Floppy B. Pickups and a Stiff Neck.

[bubinga5]

I get the feeling that a floppy B string is a neck construction thing. but also from the pickups involved. just sayin.

[GreeneKing]

My best B is my ACG Finn Uber, by a mountain mile. 7 piece Wenge and Bubinga does it methinks. I think it's mainly neck rigidity given equal string length and type.

[stingrayPete1977]

I've played a rubbish 37" B and a rubbish 34", I've also played some great 35" and 34".

I've actually got a Fender with a very useable B which I never thought possible!

[LITTLEWING]

I had a Squier VM 5 once, the B string always sounded like a farty wet rubber band with any brand of strings. Moved the heap of cow dung on rather swiftly. Shame, the other strings actually sounded damn good. Put me off 5 stringers for life.

[eude]

I've had plenty 33" basses with amazing B strings, better than some 35" and 36" basses I tried a while back.
I also have a 31.5" 6 string, and it works just fine too!

Like the OP, I think it's more to do with the neck and construction.
Not trying to sound snobby, but a modern, high end, hand made bass can pretty much achieve anything you would want within reason.
I've also found that pickup location can make a difference too, popping the pickup somewhere that can naturally produce more mids, especially low mids will really help with your low B too.

Cheers,
Eude

[Guest ixlramp]

It's odd how no-one mentioned the obvious, floppiness is due to low string tension, so just increase the gauge.
Almost all bass sets have the B at a lower or much lower tension than the other strings. If you want to match the E in tension the E-B pairs are:
.090 .120
.095 .125
.100 .135
.105 .140
.110 .145

[Mykesbass]

[quote name='ixlramp' timestamp='1495834474' post='3307028']
It's odd how no-one mentioned the obvious, floppiness is due to low string tension, so just increase the gauge.
[/quote]
Not entirely true. Yes, if you are talking about upping the gauge of the b using the same brand, but gauge alone is not the main factor of tension. Construction and mass are also very important. D'addario have a massive chart of all their string tensions. Nickel half rounds have more tension in the same gauge as rounds, and flats even more. Also a round core will give more tension than a hex core.

[Guest ixlramp]

Correct. So yes i mean raise the string tension, and tension is determined by mass, so is affected by string construction and materials. It would be possible to have a brand A .125 tighter than a brand B .130 due to construction and materials.
Floppiness is also, to a lesser extent, caused by string flexibility.

Edited May 29, 2017 by ixlramp

[GreeneKing]

The 'string tension' is a known depending on the characteristics of the particular string and there is a formula for calculating it. To me this is quite different to what the OP is talking about given that some basses exhibit a floppy B whatever string is fitted. For equal tension strings the 'floppiness' factor is to me determined mainly, in fact overwhelmingly by the rigidity of the neck.

[Mastodon2]

String gauge isn't everything, using fatter strings can have a negative impact on tone (or positive depending on your aims). Big fat strings can cause a boomy, round sound, I prefer the snappier sound of lighter gauges, Scale length isn't everything either.

I honestly think a lot of it is in the woods or other construction materials of the instrument. My Warwick Thumb (34") feels different on the low B to my Spector Euro 5LX (35"). The wood feels different as it vibrates, The Spector is very birght and clear, the warwick is dark and growly - and that is just playing it unplugged.