Trying out 45–60–80–105 and 50–65–85–110

[Munurmunuh]

When I bought a set of Chromes in a successful attempt to locate my TRBX's cojones, it was pointed out to me that a string dealer in the US was putting together a custom balanced tension set, 45–60–80–105, and that people liked it. So I tried it out, and agreed that it felt good. It truly had a balanced feel and sound. When I next want some flats, I'll be returning to this.  ✔✔✔

 

Most of the time since then I've played standard 45-105 sets. When getting some Daddario Pro Steels, I thought I could take advantage of their reputation for being a bit more flexible than Rotosounds etc and try a 50–65–85–110 set. This has been a been success. All four strings sound really strong and vibrant. The 110 E rings out gloriously and the 50 G is properly stern. It does feel a bit relentless, but for this bass and what I play on it, that's good.  ✔✔

 

Since this has gone so well, I thought to try the 50–65–85–110 gauges on Daddario XL Nickels. This was a waste of time. The 65 and 85 feel and sound great, but the 110 is too fat for its own good, and the 50 is over the line into another realm of stiffity stiff. When I downtuned the 50 and 110 by a semitone, the set simply felt better. So no reason to choose this over the usual EXL165 45-105 set. I took them off within a day.  ✔ and that's being generous

 

(When I was messing around with the tunings, I did notice that the 65 and 85 were still sounding good in Eb Standard and D Standard, and that the 110 still sounded meh)

[Munurmunuh]

Should have added, that Chromes set really is close to balanced tension, all four strings within 43‐48 lbs.

 

The other two sets aren't, the range is twice as wide with them.

 

Edited April 30, 2022 by Ricky Rioli

[BillyBass]

I posted a thread about strings for a D standard bass a couple of days ago, it's had a few views but no answers.  This section of the forum should be known as the dusty end!

 

I've been experimenting/struggling with different tunings on a 4 string and using a 5 string for our cover band's songs.  I'm tempted to leave one of my basses in D standard rather than detuning all 4 strings during a set.  Consequently, I am considering using a set of 50-70-90-110.  

 

Yesterday, in rehearsal, instead of using a fiver, I detuned a 4 string to DGCG for one song and the strings the Kiloton tribute came with (I believe they are D'Addario 45-105s) seemed fine, however, if you think your set of 50-65-85-110s might be an improvement I'll happily take them off your hands.

 

 

[Delberthot]

I made myself a balanced set of Chromes years ago using single strings but I used 45, 60, 80 and a 110 for the E. I drop my E to D for a few songs so I preferred it for that reason.

 

I've been using 45, 65, 85, 105 gauge strings for so many years that those are what I prefer, regardless that they're not exactly balanced - they just all feel right to me. Anything lighter or heavier just feels wrong

 

[Munurmunuh]

53 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

I posted a thread about strings for a D standard bass a couple of days ago, it's had a few views but no answers.  This section of the forum should be known as the dusty end!

 

I've been experimenting/struggling with different tunings on a 4 string and using a 5 string for our cover band's songs.  I'm tempted to leave one of my basses in D standard rather than detuning all 4 strings during a set.  Consequently, I am considering using a set of 50-70-90-110.  

 

Yesterday, in rehearsal, instead of using a fiver, I detuned a 4 string to DGCG for one song and the strings the Kiloton tribute came with (I believe they are D'Addario 45-105s) seemed fine, however, if you think your set of 50-65-85-110s might be an improvement I'll happily take them off your hands.

 

 

I think G&L use EXL170 across the board, that is to say 45-65-80-100. Given how my set sounded in D Standard, I would easily believe that the 45-65-85-105 EXL165 would be good. (The Roto Bass 45-105 or 50-100 might be worth thinking about? I've the RB45 on my BB atm, and love the really strong E string, and the mids-heavy sound. The downside is that the top sounds a bit inhibited when soloing the neck.)

 

Do you think the Kiloton's pickup position nicely balances out the detuning, adding back the bite? I'd be interested to know which setting worked best: series / parallel / single? (Now I'm very curious to search out a clip of Kiloton+Roto Bass)

 

I'm so unimpressed by the 110 I'm half tempted to conclude I got a dud one - it has a completely different sound, no matter what pitch I tuned it to: D, Eb, E, F, all missing the gleam of the 85. Perhaps it's just too thick for have that ringing quality? I dunno.

 

At any rate, I'm afraid someone keen to try the XL Nickels for free has already nipped in and asked for my set. I've told him where he can find a 45 and 105 if he likes the 65 and 85 enough to make the most of them 

 

[BillyBass]

 

10 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

I think G&L use EXL170 across the board, that is to say 45-65-80-100. Given how my set sounded in D Standard, I would easily believe that the 45-65-85-105 EXL165 would be good. (The Roto Bass 45-105 or 50-100 might be worth thinking about? I've the RB45 on my BB atm, and love the really strong E string, and the mids-heavy sound. The downside is that the top sounds a bit inhibited when soloing the neck.)

 

Do you think the Kiloton's pickup position nicely balances out the detuning, adding back the bite? I'd be interested to know which setting worked best: series / parallel / single? (Now I'm very curious to search out a clip of Kiloton+Roto Bass)

 

I'm so unimpressed by the 110 I'm half tempted to conclude I got a dud one - it has a completely different sound, no matter what pitch I tuned it to: D, Eb, E, F, all missing the gleam of the 85. Perhaps it's just too thick for have that ringing quality? I dunno.

 

At any rate, I'm afraid someone keen to try the XL Nickels for free has already nipped in and asked for my set. I've told him where he can find a 45 and 105 if he likes the 65 and 85 enough to make the most of them 

 

Never mind about the strings, by the sounds of it I'm not missing much.

