Going Deeper with my 4-String Jazz Bass

This Bass Goes to ‘B’

I recently discovered BEAD tuning on a 4-string, so a quick search revealed that it was something I could instantly try out for myself on my Jazz bass.

It never occurred to me that you have a 4-string bass that is tuned the same as a 5-string, not including the top ‘G’ of course. It should be obvious I suppose, but I’d never heard of it until today when I read a comment on a Youtube video. I enjoy reading comments on Youtube videos, even having to wade the many stupid comments that always seem to be prevalent. There is often something more to learn from a particular comment that you didn’t get from the video that you watched. This was just such an occasion.

I really like it. I’ve often wanted to go lower than the low ‘E’ on the bass, but have never been into 5-string basses. Probably because they are even bigger and heavier than a standard bass.

So I tried it out and it worked pretty well. I am now likely to keep my jazz bass tuned this way for certain recordings except I’ll probably get a heavier set of round-wounds for the job, or even better, a 5-string set and just use the 4 fattest strings.

With a set of flat-wounds on my mini P-bass that should cover me bass wise forever!