I was thinking about this, and, you know how basses are also tuned EADG, but they sound alot lower, not sure how much lower than a guitar.
Is there a guitar tuning which will make it sound just like a bass, some sort of dropped tuning.
I don't know if there would be one because if guitar and bass are both tuned to EADG, I think it's the thickness of the strings that give it a much more...bass..sound
It's the thickness of the strings, plus the extra length of the strings, that makes the bass lower. The bass is one octave lower than a standard guitar - the pitches are named the same (EADG) on the bass and the bottom 4 strings of the guitar - but they're an octave apart, really; like 'twice as low' sort of thing. If you tuned the guitar down an octave they'd be too loose and floppy to work properly, as if you had a trem-bar and pushed it almost all the way down. They'd just flop around.
Lots of metal guys down-tune everything really low, D or C (everything down one or two pitches), or they have 7 string guitars with thicker strings, but then their bass guys also tune down, so it's the same relationship between the bass and guitars - an octave apart.
Some guys would use an octaver type effect pedal that artificially creates a lower octave note for each note the guitar plays (like a mini synth actually), and that takes them down to the region of the bass instruments. But they sound synthetic most times.
The thing is, the guitar, in regular tuning, IS pretty low already. If you needed it to be 'the bass' in a recording or something, or in some arrangement you're doing, you could do it - just arrange the other guitar parts one octave higher. You could use a capo or something, just so long as you create that 'space' between the high guitars and the low guitars.
Also, if you're writing a solo guitar piece - not a guitar solo, but a piece where it's just one guitar, like with classical guitar tunes - if there's no other low instrument, the listeners' ears will be 'satisfied' with the lowness of the regular low strings on the guitar and won't 'miss' not having a bass in there. It's like their ear becomes acustomed to the space between the high parts and the low parts, sorta like in most string quartets where the 'bass part' is actually done on the cello and not the actual bass viol. Because of the arrangement of the notes and the arrangment of how the instruments play, it sounds balanced.
There's also a huge number of open tunings you could use where, since everything's tuned to all chordal notes, you can use the open bass strings a lot. Gives that same effect.
You could do it in these ways (how you write and arrange a piece, or using tunings), or try one of those octaver pedals out.
Best regards.
there's a guy i saw on a guitar.com video clip that uses a hybrid type guitar where the bottom strings are bass strings and the top are guitar strings. he's able to play bass runs and treble figures simultaneously.
there's a guy i saw on a guitar.com video clip that uses a hybrid type guitar where the bottom strings are bass strings and the top are guitar strings. he's able to play bass runs and treble figures simultaneously.
My guitar teacher has one of these custom made for him. Its an 8 string guitar with regular guitar string on the first six and bass on the 7th and 8th. It has two outputs. One goes to a regular amp and the other a bass amp.
Its amazing to watch him play the thing.
Geoo
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
I looked at one of those once.
The salesperson said you have to be a certain type of person to buy and play one. I asked what type did he mean.
He glared at me and emphatically stated, "You must have 8 fingers on your fret hand before you qualify to purchase one."
Well I NEVER!
Bish
"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"
when i was changing strings on my classical guitar and the strings were very loose , then i just tried playing them and they sounded much like a bass.Maybe you can loosen strings , tune them and then play bass.Just an idea .Never tried myself in reality :roll:
your best bet is to just slap your guitar like you would a bass with an octave pedal =P
Guitarin' isn't a job, so don't make it one.
thanks everyone for your help
so, basically, you can't tune down a guitar an octave because the strings would be too floppy?
Pretty much. You'd need more massive strings to keep them tight. If you were to put something like a .65 or .70 on for your low E and work up from there it would probably be playable (although still floppier than a bass), but with all the work you'd have to do to get it to fit you might as well just get a bass.
