# Drop G tuning for Bass. G1 or G0?



## lewis (Aug 1, 2015)

Hey everyone,

Im thinking about buying a 6 string band bass (35inch scale). Im an 8 string guitarist in the band. Currently we are drop G and wanting to stick with that. At this low tuning, would it work to have the bass in the same register as the guitars?. Everything tuned Drop G1? Or would the Bass have to be an octave lower  and presumably be virtually inaudible at G0? 

Main influences are Heart of a Coward, Whitechapel etc. How do those guys have their bass?. Anyone know etc.

Thanks


----------



## tofumannen (Aug 1, 2015)

Hmm not sure what you mean by "drop G". Do you mean 1 half step above standard 8 string F# or a major 7th below? If it is below I wouldn't consider having the bass an octave lower than that even thought it would be incredibly cool. The lowest bassnote I've heard was B, 1 oct below standard 5string bass and that is pretty much not "hearable". Of course I could be wrong but it would be insanely low. Imo opinion you stop hearing the notes around D and this would be a fifth lower than that 
Assuming I don't missunderstand you  I would be very curious how it sounds but I mean, you would have to get that 266 string and it would still be floppy


----------



## Roland777 (Aug 1, 2015)

I don't know how some of you people reason. G0 is perfectly audible and discernable - just listen to Devin Townsend's "Pixilate". If it's not, you're doing something terribly wrong.


----------



## tofumannen (Aug 1, 2015)

I just checked it out. Yeah no problem, G0 is very audible. I was talking about G00 
Here is B00 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asNlncF1EAw


----------



## akinari (Aug 1, 2015)

lewis said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> Im thinking about buying a 6 string band bass (35inch scale). Im an 8 string guitarist in the band. Currently we are drop G and wanting to stick with that. At this low tuning, would it work to have the bass in the same register as the guitars?. Everything tuned Drop G1? Or would the Bass have to be an octave lower  and presumably be virtually inaudible at G0?
> 
> ...



Whitechapel, Molotov Solution and Black Sheep Wall all tune to drop G with the bass an octave lower. It will be perfectly audible on a 35" scale through a decently powerful bass rig, but you will need a .160+ gauge string depending on how you like your tension.


----------



## lewis (Aug 2, 2015)

Thanks for some of the info guys. I should add that being in the uk makes string choices woeful. Trying to get strings larger than135 gauge is really tough. I dont want to buy strings from the usa and wait ages for our customs to do their job then over charge me. I can easily get 6 string bass packs with 135s. Hopefully that works. Would it work to do bass octaver too? 1 octave g0 one and the actual signal g1 perhaps?


----------



## donsimon (Aug 7, 2015)

https://m.thomann.de/gb/daddario_xlb145_bass_xl_single_string.htm
https://m.thomann.de/gb/daddario_xlb160_bass_xl_single_string.htm?ref=mpd_aa_1
Here are some thicker strings for you


----------



## ixlramp (Aug 15, 2015)

Either G1 or G0 are fine, just try a good sized G0 string and decide. You'll need at least a .160 maybe more, up to .175 perhaps.
Make sure your bass has a slotted top-loading bridge and preferably 35" scale.
Here's some big European Pyramid strings in steel, .160, .170, .175 will all work at G0:
https://schneidermusik.de/shop1/advanced_search_result.php/manufacturers_id/22/categories_id/1000256/cPath/397_66_100_1000256/search_in_categories/1/search_in_manufacturers/1


----------



## knuckle_head (Aug 15, 2015)

A .135 won't really give you a useful G - it's an adequate B and quite loose A# imo.

If that is your limitation you are likely best served to go unison. Or find a EU source for a .170/.175


----------



## lewis (Aug 19, 2015)

knuckle_head said:


> A .135 won't really give you a useful G - it's an adequate B and quite loose A# imo.
> 
> If that is your limitation you are likely best served to go unison. Or find a EU source for a .170/.175



Im thinking unison. Will a subtle bass octaver adding in the lower octave on bass do anything useable?


----------



## Petar Bogdanov (Aug 21, 2015)

lewis said:


> Im thinking unison. Will a subtle bass octaver adding in the lower octave on bass do anything useable?



It will add a little bit of DARKNESS. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS1bGwzbyHs


----------



## lewis (Aug 25, 2015)

Petar Bogdanov said:


> It will add a little bit of DARKNESS.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS1bGwzbyHs



oooh interesting. Would certainly help flesh out a mix and add back in some of that nice low rumble that could be lacking. Might try this out


----------



## Winspear (Aug 31, 2015)

G0 is very easy to achieve. Pick yourself up something like a 170 from Kalium or the rotosound set.


----------



## bostjan (Sep 1, 2015)

It totally depends on what you want to do.

There are no rules against tuning down to G0 - in fact, I'd say that G0 is not really that big of a deal. It might be a little rough on the recording engineer, but it's not breaking new ground or anything.

If you mean G00, then that's pretty much a challenge, but often challenges are worth all of the effort.


----------



## d00by (Oct 2, 2015)

My band plays in drop G. I have a dingwall ng-2 tuned to G D G C F. Its a 37 inch scale and i use a 174 kalium string for the low G and it sounds incredible, very audible.


----------



## Chi (Oct 4, 2015)

Not trying to hijack this thread, but is the 175 of the Rotosound Drop Zone+ set tapered at the bridge end?

I've been trying to find intel on that for the last hour and I can't seem to find anything.


----------

