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At 9:39 PM -0700 9/17/09, tim echols wrote: >--- On Thu, 9/17/09, topu lyo <topulyo@gmail.com> wrote: > > > also does anyone have any recommendations >> on tuning a bass in 5ths? i am a cellist and >> thinking >> of tuning the e down to a c but don't want it to > > send too flabby. > > i would just trust my ears on how the bass sounds, because it >will actually depend on what techniques you plan to use-- pop/slap >and tap are greatly affected by the slackness or tautness of the >strings, pizzicato et al not so much. when you do find a tuning >that is agreeable for you though, you should think about resetting >your intonation if you are going to stay in that tuning for an >extended period. the bassist on the scene who is the most inventive >with tunings is michael manring. here is a link to some of the >tunings he uses, but be aware he has basses built to accomodate a >large range of tunings, sometimes within one song!!! > >http://www.manthing.com/tunings.htm Good advice. This is going to vary from bass to bass, unless you get one set up specifically for your tuning by your local luthier/guitar-setup-god. I tried this same setup for a while years (er, decades) ago. The issue I ran into was that tuning down to a C *did* make the lowest string sound flabby on my bass. However, my bass resonated quite nicely on a low D, so I would tune in fifths starting there, ala: DAEB. Even tried a low C# for a while, which wasn't flabby but was fairly difficult to transpose on-the-fly in relation to the other players in the band. So D was a nice compromise. The main problem I found was that once I had everything tuned downward and into fifths, the highest (normally G, but now B) string was tuned up high enough that it was difficult to play using a normal string gauge. You're going to have to play around with your choice of strings, which will probably take a few tries to get right. In the end, I decided that playing in fifths was not worth effectively giving up (due to finger pain) my fourth string. But in the process I was able to discover a very nice chordal relationship on the bass using 15ths that I still use to this day. So I consider the experiment a success, even if I did abandon the primary objective. On the other hand, you might be able get down to a C if you replace your lowest (normally E) string with the largest super-heavy string you can find. You wouldn't have quite(!) so much the problem with a tight 4th/G string. Although I can't guarantee it still wouldn't be uncomfortable to play. Then, of course, with either solution you'll need to worry about matching tone on the other strings. All this is by way of saying that, yes, what you want to do should certainly be possible. However, you're going to need to spend some time and actual hands-on to make sure you've got the right combinations of string types for your bass for your chosen tuning. We can help with a bit of advice here, but a lot of it is going to be rote trial-&-error on your part. --m. -- _____ "I want to keep you alive so there is always the possibility of murder... later"