String Gauge For Multiple Tunings

[philw]

Afternoon all,

 

I have a series of covers gigs in May where a few of the songs will be played down a tone. I’ll be using my Wal fretless and it would normally be strung 40 - 100, but that’s too light a gauge for drop D. So what string gauge/brand/type should I go for that’ll work for both tunings? Thoughts and suggestions please!

 

Ta

Phil

[ped]

6 minutes ago, philw said:

Afternoon all,

 

I have a series of covers gigs in May where a few of the songs will be played down a tone. I’ll be using my Wal fretless and it would normally be strung 40 - 100, but that’s too light a gauge for drop D. So what string gauge/brand/type should I go for that’ll work for both tunings? Thoughts and suggestions please!

 

Ta

Phil

I always play in drop D and use 40-100 strings. No problem, I like the feel and tension. 

[Bassmingo]

For my DGCF basses I use 45/65/80/105, though a lot of people prefer a 110 for a low D. 

[Doctor J]

If you're only dropping the E string then that's the only string you need to consider changing. Try it as it is, see how it feels to you. If it feels ok then it is ok. If you feel the tension is lacking then try a 105 but bear in mind you'll be playing that string tuned to E, too. If most of the set is standard and only a few songs are dropped D, I wouldn't bother changing at all. Go with what suits the majority of the songs.

[Lozz196]

I’ve used 45-100 Elixirs with a Hipshot Extender on the E and they’ve been fine for dropping it to D.

[philw]

Thanks all. I think the majority of the songs I’ll be playing on the Wal will be down a tone (all strings, not just the E). So I think going up a gauge will be worthwhile - the tension on dropped 100 - 40 (D’Addarios I think) gauge just doesn’t feel right. I guess it’s just a question of whether I go to 105 or 110 (and experimenting with bass strings is an expensive business).

 

P

[Lfalex v1.1]

I have a G&L SB-2 Tribute tuned to D standard (DGCF) 

I bought it strung with 50-110 DR Lo-Riders in E standard, and the tension was too great for me to achieve the degree of articulation I like, so I de-tuned it.

Sounds great. 

Need E standard? I put a capo on the second fret. 2 basses in one, without the fuss or time taken to re-tune or the expense of de-tuners, AND it keeps the fingering patterns intact compared to using drop D and E standard.

[Doctor J]

Plus, if you're tuning up and down a full step across all strings your audience are going to need to being jigsaws or sudoku to keep entertained while you're tuning. You're also going to have to set your truss rod so the lower fretboard doesn't choke which will leave it quite bowed when you tune up to E. Are you sure you can't get away with drop-D like you initially said?

[Lozz196]

I think if I were dropping a whole tone then I’d go for 50-110s, and adopt the capo strategy for E as per @Lfalex v1.1

[Guest]

I've just been looking at the very thorough tension charts supplied by GHS. If you're used to 40–60–80–100 for EADG, then for D standard 45–65–85–105 would be a bit slacker across the board, and 50–70–90–110 would be a little more tense than what you're used to, again across all the strings.

 

One notch bigger and a bit more slack sounds easier to deal with than two notches bigger and harder work.

[franzbassist]

Hi Phil

 

DM me your address and I’ll send you a set of hardly used D’Addario nickel round balanced tension strings 50-67-90-120, which might do the job for you.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[philw]

On 29/12/2021 at 08:12, franzbassist said:

Hi Phil

 

DM me your address and I’ll send you a set of hardly used D’Addario nickel round balanced tension strings 50-67-90-120, which might do the job for you.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

 

Hi Gareth,

 

Hope you're well. That's a very kind offer but I suspect 120 will be too heavy, especially as I'll possibly be retuning back to E for a couple of songs mid-gig.

 

And @Doctor J - you've never experienced a Paul Diello gig have you? There's typically time between songs, while Paul has the entire audience bent double with laughter, to build an entire bass guitar from scratch, so I reckon a quick re-tune to E will just about be feasible.

 

Thanks again everybody for the help. I think I'll go for a 110 set, or maybe a 105.....Keep your eyes peeled for me selling a little used set of strings shortly.

 

Phil

[BigRedX]

Unfortunately there's no real alternative to experimentation, and seeing what suits you and bass(es) you are using.

 

A lot of it will depend on how sensitive you are to the changes in tension and compliance which the different tunings will bring. If this was me I'd be looking at using two separate basses - one for the songs in standard E-G tuning and another for the D-F songs - and strung with the appropriate gauge strings. However I'm the person who has a separate guitar with a heavier "E" string that is permanently tuned to drop D because a single gauge string is too much of a compromise in feel for one of the tunings and even a "half-way" gauge is no good because it's "wrong" for both tunings. You may feel differently but you won't know until you try.

 

I wouldn't even consider trying to retune a single bass between songs. The rest of your band and the audience are unlikely to tolerate it.

 

And as has been mentioned already you need to pick your string gauges carefully. Consider that when going from A to E the gauges of a "standard" set go up from 80 or 85 to 100 or 105. That's for a 5 semitone drop. For a drop of a tone you are going to want to increase by around "7". Also bear in mind that lower strings could generally do with being a bit heavier to compensate for the fact that they are lower tension. If your preferred E-G set is 100-40, then for DGCF tuning I'd start by trying 110, 90, 65, 45 and go from there.

Edited December 30, 2021 by BigRedX