iplaythebass Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hey! I'm jamming with a new metal band, doing that metallicy syncopated progressivey metal stuff. The two guitarists use 8-string guitars tuned EBEAEGBE or something similar... The demos that they've recorded are with one guitarist playing a 5-string tuned down to EBEAD (yup, E an octave down). I had a go, but it's just impossible to get much more than metal slapping wood. I tried explaining that a string tuned that low would have a fundamental frequency around 20.5 hz, which is essentially inaudible and will be lost to 98% of people listening on their home stereos. However, when we jammed live, I have to admit that it did sound pretty epic. I've been told that Dick from Meshuggah matches the 8-string guitars by tuning his 4-string up half a step. I'm a 4-string man myself, but when I tried playing the riffs in standard (with a bit of added dirt) it was just sounding lacking. Have you guys collectively got any tips for dealing with this? High action? Fat strings? Low mid boost? Pedals? Also- am I likely to blow stuff up with those low frequencies? At the minute, I play a Genz Benz GBE750 through an Ampeg SVT810e Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Personally I would look at a five string you are comfortable with....opens up a new world. Detuning to a massive extent isn't that great, but there are strings out there built for it. I wouldn't recommend tuning 'up'... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom in Dorset Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I had to set a bass up for a guy that used some extreme down tuning .He was a little vague as to what it actually was, and eventually (after lots of umming and erring and "I need to ask the guitarist")told me a list of notes to tune it to. It was a five string and he wanted it tuned down a fourth, so why he couldn't just play the riffs one string down in conventional tuning , I don't know. I put on some seriously heavy strings to try and increase the tension , and he was pleased with it. I have to say it made interesting low frequency rumblings but I prefer a bit more deffinition, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Newtone can make you some strings which will cope with downtuning quite nicely. Although it may be worth playing around with an octaver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 tune to the same octave, but eqed to have a complimentary sound, usually in the mids if they are super scooped. In fact, if they are silly scooped and you do it right, you can comletely vanish the guitars which is satisfying. Otherwise Heavy strings and bridge pickup, so you have the low tuning but plenty of harmonics to give some audible. A high pass might be good to not waste power on speaker flap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I got some Newtones for tuning down to A with, .152 gauge. Sound and feel great! I even dropped it down to G once for a laugh and it was still very much playable/audible! They're good guys too, drop them an email and I'm sure they'll get back to you pretty sharpish with advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soldersqueeze Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 If they've got that much bass between them, I suggest turning up with a 6 string guitar set up with 0.09s. Either that or a keyboard. (Sorry if that seems overly sarcastic, it's only because i've gotten seriously annoyed about it before myself. Only real suggestion I have is keep a bass you're happy with and use an octave pedal, ideally splitting the low octave to one amp and the standard signal to another, that can sound amazing, and super-deep). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 8 string guitars can sound immense... But it's very rare that those who play them don't crank up the lows on their amp... Shame! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackers Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 you have more patience than me sir the last time someone asked me to tune that low (drop F) I told them to use a sensible tuning or **** off, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iplaythebass Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hahaha thanks for all the replies. I do have a 5 and I'm fairly comfortable with it, the issue is the playability of that tuning. The Bass they have in the studio has a set of 'DropZone's which have a .175 gauge. I raised the action a bit and that let a little bit more of the note come through. I don't know if I should be looking at buying a new 5 with an extra-long scale or something? Or is there any pickups that stand-out for reproducing the lowest frequencies? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Reproducing lowest frequencies anywhere other than the speakers is exactly what you want to avoid. The will serve only to make everything a mess, you want harmonically rich broad frequency output from the bass, so you have plenty of mids to be audible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soldersqueeze Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Not sure what affordable 37 inch scale basses are out there- I'm guessing your current bass is 35? Have you looked at rack gear? Some kind of active EQ to sort things out? I think you're going to have fairly flappy strings whatever you do if you have those tunings. OR simply take a gun to a knife fight: http://www.conklinguitars.com/custom_11_string_bass_zebrawood_wenge_birdseye_maple_bubinga_3d_melted_top.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 You could look at a Dingwall with fanned frets - some of them have a 37" B string (shorter for the other strings). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightSix Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Some of the Overwaters stretch to a 38" scale Only recommended for the gibbons among us... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 [quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1327927622' post='1518818'] Personally I would look at a five string you are comfortable with....opens up a new world. Detuning to a massive extent isn't that great, but there are strings out there built for it. I wouldn't recommend tuning 'up'... [/quote] Tuning up half a step shouldn't be a problem. I probably wouldn't bother unless there's riffs that need the open strings though. [quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1327931739' post='1518941'] tune to the same octave, but eqed to have a complimentary sound, usually in the mids if they are super scooped. In fact, if they are silly scooped and you do it right, you can comletely vanish the guitars which is satisfying. Otherwise Heavy strings and bridge pickup, so you have the low tuning but plenty of harmonics to give some audible. A high pass might be good to not waste power on speaker flap. [/quote] +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 [quote name='velvetkevorkian' timestamp='1327945241' post='1519226'] Tuning up half a step shouldn't be a problem. I probably wouldn't bother unless there's riffs that need the open strings though. [/quote] C'mon man, we've all heard this sort of metal. The tabs look like binary code Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Heh, true. Maybe a 1 string, 1 fret bass with a 42" scale would be better? [only half joking] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Don't be stupid... How are we supposed to do the all important slides? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Don't need frets for those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Oops, noob alert Seriously though, I'm surprised this hasn't been done anywhere I've noticed it yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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