Fender Jazz - Strung BEAD

[dan670844]

Hello Dudes,

Has anyone attempted this? I am doing some work which requires a low B. Just wondered if the Jazz can take the strain of this. Will obviously get the nut recut and set up properly. Probably go 130 on the B but hard wound flats to keep it taught. I have quite a few 4 string jazzers and would rather do this than hit a 5 string. I need it to sound Fender Jazzy. I have a 2010 Fender Mexi Jazz which I intend to do this too it has a Gotoh 201 and Bare knuckles PUPS. I just cant get on with 5 string jazzers. Yes I could go out and buy any number of great 5 stringers that sound like a J. But I dont want to sink any hard earned on this project as its just to get something done.

[brensabre79]

As long as it's done right. i.e. nut, set-up and truss rod adjustment it should be absolutely fine. You might need to widen the slots in your Gotoh bridge a tad too.

There's no difference in the mechanics of a 5, 6 or even 10 string bass from a strain point of view, the truss-rod counterbalances the pull of the strings. Although you'd be surprised how littel difference there will be in the amount of strain, the strings are larger, but tuned lower, under less tension...

[leonshelley01]

I have done exactly this to one of my Jazz basses with no problems at all. The Gotoh coped okay and the truss rod only needed a slight adjustment to keep the same neck relief.

[HowieBass]

There's a tension and gauge calculator here http://www.stringbusters.com/stringfaqs.asp so you can work out how the load on the neck will change from an EADG to a BEAD tuning. If the online calculator is right then you'll actually see a net [u]decrease[/u] in load (where for steel strings it indicates that a 130 tuned to B pulls 31.47 lbs and a 45 tuned to G pulls 42.43 lbs). Obviously the actual load experienced depends on the string type and manufacturer but overall I think from tables I've seen elsewhere that a G often pulls more than an E and the highest tensions are usually found with the A and D strings.

[brensabre79]

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1399384162' post='2443678']
There's a tension and gauge calculator here [url="http://www.stringbusters.com/stringfaqs.asp"]http://www.stringbus.../stringfaqs.asp[/url] so you can work out how the load on the neck will change from an EADG to a BEAD tuning. If the online calculator is right then you'll actually see a net [u]decrease[/u] in load (where for steel strings it indicates that a 130 tuned to B pulls 31.47 lbs and a 45 tuned to G pulls 42.43 lbs). Obviously the actual load experienced depends on the string type and manufacturer but overall I think from tables I've seen elsewhere that a G often pulls more than an E and the highest tensions are usually found with the A and D strings.
[/quote]

Yep that pretty much sums up what I thought too. I think the balanced tension sets I've tried out are about 45-60-80-110.

[geoffbyrne]

Did this a few years ago with a couple of basses, including a fretless - no probs whatsoever & if you *widen* the nut slots correctly you should have no probs going back to normal stringing either, I didn't. And as has been said above, there's actually less strain on the neck at this setup & tuning, so you may need to loosen the truss rod a tad.

G.

[dan670844]

Cheers all thanks for the help!

Dan

[BigRedX]

For the same type and brand of string Low B is always the lowest tension string in the set and G is normally the highest.

So unless you are going from a set that is super low tension to something like Rotosound flats you'll probably just need to slacken off the truss rod slightly.

[Conan]

[quote name='dan670844' timestamp='1399377226' post='2443539']
I have a 2010 Fender Mexi Jazz which I intend to do this to[/quote]

Let us know how you get on, as this is something I have been considering too!

[Owen]

I did this with a 66 jazz for a couple of years with no adjustment at all. It is totally safe.

[rk7]

Yep, done this to my TanglewaterJazzThing.

No problems

RK

[plunkrock]

My Squier Jazz is BEAD, sometimes AEAD. Had to widen the nut and fiddle around a bit but works fine, my low B is .145

[dan670844]

[quote name='plunkrock' timestamp='1399656478' post='2446437']
My Squier Jazz is BEAD, sometimes AEAD. Had to widen the nut and fiddle around a bit but works fine, my low B is .145
[/quote]

This is exactly what I need to do. I tried a Squier VM jazz V the other day though that had been luthiered and I was mightly impressed. But I dont need another bass!