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Hmmm...an interesting question. I'm sure there's a solid reason for it. However, it does seem odd that the 6 string Bass would be tuned completely to 5ths when both the 6 string Baritone and Spanish guitar utilize an off tuning for one string. Can't wait to hear the answer. It might be something as simple as bassists are used to the 5th tuning pattern and it would make less sense for them to learn to play a bass like a big guitar. I'd be interested to see if most guitarists who move to a six string bass actually tune it as a low end guitar instead of the B-C tuning.

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2012 Fender Custom Shop 55 Precision Bass
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I think that's probably what it is. Since bass players aren't likely to be playing full chords there isn't really a point in having one string a third higher than the last when the others are in 4ths.

As for BEADF#B, that's exactly the same as EADGBE but a fifth lower, if the F# was a G then guitarists would have to learn different chord shapes for playing a baritone.

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I think you've nailed it. Lack of needing to chord for strumming purposes is the best explanation. Well said.

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2012 Fender Custom Shop 55 Precision Bass
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2014 Fender Super Bassman and Bassman 100T/410 Neo

I like this idea.
But, if you are a guitarist and practice your pentatonic scales,
you should be able to transpose onto a Bass guitar.
Why not E-E the bass guitar one octave lower and keep the guitar scale structure alive?

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"...because guitar is bad, m'kay?"


Like I said, I'd like to know if most guitarists who end up on a 6 string bass don't actually tune it like a guitar? Wether chording or picking, that's likely the most familiar tuning for them to play in. At least from a "getting started standpoint". From the standpoint of the bassist, keeping it all in 5ths would make the most sense. For those of us who play both it would probably just come down to personal preference. It's only a half step anyhow. Just something you have to remember is, or isn't there I'd imagine. Probably best to decide which way is best for the individual player and just never change from that point on. Wether you approach the instrument as a big low tuned guitar, or a bass with a wider range. JMO, of course.

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2012 Fender Custom Shop 55 Precision Bass
2012 Fender American Vintage 57 Precision Bass RI
2014 Fender Super Bassman and Bassman 100T/410 Neo

Pretty much been answered, but yeah... Baritone guitar retains the interval patterns from standard guitar tuning for the purpose of using familiar chord shapes, albeit transposed down by a fourth. I would imagine it to be standard that a 6 string bass retain the fifths intervals which are familiar to a bassist when adding a string on either end of the register... But, for bassists who are also guitarists or vice versa, it's porbably not uncommon to tune a 6 string bass in the same BEADF#B tuning that a baritone guitar uses, only an octave lower of course.

Now, to add to the discussion... for those like myeslf who generally play in drop D tuning... when you go to a baritone with the intention of playing in a band with another guitarist still using a standard 6 string in drop D, do you drop your E to D and keep the B, or do you drop the B to A and keep the E, retaining the drop D shape? Or, do you drop both the B and the E to A nad D, respectively? And the same question to 5 and 6 string bassists playing in a band with 6 string guitarists tuned to drop D... how do you tune your two lowest strings in that situation? (I used to play with a bassist who would drop his entire bass a whole step, because drop D tuning confused him, LOL!)

I once saw this guy on TV playing a 5-string bass with a capo. He was alone and strumming and finger picking it like a guitar while he was singing. I don't know if it was tuned differently or not, but that inspired me to want to try something like that. I wonder if you could get a 6-string bass and apply the same concept as a Fender VI to it? Replace the low B with an E and the high C with a high E and so on. Unless they make a short scale 6-string bass, you couldn't use Fender VI strings on it. I know the neck is much wider, but it might be easier for finger picking, especially if you are used to the bass spacing. Speaking of which, I remember seeing this nylon string acoustic guitar in a music shop 20-odd years ago that had a massively wide neck on it. Almost like a 6-string bass. I never saw one like that since then.

I figured that electric basses started out the same as upright basses (E-A-D-G), and just maintained the same intervals when adding a low string (B) and a high string (C) to make it easier to maintain the patterns used and not have to factor in that silly G - B interval.

Maybe you'll find useful or interesting info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_tuning

(Basses RULE! )

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Therefore a baritone guitar is strung B-B as a six string guitar is strung E-E,
just a fourth lower. Right?

The idea is to keep the Baritone & guitar chord structures & scales
physically similar towards fretboard play. Right?



Six string Bass guitars typically add one string above and one string below.

Six string Bass guitars typically use the BEADGC scale ~ Skipping the B
and favoring the "C". In my way of thinking, this keeps the I,IV,V Blues Rock
scale structure intact for all six strings.



But, it is OK to tune whatever you want on a six-string Bass,
so, why not tune a Six-String Bass to EADGBE
and add two (2) TOP STRINGS, rather than one top and one bottom string?

Basically, why not have a six-string bass emulate a six-string guitar, only one octive lower?

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I'd think you'd leave the E, and drop to A if you were to continue to play in the same manner. Though playing a baritone the way you would in a band the same way you would in Drop D would seem almost TOO sludgy. If anything I think you could just start playing the D barred at the 5th fret and leave it alone. As with all of this I think it really comes down to personal preference.

I used to work in Drop D in the punk bands I played in as that's how our guitarist liked to tune and it meant I could match him in register for roots. However, now that we're playing a different type of music in the band I'm currently in I've returned to standard tuning.

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2012 Fender Custom Shop 55 Precision Bass
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2014 Fender Super Bassman and Bassman 100T/410 Neo

Sure, nothing keeping you from doing that, but I don't think there'd be a tremendously practical use for that. I would think the longer scale and bigger strings would make it more difficult to play chords on than something like the Bass VI, which as I understand it is basically a baritone scale instrument, tuned an octave lower than a standard guitar. That would give you the same range you're talking about, but it would be much easier to play, I would think.

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