neck adjustment

[stinkfoot]

hi,i have a standard 4 string Corvette Rock bass & looking into the idea of using the 4 low strings of a 5 string set but only tuned to droped D ie; D,E,A.D, & as the 5 string gauge of string is usually to be tuned B,E,A,D.G would this require any neck adjustment

 

[ColinB]

Dropped D is D,A,D,G and, as you pointed out, the bottom four strings of a 5-string are B,E,A,D. Going to D,E,A,D doesn't seem to make any sense as you have that bottom D already on the bottom B string, third fret....or am I missing something????

 

[stinkfoot]

i see your point..i should make clear that a standard dropped D would as you say be D,A,D,G but i wish to drop the 4th string to only D rather than use as intended a B tuning so i figured this would still qualify as dropped D tuning but the 3rd 2nd & 1st strings would remain in standard tuning all be it using slightly heaveir gauge strings from the 5 string set so it would be D,E,A,D. Your 2nd point i also get, D would be at the 3rd fret but i thought using a B string on standard 4 string bass tuned to B would require more resetting of neck & action, so i figured maybe the increase in gauge would compensate for the tension,does that make any sense

 

[ColinB]

Ah...I see. I wouldn't bother - I'd just slap on the bottom four strings of a 5-string set and tune as BEAD. The Warwick neck will easily cope with this and you may have to tweak the truss-rod....but that's what it's for! What I wouldn't do is tune a string that's meant to be bottom B up to D. If you really want DEAD tuning I'd drop an ordinary bottom E down to drop D.

 

[corvetteman]

You don't think it would be a good idea to tune a bottom B string up to D? Could you explain? I was just considering doing this before I saw this thread as I play Drop D a lot on a 4 string and the tension is annoyingly low.

 

[flexo]

I've been reading up on a few of these threads on people using a BEAD tuning on a 4 stringer (similar to the Corvette Taranis). Do you need to change the just-a-nut?Is there a taranis-style JAN available or will a standard JAN2 or JAN3 accomodate the lowest 4 strings of a 5-string set?