I am going to tune my 4 string BEAD. Which is the lightest B string you think it can work?

[BELA]

The bass is 34" scale and I tend to prefer light gauge strings so,

¿which is the lightest you would go for this configuration?

[BigRedX]

What gauges are your E, A and D strings going to be?

[BELA]

2 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

What gauges are your E, A and D strings going to be?

If I can go 95-75-55 that would be great.

I would not  like to go above 100-80-60

[BigRedX]

IME (well at least for me) you need a heavier low-B than you would normally think would be required, mostly because it is so low tension compared with the other strings. In my case for a 100-40 (E-G) set I go fo a 130 B string. In your case start by trying a 120 with the 95-55 set and see how you get on with that. Also depending on the bass and bridge construction you might want to consider a taper-wound B string.

[Misdee]

I use 40,-120 on my 5 string . I wouldn't want to go any lighter than 120 for a low B for the sake of clarity, but bear in mind that how taught that gauge will feel can vary greatly from one manufacturer to another. I don't like a very taught feel, and I find  Dunlop strings offer the perfect balance between tone and tension. 

 

I don't think a  120 would feel out of keeping too much with a  55 -95 set , but your other choice would be to find a 115 guage string.  I seem to remember GHS offer a Boomer in such a gauge, but you would probably have to special order it.

Edited January 17, 2022 by Misdee

[TheGreek]

I have a .115 on a set of tapewounds - no issues with tension.

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, Misdee said:

your other choice would be to find a 115 guage string.  I seem to remember GHS offer a Boomer in such a gauge, but you would probably have to special order it

 

The 'heavy' set of Boomers is 50-70-95-115, and their tension chart is of the opinion that all four strings would be viable for BEAD:

 

D 50 – 28.9 lbs

A 70 – 31.5 lbs

E 95 – 36.1 lbs

B 115 – 27.6 lbs

[r16ktx]

When I moved to BEAD I spent some time messing around with different strings and guages. With the help of the D'Addario guy that was on here and their tension charts

I ended up with 110-90-75-55 D'Addario Chromes (so flats which might not be any good). They play and sound fine even though they are noticeably 'relaxed'.

[christhammer666]

its very spongy but doable on a E-105

[Lfalex v1.1]

I've found that some instruments lack enough rearward saddle adjustment to achieve the correct intonation on lighter gauge strings (Both my 5 and 6 string Warwicks wouldn't go far enough back on some brands of 0.125 B strings.)

 

Be aware that this may force you to go up a gauge to get it to work.

 

For example; 0.115 up to  0.120

The Warwicks in my case were fine once I started using 0.130s

[BigRedX]

IME lighter gauge string require less rearward travel to get the correct intonation.

[Lfalex v1.1]

^^

That might work, too. Maybe 0.115 or 0.120 would also have solved the Warwick issue. Maybe it's just impossible to get it right with 0.125s.

[falling_in2_infinity]

Probably not helpful to you, but I often detune my .100, 35" to a low B.  It works well for certain things, but I wouldn't personally like it if I needed a really tight (sounding) B.

 

They're EB Slinky Cobalts.

Edited January 19, 2022 by falling_in2_infinity

[Supernaut]

I hope you configure the nut correctly. Files at the ready. 

[BigRedX]

With those of light strings they may well fit in the nut as they're only slightly heavier than a standard E-G set.

 

What the OP will more likely need to do is slacken off the truss rod as a light-gauge B string will have considerably less tension than a G.

[Supernaut]

They may sit correctly in the nut but the action at the first fret will definitely be out. 

[miikebass]

I gig regularly. We have maybe 100 or so songs on rotation. 
Out of these songs I think I use my G string maybe twice.  Tops. That skinny one just isn’t my thing.  
On the other hand there’s plenty of times I’d like a low D

 

I’ve tried a 5 string before and it was messy.  Too many strings to keep quiet.  
 

So anyway you know where this is going. 
I’m thinking of tuning my basses to BEAD. 

I realise the nut will have to be modded. 
I have a US Fender P and a 1980 Fernandes BO50 which is actually my favourite. 
 

Is there any reason I shouldn’t do this?

[Doctor J]

No reason at all. If you want to make it entirely reversible, just get a new nut now and file it for the bigger strings. If you want to revert back to EADG, just put the original nut back in.

 

I play a lot of downtuned music so set up a 4 banger for BEAD. Because I do a lot of stuff in A, too, I have a very heavy set on so I can drop-tune the B to A without having spaghetti to play - .147, .107, .85, .65

 

You need to be physical with the .147 but it's very satisfying to play.

[TheLowDown]

I've got a 0.115 for my B string on the 5 string. It's a vast improvement over when I was using a 0.135 and 0.130, all nickel plated. I'm using a stainless steel 0.128 B string on one of my 6 strings which sounds considerably better, brighter, and similar in timbre to all the other strings.

 

The heavier the strings, the more woofy and vague the B string will sound, at least for nickel-plated comparing like for like. The 0.135 will start to sound woofy much lower down than the 0.115.

Edited February 6, 2022 by TheLowDown

[r16ktx]

On 06/02/2022 at 07:59, miikebass said:

I’m thinking of tuning my basses to BEAD.

My decision pretty much followed this same thinking. -My stubby fingers are happier with the extra string spacing mm 4 strings get,

Trading the unused top 5 frets of the G string for the much more useful 5 frets from E down to B is more flexible. Semi-tone detunes are a breeze

so is drop D, (and obviously B). I can also use a 12 string guitar capo if the tune is mostly played too far away from the D for easy fretting and such.

Most things also move closer to me which I appreciate being ex-guitarist... 😉