I normally leave the toggle switch to the right, which is series, I think.  I'll have a play around tomorrow and let you know.

[Munurmunuh]

2 hours ago, BillyBass said:

I'll have a play around tomorrow and let you know.

 

And tomorrow I'll try detuning my set of Roto Bass 45-105 to D Standard and report back on how they sound

[Munurmunuh]

11 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

And tomorrow I'll try detuning my set of Roto Bass 45-105 to D Standard and report back on how they sound

 

I've just done this: it still feels good. Of the four strings, the E is much the least tense, but even that wasn't feeling floppy.

 

With the P pickup soloed, the sound is bit funny, but on PJ and J it still sounds great – it was easy to imagine the them being a success on a Kiloton 👍

[BillyBass]

6 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said:

 

I've just done this: it still feels good. Of the four strings, the E is much the least tense, but even that wasn't feeling floppy.

 

With the P pickup soloed, the sound is bit funny, but on PJ and J it still sounds great – it was easy to imagine the them being a success on a Kiloton 👍

This has been quite informative.

 

First of all, solo practice with fingers in E standard:

I usually have the G&L pup in series when playing in E standard; I like the bite and the extra bit of heft.  Sounds fine in split too but lacks a bit of oomph that the series mode gives (I am adjusting the volume when swapping between the two.  The parallel setting sounds good also but is a bit more mellow; if I wanted mellow I wouldn't be playing a Kiloton. 

 

Fingers in D standard:  I have a slight preference for the split over series as it can get a little bit muddy in series on the D string.  Definitely not in parallel as it gets too muddy for me

 

With a pick in D standard, I wouldn't use the split mode as it loses quite a bit of body, series and parallel both work well with a pick, slight preference for series.

 

The string set I got with the bass feels fine in D standard, though the D string is a bit floppy.  It's nowhere near as floppy as a D'addario 135 B string on my Charvel 34" scale fiver, but floppy enough for a bit of buzz that doesn't happen in E standard (I haven't bothered adjusting the saddles as I'm swapping between E and D standard at the moment).  You might well be right about the E string being a 100 gauge; the ADG (GCF) strings have good tension in D standard; I'm thinking now that I would probably prefer a 40 over a 45 in E standard.

 

To conclude, I think 45-65-85-105 would be good in d standard though I would still like to try a 110

[thodrik]

I thoroughly recommend the D'addario balanced tension set of 50-67-90-120 if you are interested in downtuning to D standard. I generally use it for tuning for D standard and drop C. That 120 is a beast but it really works well at maintaining definition. In the past I have found 'heavy gauge' sets of 50-110 to be underwhelming when downtuning to D standard. However I do like a 50 -110 set I want to play rock stuff with a high action to avoid any 'fret clatter'. 

For standard tuning I prefer 100-80-60-40 gauges generally as I find a 45 and 65 gauge or G and D strings a bit stiff for slapping and popping. 

[Supernaut]

Never understood this obsession with balanced tension. 
 

Mismatched strings with wildly different gauges. 
 

[Munurmunuh]

9 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Never understood this obsession with balanced tension. 
 

Mismatched strings with wildly different gauges. 

 

Never understood this obsession with bumping old threads of mine just to disagree with them

 

[Munurmunuh]

On 01/05/2022 at 16:50, BillyBass said:

To conclude, I think 45-65-85-105 would be good in D standard though I would still like to try a 110

 

I just put a fresh set of the 50-65-85-110 Pro Steels on my P, and thought not to cut up the outgoing set, since they're still a fair way from being dead, just thoroughly mellowed.

 

Would you like them so you can see what you think of a 110 downtuned to D Standard?

[BillyBass]

On 16/05/2022 at 18:29, Ricky Rioli said:

 

I just put a fresh set of the 50-65-85-110 Pro Steels on my P, and thought not to cut up the outgoing set, since they're still a fair way from being dead, just thoroughly mellowed.

 

Would you like them so you can see what you think of a 110 downtuned to D Standard?

Sorry, I've not been on basschat for a while and have only just seen your post.  If you haven't already binned them I wouldn't mind trying them out, but you did post the above 8 days ago!  Thanks for the offer.

[Munurmunuh]

15 minutes ago, BillyBass said:

Sorry, I've not been on basschat for a while and have only just seen your post.  If you haven't already binned them I wouldn't mind trying them out, but you did post the above 8 days ago!  Thanks for the offer.

 

Yep still got them  I'll pop them in the post tomorrow. 

 

And then I'll be in the unusual position of having no strings, neither used nor new, except the two sets on my two basses. I suddenly feel my Click To Buy finger getting itchy....   

[dudewheresmybass]

On 30/04/2022 at 08:06, BillyBass said:

I posted a thread about strings for a D standard bass a couple of days ago, it's had a few views but no answers.  This section of the forum should be known as the dusty end!

 

I've been experimenting/struggling with different tunings on a 4 string and using a 5 string for our cover band's songs.  I'm tempted to leave one of my basses in D standard rather than detuning all 4 strings during a set.  Consequently, I am considering using a set of 50-70-90-110.  

 

Yesterday, in rehearsal, instead of using a fiver, I detuned a 4 string to DGCG for one song and the strings the Kiloton tribute came with (I believe they are D'Addario 45-105s) seemed fine, however, if you think your set of 50-65-85-110s might be an improvement I'll happily take them off your hands.

 

 

I hadn't seen this thread before, but I wanted to say that I use 50-110 in one of my bands, and also dropped to D standard.

They sound great and the tension is quite reminiscent of 45-105 tuned to standard.

I'm using Swing bass rs66 strings btw