Standard tuned bass with low tuned guitars

[SteveXFR]

Are there any band who keep the bass tuning somewhere near standard while the guitars tune down low?

I'm currently tuned to drop A# to match the guitarist in our band but kind of curious about whether it's possible to make it work in a standardish 4 string tuning. We play doom metal so heavily distorted metal examples would be awesome if they exist

[Doctor J]

I've done stuff down as low as G, but generally hover around B and dropped-A tunings for downtuned stuff. I've found staying in the higher octave (i.e. the B, A and G you find on a standard tuned 4 string) sounds fine and really only go an octave lower for effect, for a bit of thickness and impact, rather than living there. It was David Vincent's playing with Morbid Angel, whenever Trey picked up the seven string, which turned me onto that way of using it. Have a listen to God of Emptiness and the way he moves between octaves, especially at the end. If he didn't play the lower octave, you probably wouldn't notice most of the time he was an octave higher than he could have been. There are quite a few bands who tune down and don't have any bass at all, but still maintain heaviness. It's definitely doable.
 

Me borrowing the idea liberally in dropped-A

 

 

[SteveXFR]

Thanks for that. I'll have a listen 

[Doctor J]

Actually, just thinking, Geezer doesn't spend a lot of time playing low low notes whenever Sabbath tuned down. He was usually a octave up from where one might expect him to be.

[SteveXFR]

1 hour ago, Doctor J said:

Actually, just thinking, Geezer doesn't spend a lot of time playing low low notes whenever Sabbath tuned down. He was usually a octave up from where one might expect him to be.

 

Go point. Even NIB which is standard tuning, there's not a lot happening on the E string. That's a heavy tune as well 

[MichaelDean]

Might also make a difference what type of doom you're playing. If its a sludgy thing, then I really like the low notes to fill that out loads. If its a bit more metal, something a bit higher up the fretboard can work nicely. Could always use an octave down pedal if you needed the low lows?

[SteveXFR]

I'm not sure quite how to describe our style. I guess sludge but a bit faster. Most of our riffs are "inspired by" (ripped off from) Sabbath but with rearranged rhythm or kind of chopped up a bit.

Most of the time the bass and guitar are playing something very similar. 

[MichaelDean]

Well then, how will it affect you? Personally, I find it makes it harder to read someone else's hands to learn new riffs if my strings aren't doing the same thing. Plus transposing riffs you already know might be a pain if you've got some muscle memory going on. 

 

If it's an option, it might just be best to bring a regularly tuned 4 string and your normal bass along to the next practice to see how it goes. 

[joeystrange]

I believe a lot of the more recent Deftones stuff has the bass in Drop-D or Drop-C with an 8-string guitar tuned to Drop-E.

[thodrik]

Bands like Torche who use drop A tunings on guitars (Sonic Youth style with the low E tuned to and the remaining strings in standard) tend to have the bass in standard tuning. 
 

For Sabbathy tunings around C sharp standard I would just tune down. For modern metal on 8 string guitars I would probably do something similar to Deftones approach or the Meshuggah approach where the bass is actually tuned ‘up’ from standard EADG tuning.

For me it really depends on what works for me in the context of the band. Currently I’m back playing in standard EADG tuning for the first time in ages.

 

 

 

[BigRedX]

If you are going to have to play octave/unison riffs along with the guitars and they require lots of open strings then you'll probably need to match the tuning. Otherwise tune to what you like. You may find you come up with something more interesting that way.

[nilorius]

If you know your guitarist tune and your tune - no problem.

[bassbloke]

Depends on the music style, song, tuning and the instrument to an extent.  Until I bought my Dingwall, D standard was the lowest tuning I was comfortable without my bass sounding rubbish.  I was in a prog metal band that write in either D standard or Drop C and was reasonably happy playing my parts of a standard tuned 5.

 

A lot of 70s pop and rock songs are in Eb and they're simple enough that again you can play on a standard tuned 5.

 

I think Eb is def my fave tuning though.

[velvetkevorkian]

IIRC Nothing-era Meshuggah would tune their 8 string guitars to low F, with the bass in the same octave.

 

Edit: which @thodrik already mentioned 🙄

Edited December 23, 2022 by velvetkevorkian

[DGBass]

On 22/12/2022 at 19:14, nilorius said:

If you know your guitarist tune and your tune - no problem.

I would agree that knowing how your guitarist colleague was tuning makes for an easier time. Saying that, I was in a band where our guitarist would tune down to a specific detuned chord for some songs, then need to tune back up a bit to play other songs and then have a standard guitar at concert pitch for other tunes. This was achievable in a rehearshal room or studio with three or four differently tuned guitars but not at a gig. As I only ever used one bass at a time, tuning up and down like this to match the guitar played havoc with my bass tuning and playability. String gauge was also a major factor in maintaining playability and staying in a de-tuned state. At the end of the day I decided to tune to standard concert pitch and play up and down the neck a bit more to make the required key changes. It made for some interesting bass sounds and playing to match what was happening on guitar and kept my gig setup standard and my bass in perfect tune. Judicious use of a bass distortion pedal and tweaked EQ kept the bass sounding like a bass even though a lot of the time I was playing up near or above the 7th fret most of the time in that band.

 

[nilorius]

2 hours ago, DGBass said:

I would agree that knowing how your guitarist colleague was tuning makes for an easier time. Saying that, I was in a band where our guitarist would tune down to a specific detuned chord for some songs, then need to tune back up a bit to play other songs and then have a standard guitar at concert pitch for other tunes. This was achievable in a rehearshal room or studio with three or four differently tuned guitars but not at a gig. As I only ever used one bass at a time, tuning up and down like this to match the guitar played havoc with my bass tuning and playability. String gauge was also a major factor in maintaining playability and staying in a de-tuned state. At the end of the day I decided to tune to standard concert pitch and play up and down the neck a bit more to make the required key changes. It made for some interesting bass sounds and playing to match what was happening on guitar and kept my gig setup standard and my bass in perfect tune. Judicious use of a bass distortion pedal and tweaked EQ kept the bass sounding like a bass even though a lot of the time I was playing up near or above the 7th fret most of the time in that band.

 

I still think it's ok if You stay at Your standart tune and know the exact chords to play (paper or brains). You don't need always Eb or D at low string.