I’m considering purchasing a Glarry bass to keep tuned at drop D so I don’t ruin my music man. Thoughts?
Edit:
Or other basses close in price but better?
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what is the question ?
tuning from EADG to DADG takes maybe 3 seconds and does not require any adjustment, I don’t know what you think you would ruin.
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Drop D won’t ruin any bass. You’re actually releasing tension from the neck by doing so.
If you’re up to experimenting though, you can pick up a Glarry, and Tune it BEAD using the lower 4 of a 5 string set (or get some BEAD 4pk). This will require you to slightly file the nut to fit the thicker strings.
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I had to tune to Drop D on my Jazz over the weekend, and it was done in under 30 seconds. No need to buy a Glarry for that
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Alternatively have a butcher’s at the bassextender by hipshot…should be a straight swap( I have a sub4, had to drill two holes,no pain but the real musicman is a straight swap) and then the 15/30 second job takes less than a second…flick of a wrist!
And the headstock won’t look any different from the front!
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I kept my cheap beginner bass around for a while for playing songs in Drop C (CGCF) since that is kind of a pain to down-tune to, and can mess with your truss rod over time if your bass/string gauge is set up for EADG. But yeah if changing to Drop D is a pain I’d recommend the hipshot, or simply down-tuning by ear by using the D at A5.
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I have a Glarry and it’s surprisingly good for its price. Obviously there will be small issues and things you need to adjust (some basic fret work and a setup are both going to be needed). If you’re buying it just to have a bass kicking around in drop D then I would recommend it. But at the same time I don’t think dropping your normal bass to Drop-D should be too much of a hassle.
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Doesn’t tuning to drop D loosen the tuning peg? I’d be doing it from E to D and back again every day
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I see you deleted this before I read it but I would like your opinion Pam 
Well I’d be playing in E most of the time but also tuning to and back from drop D every day
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yeah but I’d be doing this every day
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@IPv6Freely and @bjams and @Stando this wouldn’t be permanent, just something I wanted because I want to switch from E to drop D tunings every day .
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Of course it’s your prerogative, but one more to the “you don’t need another bass just for that” crowd. Once you train your ear (or use a pedal/tuner) for that tuning it’s pretty fast to change the tuning. Even if it’s everyday.
The hipshot is also a good suggestion, but imo too expensive for what it does.
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Tuning down a step on one string several times a day will not do jack to your bass, unless you have a very very bad bass.
The difference in tension is small enough that your bass probably detunes itself across all four strings daily by that much on average anyway.
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A hipshot tuner might be the thing for you, takes like 5 seconds to switch from EADG to DADG.
Tune to drop D and back, see what you think,. And by all means get a Glarry if you like, don’t let me talk you out of a bass you want.
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I’m a big fan of the Hipshot Xtender and have them on all of my basses.
Here are two of them:
Just flip the little lever - instant drop D. Surprisingly, once dialed in they stay in tune pretty well.
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Just wanted to mention that I think tuning down is probably fine for cheaper instruments, but I’m not so sure about tuning up. That creates extra tension in the neck. It might be perfectly fine though, was just a thought. I know no-one has asked about tuning up, but just wanted to throw that out there.
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I guess that tuning up is very uncommon very often when we tell about alternate tuning, it’s more about tuning down. still an interesting though in theory !
I myself have several basses for alternate tuning. what varies is the string gauge an obviously the matching setup. I have one bass for B-Std (BEAD)/Drop-A, one for Eb-Std/Drop-C# and the others for E-Std/Drop-D. but in reality there are more possibilities, for example my BEAD-bass can be droped to A# without any problem. also I can use the Yamaha SBV (setup for E-Std) in Eb-Std without any problem. Also the Grabber can be tuned down to Drop-C and it works perfectly.
just saying that there is some tolerance, in real life.
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Another vote for the Hipshot here. Have one on my P bass and love it
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I have recently tuned down my Squier Affinity with the Geezer pickups to C# standard. I guess I will need to do some adjustments once it has settled in 
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