drop A...no need for a bass guitar anymore!?
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Josh Burgess
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Josh Burgess
Member
it depends on the bass being used.. I've heard they've tuned a bass up a half step before, but I'm pretty sure most of the time a 5 string bass is used and it's in drop Bb..... where the lowest string is tuned down a half step and the other 4 tuned up a half step, so it's Bb F Bb Eb Ab... that way he has the top 4 strings the same as guitar and can play on the same octave as them there, but then also has down to a low Bb for an octave below for the older 7 string stuff
cobhc
Amiga Enthusiast
I think anyone doubting the need of a bass on lower tuned songs should listen to Skeksis by Strapping Young Lad, a tune in Drop G that really grows some extra balls when the bass kicks in!
+1
to the OP, a five string will have thicker strings anyways, so it will essentially be the same as putting thicker gage strings on your current bass.
unless you need an extra string, I suggest just buying a 5 string set and using the lower strings!
( man this thread has derailed lol)
that's only somewhat true. the tone and audibility of a low A depends upon a couple of things:
scale length. a longer scale bass will obviously be able to have a higher tension in the same gauge string - hence why a .130 would work on a 35" for drop A, but you might have to use a .145 on a 34".
neck construction. a rigid neck will definitely have more tension in the string as well. both of my basses are 34" scale, but it seems that my ibanez 4-string has a better neck - it handles a low B perfectly fine, whereas my rondo fretless 5er can't handle it at all (too loose etc).
string gauge. self-explanatory really.
pickups. some pickups will make the low A sound like shit while others won't. emgs will probably make the low A sound infinitely better.
cabinet. obviously some cabs have a harder time than others with low tuned strings.
there's probably a few things I'm missing but I cba to think of them haha.
scale length. a longer scale bass will obviously be able to have a higher tension in the same gauge string - hence why a .130 would work on a 35" for drop A, but you might have to use a .145 on a 34".
neck construction. a rigid neck will definitely have more tension in the string as well. both of my basses are 34" scale, but it seems that my ibanez 4-string has a better neck - it handles a low B perfectly fine, whereas my rondo fretless 5er can't handle it at all (too loose etc).
string gauge. self-explanatory really.
pickups. some pickups will make the low A sound like shit while others won't. emgs will probably make the low A sound infinitely better.
cabinet. obviously some cabs have a harder time than others with low tuned strings.
there's probably a few things I'm missing but I cba to think of them haha.
ze kink
THE BLACK WIZARDS
cobhc
Amiga Enthusiast
If by fretless 5er you mean 5 string, then something is up if it can't handle a low B.
yes, it's a fretless 5 string. iirc the tension on the B was too loose, even with the action as high as it could go. it just doesn't have the same rigidity as my ibanez does, I guess - or something along those lines. the 5 is from rondomusic, it's an SX bass.
joeymusicguy
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Harry Hughes
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- Apr 25, 2009
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An octave up from that is the "drop A" of a guitar, not a bass.
The A note on the high E string is 440 herts, hence the A below that is 220 hertz (A on the 2nd fret, G string), thus 110 hertz for the A string (open string) and thus 55 hertz for the low A of a guitar.
Don't believe me, you can check a 440 Hertz tuned tuning fork against the A note on the high E string of a guitar tuned to E standard.
And thus follows 27.5 hertz is the low A of a 5 string bass tuned to drop A.
Harry Hughes
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And the OP, even with drop A, as has been said by others in this thread, there is plenty of need for bass guitar.
When you're recording, you're going to be removing the fundamental of the low A note of the guitar anyway, and generally everything under 100 hertz, so what's going to fill that space?
The bass guitar and bass kick drums of course
When you're recording, you're going to be removing the fundamental of the low A note of the guitar anyway, and generally everything under 100 hertz, so what's going to fill that space?
The bass guitar and bass kick drums of course
joeymusicguy
Member
that doesnt really make much sense
i mean yes you logically explained it
but having an A note at 27.5 hertz on a string instrument is retarded
you wouldnt even be able to hear it sitting down with just the instrument in your lap
xmidihcx
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oscillat0r
beyond silent black
regardless of how well you'd hear/feel the fundamental, you'd hear the harmonics/overtones. On a recording, their subtlety would depend on how the bass was eq'd and processed.
j
Harry Hughes
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Harry Hughes
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You're aware that even a lot of 15 inch bass guitar speakers don't even pick up the fundamental of a low E note on a 4 string bass guitar, let alone the low A on a drop A 5 string bass, right?
Just as most 12 inch guitar speakers, save for perhaps the ones in Genz Benz G-Flex cabs can't even pick up the fundamental of B note on the 7th string of a 7 string guitar.
If all we received were the fundamental, neither a bass nor a guitar would like a bass or guitar. It would just be the pure single frequency similar to that of a tuning fork.
The overtones are what gives the instruments the distinctive sound they possess.
The overtones are the reason why a bass guitar tuned with the lowest string down to C0 (17.3 Hertz, below the range humans can hear) is still audible.
You're not hearing 17.3 Hertz, but 34.6 Hertz, 69.2 Hertz and so on.
Let's talk an example many of us will be aware of, given it's the Andy Sneap board after all.
Jeff Loomis tunes his Schecter guitars down to B flat standard, the fundamental of B Flat 58 hertz (approx), below the range that most 12 inch guitar speakers can produce.
Then, why when he plays live, does it sound just as punchy as hell, in fact more so, than someone tuned to E standard which has a fundamental of 82 Hertz (approx) that 12 inch speakers can usually pick up?
Because guitar is all about mid range, not bottom end.
The thing that gives you that punch in the gut when someone plays a mean B Flat root 5 chord is all the mid range overtones you're hearing.
A lot of what you're ACTUALLY hearing is probably between 300 and 500 hertz I imagine (I'm not totally certain on that, it varies from situation to situation I imagine, but it seems a very reasonable guess-timate).
When he goes to the studio, the sound is engineered so that basically anything below 100 hertz is dialed out anyway (I'm not saying this was EXACTLY as was done for This Godless Endeavor, but it's a good generalization as to what a lot of sound engineers are doing).
This leaves space for the bass guitar and bass kick drums to breathe more and because so much of the guitar's punch is centered in the mid range anyway, it still sounds amazingly heavy and punchy.
Djabthrash
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