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Topic: Anybody using bass tunings? |
Keith Grubb
From:
Petaluma, CA, USA
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Posted 22 Jun 2001 10:44 am |
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I was just wondering if anyone out there is using a bass register tuning? I've been kind of curious to try one out but I've noticed that anything lower then the low E on standard guitar sounds muddy on my steel guitars. I've got a scale length of 22.5" So I'm wondering if you need a longer scale length to make a bass tuning work?
Keith |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2001 8:29 am
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| I have a non pedal 6 string bass called 'Junior Blue', because it's annodized turquoise blue, tuned to C G C G C C, low to high. It's a 34 1/2 scale and it's mostly used for effects. |
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Keith Grubb
From:
Petaluma, CA, USA
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Posted 26 Jun 2001 7:43 am
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| To be more specific I was wondering if anyoone was using notes as low as an A or B below the low E on Standard guitar. I'm tempted to try an E major tuning with a low B, but I was worried that on a short scale instrument it would sound muddy. |
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Sage
From:
Boulder, Colorado
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Posted 26 Jun 2001 3:34 pm
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Keith, I tried the old Hawaiian A maj. low bass tuning on my '49 OAHU with Valco string thru pickups, and it did sound muddy, with either round or flatwounds. I have a C6 tuning on my 23.5" scale '98 Harmos prototype. I have a .075 bass string on it (low C), and it sounds good, not muddy. It is a responsive instrument and it also has an EMG 40J bass pickup on it, which probably helps. Talking with Marcus Hardy about the sacred steel tunings brought up another problem he's run into. The tuning machines on some lapsteels are not designed to cope with heavy strings, and something may break.
Chas- you rule, man. I want to meet "Junior" someday.
T. Sage Harmos[This message was edited by Sage on 26 June 2001 at 04:35 PM.] [This message was edited by Sage on 26 June 2001 at 04:39 PM.] |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 26 Jun 2001 4:33 pm
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This version of B11th tuning with a low "B" is realy pretty. The low B string makes the whole guitar practically vibrate itself out of the door. 
(High to Low) E,C#, A, F#, D#, C#, A, B
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2001 7:57 am
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I moved my bizarre diversion to the Humor section. My apologies to Keith for the distraction, and to Sage for deleting his pun.
I had a quad Fender for a short time with a bass neck on it. I even did a gig as a bass player with it. I think I just tuned it to a low E7th.
The Campbell Brothers don't have a bass player in the band. Most of the time, the bass line is covered by Darick on his little single neck Fender. When Darick takes a lead, Chuck covers the bass line on his pedal steel. Darick gets a better bass tone than Chuck, though. He just uses the tone control on his guitar!
Darick has a low E as his 8th string. There's a discussion of his tuning in this thread
------------------
 Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (E9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6) |
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Roy Thomson
From:
Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada
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Posted 27 Jun 2001 9:20 am
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I have a Hawaiian record which is instrumental and features 2 steels.
One uses standard tunings and the other
is tuned Baritone mode and plays lead
breaks in lower register single string.
Very effective and a real nice contrast.
The baritone tuning I do not have but
I don't think any of the notes penetrate
the bass cleff beyond low E.
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Keith Grubb
From:
Petaluma, CA, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2001 11:56 am
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Thanks for all the input. I'm in the process of tuning my closest neck to an E maj with a low B. I just need to go out and get a low B string and see how it sounds before I start to messing with the other strings.
My first love has always been old Delta style blues and I've never been able to play that on a steel guitar. I have an old 6 string Magnatone that I've tried tuning to E maj, but the low E always sounded bad to me. I recently bought a triple neck Magnatone and tuned the far neck to e13th and the middle neck to c6th/a7th. I was using the close neck as an armrest until I thought about using it as my blues neck. I'm hoping that the low B works so I can try playing some Ry Cooder style slide.
Again thank you for all the input.
Keith[This message was edited by Keith Grubb on 27 June 2001 at 12:58 PM.] |
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Dan Tyack
From:
Olympia, WA USA
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Posted 6 Jul 2001 9:57 pm
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Listen to the campbell brothers on CD or live. Darrick Campbell plays most of the bass parts. He tunes (high to low):
E
D
B
G#
E
B
E
B
He is one of my favorite bass players....
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www.tyacktunes.com |
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Keith Grubb
From:
Petaluma, CA, USA
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Posted 7 Jul 2001 9:31 am
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Dan,
Thanks for the idea. Right now I have my guitar tuned low to high:
B E B E E G# B E
I didn't want those unison E's in the middle, but I wasn't sure what else to try. When I get a chance I'll move some strings around and put in that high D.
Keith |
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