Giving major thirds tuning a try!

I have an ESP LTD B5-JR short-scale 5-string bass. It's actually 28.6" scale, same as a Mikro.

For whatever reason, not a single company takes into account the scale length when making string gauges, so even my short-scale strings are just farty shoelaces.

I have SS Neons, 45-125. I noticed that the B was the most flabbly, and each string gradually gets tighter, the G was the tightest. I wanted to tune all of the strings up a fourth, but only the B was able to tune up that far. So I decided to go up a major third!

E, G#, C, E, G#

Pretty much the same range as a 4-stringer, and every string is optimal tension now. I will continue to experiment and see how I like it!
 
This M3 thread seems to be dead? Anyway ...

Following up experiments with fifths tuning I actually tune my e-bass in major thirds, E-G#-C-E-G#-C, low to high. A 5-string tuned M3 offers the equivalent tone range of the standard 4-string.
I found one can use two string sets of standard strings to tune
E-E
A-G#
D-C
D-E
G-G#
For my 6-string I add a the high C-String of a five string standard set for my 6-string M3 basses. So, one might mix one 4 string and one 5 string high C standard bass string set. the D string of the second set is usefull as well.

I have not tried C-E-G#-C-E(-G#). Should be possible.

Check fingering and chords of the M3 tuning - marvelous. Usually people write in threads something like morons are not able to handle the fourths fingering. Or I should respect the development over hundreds of years ...

Therefore I add, that I played classical Guitar for years in my childhood, upright for 2 years and e-bass for a couple of years each in standard tuning. So I would say, I know what I am talking about. I am on major thirds for about 4 years now and never go back.

There is a downside I have to point out: The harmonics are on different frets compared to standard tuning and the point markers therefore are useless. I put a marker myself to every 4th fret.

Have fun
 
The harmonics are on different frets compared to standard tuning and the point markers therefore are useless.
Sorry, this is wrong! The point markers certainly are on the correct place. They are based on physical facts of strings. But the notes you get with the harmonics are different because of the tuning different from standard.
 
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There is a downside I have to point out: The harmonics are on different frets compared to standard tuning and the point markers therefore are useless. I put a marker myself to every 4th fret.
Nonsense: no matter how you tune or detune your bass, you will have an octave harmonic on fret 12, a 12th harmonic (octave + 5th) on frets 7 and 19, a 15th harmonic (double octave) on frets 5 and 24, a major 17th harmonic (2 octaves + major 3rd) on frets 4, 9, 16, etc. That's just physics.

And the point markers don't move either; they indicate the 4th (5th fret), the 5th (7th fret), the major 6th (9th fret), octave (12th fret), etc.

Of course, you need to relearn your fingerboard for the alternate tuning, but that is a different issue.
 
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Stringjoy has a tension calculator and will sell you a set of strings of whatever gauges for the same price as one of their usual sets. You can set scale lengths, the notes you want each string to be at, and it spits out the tension in pounds. They also have a tutorial and tutorial video on how to use it. You can also message them for advise.

Stringjoy Guitar String Tension Calculator