hairyhaw Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 (edited) Right, the covers band I play in are currently sticking "No-one Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age at the end of the set. We play it ala the original song and up to now I have been dropping my bass down to C,F,A#,D#. My Jazz is strung with 45-105's and it doesn't much like the drastic neck tension change. It also sounds pretty flappy too to be honest, so I'm thinking of other options. I have a Precision (one in the avatar actually) sitting about doing nothing in my flat currently strung with Roto Swing Bass 30-90's for slappy stuff. The idea is to re-string it with much heavier strings and leave it in the C tuning all the time and just switch basses when the time comes at gigs. Would the neck tension with the thicker strings dropped down be approximately the same with what I have on the bass now? I have zero experience of heavier sets (i.e. anything over 105's) and would welcome any advice on choice of string gauge. I'd thought about slinging 110's on but would this still be a tad light? Of course the other option is to drop the song from the set, but it always gets a great reaction so probably not then. Edited September 10, 2011 by hairyhaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Daddario do a 55-115/110 set, still pushing it with C, but that comes from someone that uses those in standard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairyhaw Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1368492' date='Sep 10 2011, 12:43 PM']Daddario do a 55-115/110 set, still pushing it with C, but that comes from someone that uses those in standard.[/quote] Cheers. Yeah, I've had a look about and they seem about as thick as you get in four string sets. I presume I'm looking at five string sets and throwing away the top string then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelk27 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 [quote name='hairyhaw' post='1368543' date='Sep 10 2011, 12:36 PM']Cheers. Yeah, I've had a look about and they seem about as thick as you get in four string sets. I presume I'm looking at five string sets and throwing away the top string then?[/quote] Oh, there are heavier sets than that available. DR have a DDT four-string set that is gauged 65, 85, 102, 125, which will get you all the way down to B. There's also a friendlier 55, 75, 95, 115 gauged set that would suit your requirements, down to C. You're right if you're thinking that the issue is mass, and how that mass generates the "output" you need to retain a "focused" sound in drop tunings. The lighter the string the lower the output, so the sets that are specifically designed for drop tunings use heavier gauges to achieve the balance of volume and definition for the output. You'll almost certainly have to adjust the setup of your instrument if transitioning from your current light gauge in standard tuning to a heavy gauge with a drop tuning, but that should be limited to a truss rod tweak to counteract bow and intonation. You'll also most likely have to widen the slots of the nut to properly seat the increased gauge at this witness point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 We were talking to the Rep on the Overwater stand at the LBGS earlier this year who said that they would do custom sets to order - you basically pick the guage and they will make up the set and charge you accordingly..I've not tried the strings on anything other than the Tanglewood/Overwaters but they seemed alright - I'd get a more educated opinion before partting with some cash for a set of strings.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkypenguin Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 (edited) IMO you'd be better off using the bottom 4 strings from a 5 string set as a starting point. Getting any definition from an E string when de-tuning below D (as i found out before i switched to 6 strings) is almost impossible on a 34" scale bass, even with a .110 E Edited September 10, 2011 by funkypenguin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairyhaw Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 Cheers for the responses guys. Keep 'em coming if anyone else wants to chip in their 10p's worth. Greek - Had a look at the Overwaters site and was intrigued - regular sets are about 17quid. Which is pretty reasonable. Did the guy say how much they roughly charged for custom sets? Also looked at the DDT's but was a bit put off by the price though. Think I'm leaning toward the funky penguin's train of logic as a 5 string pack would give you the same sort of thing for a tenner cheaper if it was Slinkys for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Gauge isn't the only thing that determines tension/compliance, so if you are going custom, specify tension in the style of 'this brand and gauge at this tuning is what I like' rather than thickness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 There was another similar thread on here, and someone posted that there was a company who made strings specifically for down-tuning. May be worth a search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 [quote name='funkypenguin' post='1368600' date='Sep 10 2011, 02:51 PM']IMO you'd be better off using the bottom 4 strings from a 5 string set as a starting point.[/quote] Or just switching to a 5 stringer to save all the messing about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairyhaw Posted September 12, 2011 Author Share Posted September 12, 2011 [quote name='bassman7755' post='1370180' date='Sep 12 2011, 10:38 AM']Or just switching to a 5 stringer to save all the messing about [/quote] I actually had an OLP StingRay5 up until about 2 years ago, but got rid of it to help fund the Jazz bass. A bit of hindsight might have been handy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 A few years ago I played in a Blues band & had BEAD tuning (& strings) on both my fretted & fretless basses. Worked well for that setting & when the band folded, I had no probs with standard stringing back on them. As has been mentioned above, the trick is to slightly WIDEN the nut slots (don't go down!) & to make sure you have a good backward slope in there to maximise the witness point. Also, there's less tension on the neck with BEAD than with EADG, so you might not need to tweak the truss rod at all. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrismuzz Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Email the guys at Newtone Strings, and tell them what you want to do. they really know their stuff and can give you your options and make you a custom set if need be. I went for custom heavy gauge for my bottom A.. But they will also do lighter gauges with higher tension suitable for downtuning too (god knows how they do it but they can!) Great strings too at great value. Ive had mine on since December and I'm not about to change them any time soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 [quote name='chrismuzz' post='1370213' date='Sep 12 2011, 11:03 AM']Email the guys at Newtone Strings, and tell them what you want to do. they really know their stuff and can give you your options and make you a custom set if need be. I went for custom heavy gauge for my bottom A.. But they will also do lighter gauges with higher tension suitable for downtuning too (god knows how they do it but they can!) Great strings too at great value. Ive had mine on since December and I'm not about to change them any time soon![/quote] +1 I have a couple of set that they made for me for CGCF tuning and they rock! My gauges are .110 - .50 they'll sort you out and they sound awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrenochrome Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 [quote name='bassman7755' post='1370180' date='Sep 12 2011, 10:38 AM']Or just switching to a 5 stringer to save all the messing about [/quote] This can be a pain when playing stuff with a pedalled C or C# in the bassline like SOAD or QOTSA riffs. I use a 4-string strung with 50-110 on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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