is behind to some of the comments here about "thinking like a bassist" - and also our objections to the term bass [i]guitar[/i]. To get the most out of the bass, you will have to go beyond guitar techniques. Sure, it's possible to play a bass like a guitar, to lay a bassline down, and I don't mind when guitarists like Satriani and Vai do that - it gets the job done on tracks where it's all about the guitar. Those guys also know that if they want a more complex bassline, and more of a band feel, they need to get a bassist in to the studio. [/quote]


This sums up my personal views on this, I think its a superb post. Ultimately your tuning is always going to be up to you though.

Just out of curiosity (and I'm not having a go here), what is your specific reason for wanting an eadgbe tuning? I'm not going to tell you its wrong and no bass should ever be tuned as such, tis just that I think that if you said it then more people might give useful suggestions as opposed to bashing you for it. Also, if you think about what it is that makes you want it eadgbe, then it might help you to make a more informed decision.

I'll put it this way, I often latch onto an idea such as this because I have an idea fixed in my mind that a certain way is the correct way. For instance, when I picked up a guitar for the first time I thought the high b and e were ridiculous- why would someone do that? Then I came to the same conclusion as bnt, that it is tuned that way for a purpose- 6-string strumming. A bass (in my opinion) would only need to be tuned in that fashion if one were to 6-string strum it a lot. As such, I realised that eadgbe is a perfectly reasonable tuning as it is done so for a purpose, to retune a guitar to eadgcf# would be me just being a stubborn git This is why I think you need to decide what your purpose is for this tuning. I'm not saying you havn't thought it through, I would just like to help you crystalise your own thoughts if anything.

Also, have you tried a 6 string bass before? As in gone into a shop and had a play around with one? I understand its not that easy to find one lying about, but lots of bassists find it difficult to use them (including me I'm not ashamed to admit), never mind guitarists (DISCLAIMER- this is in reference to the size of neck on respective instruments, NOT me saying that guitarists are less of a musician or any such crap.)

Those are my views, think of them what you will.

Edited April 1, 2008 by josh3184