drop d

[crazybassplayer1988]

Been playing bass for a year and have played in simple e a d g. I'm about to join a band which the guitarist plays in drop d. How do you tune a bass to correspond to the drop d guitarist?

[CamdenRob]

Before I had a fiver, I played in a band that tuned down to C, although the guitarists were in drop I always stayed with the standard intervals starting from a low C... Whatever you feel comfortable with really though... Its the noise your making that counts not how you've got the thing tuned.

[BigRedX]

TBH I've never bothered changing my tuning to match the guitarist's.

As someone who also plays guitar the main attraction for me of drop D is that it makes some chord voicings easier to play if you don't have that big a hand stretch.

On the bass these days I play 5-string so if I need a low D it's on the 3rd fret of the B-string. However a lot of the time I find it more effective to use the D in the same octave as the guitar as it generally sounds better on the bass and tend to tighten up the overall sound of the note in the mix.

[woodyratm]

Is (Are) the guitarist(s) playing fully down to D (Eg DGCF) or just the E string to D?

I've always been okay just dropping the E with my standard string (Elixer Nanoweb - .105 E string), I use a Hipshot Xtender on one of my basses. Need to order another for my other.

[Gust0o]

[quote name='crazybassplayer1988' timestamp='1389005173' post='2328564']
Been playing bass for a year and have played in simple e a d g. I'm about to join a band which the guitarist plays in drop d. How do you tune a bass to correspond to the drop d guitarist?
[/quote]

DADG, I would assume - you're just dropping the E to a D, no?

[Gust0o]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1389005502' post='2328568']
On the bass these days I play 5-string so if I need a low D it's on the 3rd fret of the B-string. However a lot of the time I find it more effective to use the D in the same octave as the guitar as it generally sounds better on the bass and tend to tighten up the overall sound of the note in the mix.
[/quote]

From experience, this!

[BigRedX]

Drop D just means tuning the low E string on the guitar down to D and leaving the rest tuned as normal (DADGBE). If you are tuning the whole guitar down a tone (DGCFBbD) that's different.

As a bass player unless I was expected to just double up the guitar part an octave lower (in which case I probably wouldn't be in the band) I find not matching the guitarists tuning to be far more versatile as it makes you think more about the notes you are playing, and allows you to come up with far more unexpected bass lines.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='crazybassplayer1988' timestamp='1389005173' post='2328564']
Been playing bass for a year and have played in simple e a d g. I'm about to join a band which the guitarist plays in drop d. How do you tune a bass to correspond to the drop d guitarist?
[/quote]

If you down tune your low E string a tone to D, you will be in drop-D. DADG tuning.

[mep]

As said just tune the E string to D. I have Hipshot D-Tuners on 2 of my basses for the odd songs that needs a low D. What songs are you playing. I assume you will only need the drop D for a few rather than all of them if it's just covers.

[chriswareham]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1389009157' post='2328629']
As a bass player unless I was expected to just double up the guitar part an octave lower (in which case I probably wouldn't be in the band) I find not matching the guitarists tuning to be far more versatile as it makes you think more about the notes you are playing, and allows you to come up with far more unexpected bass lines.
[/quote]

For most metal with drop tuned lead guitars, having the bass drop tuned as well is pretty essential. Without it your not going to be able to add the low end when the guitarist needs it (when soloing for example). For a lot of metal riffing, you bass parts will sound like they've got missing notes if you have to go for a higher note just because you're in standard tuning rather than dropped.

[Urban Bassman]

Quite a few songs play off the open string (E tuned to D) in drop D. Slither by Velvet Revolver would be a good example where the bass plays pretty much the same riff as the guitar but an octave lower. This would be difficult to do an standard tuned 5 string.

[Dropzone]

I play with loads of different tunings. I use a 5 string. Sometimes I detune sometimes I don't, mostly depending on the need to use the open D, Slither being a good example of when I do detune. My preference is to not detune where possible though.

[ubassman]

Probably the answer depends on the feel of the music and what musically you need to come up with as the bassist.

A lot of guitarists use DADGAD, and an array of other tunings for bluesy / country/ acoustic open tuning style and tuning the bass down to low D can sound too growly and deep for that type of music ( it dominates the sound ).

As an alternative example , if its a metal / rock sound then a low D compliments the sound and is a foundation to what is going on above.

Thats all fine when thinking about the feel of the music but theres also the musical side of things to graft in. If a track is written in D and the lowest you can get is an E ... a descending riff always sound naff when you have to reach up an octave to play the last note. But then if you tune your E down to a D all the notes on the E string are two frets out and you will need to adapt playing accordingly as the notes dont fall under the fingers in the same way as normal. If youve only been playing a year then this may be difficult territory at first.

Musically you may need to experiment to figure out whats right to do for your ease of playing but also for the bands sound. Good luck with it!

Edited January 6, 2014 by ubassman

[tonyquipment]

Yeah my band does the same. I hate it.

Throws me out and I get all confused. Can't use my scales or patterns because of that bloody string.

All I did was just tune the bass down a step. DGCF

Problem solved.. I can use the scales again yaaaay
...

[dannybuoy]

I used a 5-string in my old band that played in drop D, although I would rather tune to D-standard rather than drop D on a 4-string unless there were a lot of tunes that relied on the open A/D/G strings.