is it possible to tune a B E A D down to E A D G? is there possibley thick enough gauges of string to accomplish this? ive only been playing bass for a month or so (been playing guitar for about 5 years, just got an acoustic bass) and im thinking of getting a custom 3 string electric bass , but i want to be able to get the absolute lowest sound i can possibley get out of it, so im not sure if you can tune say for example the lowest strings on a 6 string bass down an octave lower than a normal bass. can anyone help me with this?

A full octave below the normal bass E? That might be too low. Wouldn't it be just a useless rumble? Then again, I guess 6-stringed basses can go pretty low. Anyway, yeah, you'd need some pretty heavy duty strings. Unless you want a bunch of problems with adjustments because of the really really thick gauge strings (which you would need since you don't want 'em flopping around like an overworked hooker), you should definitely have a custom built one for that. I'm just not sure if it would work at all.

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thanks. im aiming for a sub-sonic sound if i switch over to bass for my friend's band. im going to get a custom built one im thinking from krappy guitars, which are suprisingly nice for cheap as dirt guitars (http://www.krappyguitars.com/)

I once tuned my B string down to E when I was bored. What you play isn't very interesting though ... it's too hard to tell the tone of the notes you are playing. For fun I would play the same fret on my B string (which was tuned to E) and on my E string, which stayed in standard.
So it was like playing things on the E string that were backed by a lower octave! Only that way could you tell what notes I was playing.

I wouldn't waste more than 15 minutes of my time on something like that though ...

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a six string bass doesnt go any lower than a 5
5 = beadg
6 = beadgc

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Right. I don't know what I was thinking. Probably I was thinking of a 12-string. Which is just a stupid concept in my opinion anyway. But don't twelve strings go below B?

And "Krappy" guitars? What a name. At least they don't try to false advertise.

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Tim C. from Audioslave (Rage) does this. He simply takes the B,E,A,D from a 5 string set of strings and strings them on his 4 string. Of course you will need to do some trussrod adjustments to compensate for the different tension but it works!

ok ppl your goan confuse him lol .I play a 5-string and i know 5 sting tuning is beadg and a 4 sting is eadg of you can get a 5 string with eadgc or a 6 string with beadgc but to get any lower then the low b isnt posible woulndt have good tonality to it and a and an 8 sting and a 12 sring have the same notes as a 4 stign and a 6 stign but with a high octave sting right under each sting. well i might have just confused him more lol opp o well

no
nothing will ever go lower than a b unless you downtune it.
basses are wierd like that. The strings only go higher after you go over 5 strings.

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Sorry I-Heart-Hate, but thats not exactly true. I recently saw a Ritter 7-String which had a low F# string. There might be more Basses tuned this way, i dont know.
And there is this stupid bloke playing C# F# H E or something like that. And i mean the Subcontra C#....

well i guess your best bet would be to get a 5-string and down tune it because the 7string volvox was talking about was probaly a custom or at least, a very expsensive bass. but you might want to try it first cuz i agree with rattlehead, it will probably just sound like low loud mush. but then again if your aim is a custom maybe you can work something out with them so the bass is designed for some super low tuning.

just on a side note did anyone look at that krappy website? theres some 2 string bass that basically a pencil

technically you can drop that low, but its going to sound like absolute shit. think korns bass sound but floppier and even more toneless. if youre in need of a "sub sonic" bass note i would suggest a) using some sort of electronics to achieve it, or b) if you can get you hands on a contra bassoon (obviously this might be tough, maybe an option for recording though). you may also try dropping your mids all the way down and your bass all the way up, this will make your bass sound much bassier and more felt than heard, and can be really effective when playing metal. best of luck to you.

Is that even possible? Korn's bass tone is looser than my grandmother.


This would be a nice thing to try out. Find a good whammy effects pedal or something that knocks your pitch an octave lower and make sure you like that subsonic shitty sound before you go screwing with custom basses or messing up your own. This thread's remotely old, so he might have already decided. But either way, there's my (second) opinion.

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i raely woudlnt atempt to tune lower then a be becuse on my 5 string if my b is flat it ratles hoiply and shoudlnt liek shit and for the custome thign woudlnt be cheap cuse it woudl ahve to be a compltly coutome made string cuse i use custom gages and my b is the thinkest gage i can find

i play in a band that tunes to drop b, so if i had a 5 string would i use the 5th string as just b and une the four others up???

or would i drop the 4th string to b and have the 5th string as a f#???

fuck! i LOVE! bass

Probably not the forum to be in then douchebag.

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fuck i hate bass.....[/QUOTE]
given the nature of this question i assume you are roughly 13 and dont have a solid grip on the bass or any other instrument for that matter.
perhaps your dislike for the bass is rooted in your inability to play or even tune it. for whatever reason please do all involved a favor and take some lessons before subjecting anyone else to the retardedness you've so prominently displayed here today.

ps to answer your question, "dropped" B would read as follows: B,F#,b,E,A. if you were to drop standard tuning on a 5 string bass you would be in dropped A(A,E,A,D,G). if that was indeed what you were attempting to ask. best of luck to you.

My bass is tuned A D G C F.but i plan to get a high C n use that instead of the low B

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yah, im just a stupid little 13 year old thats endorsed by spector and has been playing guitar for about 4 years and in a quite succesful band....iwas merely asking a question dick, so FUCK YOU!!!!!

firstly,son, ive been playing about as long as youve been alive, and theres plenty of people here who can shred like nobodys business, so youre boasting about your ability in the wrong place. im sure spector gives out tons of endorsements to guys who cant even tune their instruments.that being said im not going to get into some dick measuring contest about how talented and revered you supposedly are. any animosity directed towards you was merely a result of the ignorant manner in which you presented yourself. if i came off like a collosal asshole you'll have to forgive me as we get asked about drop tuning here roughly 10 times a day.best of luck to you in your musical endeavours. (thats a root beer in your hand there)