I'll tell you guys a little secret. I've come to the conclusion after research and experimenting -call me a revolutionary or a crackpot if you will, but here it is- that the ultimate and most logical tuning for the electric bass is to tune it in major 3rds. If I ever got another custom bass, it would be ANOTHER 8-string tuned in major 3rds from a low G# (a minor 3rd below the normal low B) to a high C (the normal high C).
Rangewise, it would be like a 6-string with 3 extra notes, but these notes ARE significant.
Tuning the bass in 3rds in awesome, and has tremendous advantages. The scale and arpeggio pattern are simplified from 5 string sequences to merely 3 string sequences. So if one played a 3 string bass (G# C E) and then acquired a 6-string bass (G# C E G# C E) there would be no learning issue at all! And notes are segregated so every fret has just 3 notes, so 4 frets covers all the notes -the entire CHROMATIC range- and shifting becomes unnecessary. If you ever experiment with this, you'll quickly find that all your scales and arpeggios... EVERYTHING just becomes INCREDIBLY easy and intuitive -and the more one understands the math/language of music, the more this is so.
If you alternate your 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 fingers while switching up or down in strings, for example, you'll be playing straight whole steps, in other words, whole tone scales. But you can virtually play ANY scale that you can conceive (with respects to 1/2 and whole steps) instantly because this tuning results in the ultimate intuitive layout.
I almost had my 8-string built this way, but the desire for the extended range and the traditional/conventional tuning swayed me. I've thought about having it converted, but I'd have to scrap the fingerboard and have a new one with position markers every 4 frets (and new L.E.D.s to match) which would cost a bundle, plus I've gotton used to this bass for what it IS, and wouldn't want to lose that. But as a separate instrument, an 8-string such as I've described would be awesome. Another cool thing about it is that you basically just tighten your low B a 1/2 step to make it the low C, and this extra tightness adds significant focus and clarity -especially if one also has a 35 inch scale with ebony laminates. Also, the low B is already near the limits of functionality, and each note lower you go with anything beyond that REALLY increases various issues; a low G# is MUCH easier to pull off than a low F# -it'll sound much better in whatever scale length, and it'll work with a scale length that wouldn't cut it for the low F# string.
