Drop B Tuning Bass: The Ultimate Guide [2022]

For becoming a better guitarist, the knowledge and experience of a variety of tuning are necessary. So, in this article, we are going to see the drop B tuning bass in detail. We see each and every question related to this topic. Let’s get started.

What is Drop B Bass Tuning?

The tuning of B-F#-B-E is considered as a drop b tuning on 4-string bass guitar. By dropping the lowest string down to B from standard C# tuning, you get drop B tuning. This tuning is used to effectually lower the range of your instrument.

The drop B bass tuning means you are tuning the whole bass guitar to B. This produces deep and obscure sound. This type of tuning is mostly used in metal basses.

This tuning is not as popular as other drop tunings like C or D, but still, it is used by some bass players and bands. Because in some songs this tuning is a must.

A few years ago, 5-string basses are not as popular as now. So at that time, many bass players use drop B tuning to get the lower B string without buying five-string bass. But due to this, they lost the G string.

What String Gauge is Best for Drop B?

For drop B tuning, the heavy gauge is required with a full setup. Otherwise, there are problems with strings staying in key, also it sounds muddy and may arise intonation issues.

The factor’s which decides string gauge for drop B:

Thus, it’s hard to get a gauge that works well on drop B tuning

The string gauge for Drop B tuning (for 34″ to 35″ scale length):

  • B – .110 to .130
  • F# – .090 to .100
  • B – .075 to .079
  • E – .055 to .059

For drop B tuning bass, I recommended to go with D’Addario EPS230 ProSteels Bass Guitar Strings which gives you high quality and performance. These strings are the perfect combination of bright tones with a comfortable feel which offers a rich, deep, and penetrating tone.

Who uses drop B tuning?

The drop B bass tuning lowers the overall range of the instrument and helps to produce a dark and heavy sound. Thus players who have metal and hard rock genres use this type of tuning which is necessary for some songs.

How to Tune a Bass to Drop B?

Before you learn about drop B tuning, you suppose to have an idea about C-sharp standard tuning because drop B tuning is almost the same as drop C-sharp standard tuning. Just by dropping your lowest string down to B from C# tuning gives you drop B tuning.

For drop B tuning, you first take all stings and then up the gauge. After that, you need to tune all strings one step down from standard E-A-D-G tuning to get B-F#-B-E tuning.

For more detail, you can go through the video:

You may also like: Drop C Tuning on Bass

Can you Tune a 5 string Bass to Drop B?

You can tune your 5-string bass guitar to drop B tuning by drop tune it to B to get BF#BEA from the standard tuning of B-E-A-D-G. For this purpose, it is recommended to use light gauge strings. But there is no need to drop B on 5-string bass as it already has lower B notes.

Both the basses played well to drop B tuning, but the 5-string bass is able to handle low B better due to the longer scale. On a 4-string bass, drop B tuning is quite difficult due to the lack of tension on the neck.

Final Thoughts on Drop B Tuning

I hope all your doubts related to drop B tuning are cleared. I tried to cover every query related to this topic. If still, you have any questions related to it, please let me know in the comment section. Also, if you have any suggestions for me feel free to share them with me.

Hope you like this article. Don’t forget to share this article on social handles with your friends and family who are interested in basses, guitars, and musical instruments.

Have a great day!!

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