Stupid down tuning questions .. Steinberger status 4 string etc.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I'm currently thinking of trimming the herd, and may have another stab at 5 string. Tbh, I didn't have too much trouble doing bits before, but being in a band plus lots of home problems I sold it. The stupid question I have; a lot of stuff is tuned d flat. If I have a 5 string, do I keep the strings b e a d for d flat tuning?
The other question( aimed at steiney/status 4 stringers); I have steinberger & a washburn status . Would a low b string fit into the nuts, and bridge without adjusting either.
(Straight swap for e string).?
That's it . Fire away.
Cheers;)

[Sibob]

Yeah, you'd traditionally leave the tuning B,E,A,D,G if playing tunes in Db. This is because you can reach a low Db note on the 2nd fret of the B string.

Note that with this setup, you're playing a fretted note whilst your guitarists are playing an open string note. This is because, whilst you still have the exact same notes they do, they're in a different tuning, so your notes are in a different place on the neck.
Because of this, some players will choose to detune their 4 string (as an example) to match their guitarists tuning, this would potentially aid in learning tunes (copy the guitarists), but also pedalling off an open low note of Db rather than having to play a fretted note.

Your second point, if you're talking about stringing a 4 string B,E,A,D, then you will likely need to have the nut re-cut in order to accommodate the B string. However this is quite a common setup for players who want to play in a lower tuning but not play a 5 string.
I used to tour in a drop C, F, Bb, Eb tuning, so two tones down across the strings. However I used a standard 45-105 string set, but much higher tension (larger string core). This allowed me to not need to recut my nut and have massive strings, but it did mean I couldn't tune them up to E,A,D,G due to the higher tension.

Hope the above is helpful

Si

[Lw.]

Depends on the kind of music you're playing - in theory it's as Sibob and is easily doable but if the guitars are in drop-D flat & playing fast riff-y music you'll struggle to get back to the fret when they're flicking between opens & power chords higher up the neck.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Thanks chaps . I had a feeling I may have to adjust the nut. The headless basses are stronger, so I was hoping to avoid that;) doubt very much if I'll be in a band, but what I intend to do , is play the stuff I should've been doing years ago. Playing in covers bands and having a good time socially in the past , stopped me from leaning the stuff I should know more as standard( metallica , tool, even rush and few tunes you know are down tuned). My ear has improved over the years.
I was very much a hobbyist ,who took a long time to up my game doing the band thing and learned things more quickly .

i suppose there are other things to consider, like why not just keep one bass de tuned in e flat. Have one as standard tuning. Or , just try again with another 5 string.

More opinions please