ilovefuzz.com

Hey, I have a bass coming in the mail from a trade. My dream bass would be a normal P bass, but for who little I anticipate using it I'll take the trade one. It's a 5 string Ibanez sound gear bass. I have no need for that low B, thinking about switching it to be E A D G C. Any recommendations on strings?

Couple unrelated things...
Will I need a new nut?
Why isn't it EADGB? Will I be a huge kook if I tune it like that?

PeteeBee wrote:I have no need for that low B, thinking about switching it to be E A D G C. Any recommendations on strings?

Strings are subjective and have too much to do with personal taste. To start.. round wound or flat wound?

PeteeBee wrote:Couple unrelated things...
Will I need a new nut?

Yes, maybe.

PeteeBee wrote:Why isn't it EADGB? Will I be a huge kook if I tune it like that?

The short story?
It's a bass and not a guitar is why.
A bass guitar is more of a merging of a double bass and a guitar than a detuned guitar.. And the high C tuning for a 5 string bass guitar as seen on the Fender BassV

comes from the tuning used on the Kay S-51


Which was a Jazz thing.. 5 string double basses have been around for over 100 years with a low B so you can play music that needs lower notes than a E

Blackened Soul wrote:

PeteeBee wrote:I have no need for that low B, thinking about switching it to be E A D G C. Any recommendations on strings?

Strings are subjective and have too much to do with personal taste. To start.. round wound or flat wound?

I think round wounds. I like some good punch and plan on using a driven/fuzzy bass paired with cleanish guitar. In my mind the round wounds help with dirt. I have an ampeg b2re head but I need to replace the cab. Looking to get another 4x10 when one pops up locally.

Thanks for all that info! I had no idea about the double bass stuff. Somehow that little info makes me want to keep it how it is tuning-wise, in no small part because I'm hoping to really play bass, not just play the root notes of the chords and stuff like that.

PeteeBee wrote:

Blackened Soul wrote:

PeteeBee wrote:I have no need for that low B, thinking about switching it to be E A D G C. Any recommendations on strings?

Strings are subjective and have too much to do with personal taste. To start.. round wound or flat wound?

I think round wounds. I like some good punch and plan on using a driven/fuzzy bass paired with cleanish guitar. In my mind the round wounds help with dirt. I have an ampeg b2re head but I need to replace the cab. Looking to get another 4x10 when one pops up locally.

Thanks for all that info! I had no idea about the double bass stuff. Somehow that little info makes me want to keep it how it is tuning-wise, in no small part because I'm hoping to really play bass, not just play the root notes of the chords and stuff like that.

really though.. you could buy a 6 string set and see which way you like it... Personally I like kalium and DR rounds.. I don't like nickel bass strings at all. And really flats have more punch than rounds in very focused direct sort of way vs a piano-y harmonic laden sound I'm going to say... think about what people's sound you sort'a like use that as a starting point and then wander off in you own direction

Hmmm interesting. Well, the bands that I think of when I think of bass tone similar to what I would want are Modest Mouse, Self Defense Family, and Dream Decay. I'll have to do some research. I'm sure I can find out about modest mouse at least. I like DR guitar strings. I'll probably do that just because I already like them.

Thanks again for all the help!

Yeah, you'll probably need a new nut.

sears wrote:Yeah, you'll probably need a new nut.

You'll definitely need a new nut. Let a luthier do that. It will spare you lots of broken strings.

Pepe wrote:

sears wrote:Yeah, you'll probably need a new nut.

You'll definitely need a new nut. Let a luthier do that. It will spare you lots of broken strings.

Makes sense. I'm going to play around with it first, then potentially go this route if I don't like the low string. The bass is really cheap so I'm hesitant to invest any more money into it than necessary.

Spend more on strings than you did on the bass. Get a set of the Thomastik flatwounds!

(Don't know if they come in 5-string sets. )

Chankgeez wrote:Spend more on strings than you did on the bass. Get a set of the Thomastik flatwounds!

(Don't know if they come in 5-string sets. )

Yep,
http://www.juststrings.com/thomastikinf ... wound.html
but if you want a hi C you have to get a 6 set or a 4 set and a single high C
http://www.juststrings.com/flatwoundtho ... rings.html

But you have to LIKE flatwounds. I don't get along with these. Always feel and sound strange to me.

Anyone rock halfwounds? or whatever they're called. I have a friend locally who swears by them, but he also plays a ridiculously expensive bass that I always think sounds bad soooo

I've currently got halfwounds on my Ric 3000. I'm not a huge fan of them, they just feel like a weird cross between really old rounds and flats to me.
Tonally they sound a lot like flats but they grip kinda like rounds?

I would only recommend them if you want the tone of flats but hate the way flatwounds feel on your fretting hand.

I tried them once and I found the opposite they sounded like old fuggy round wounds and were smoothy feeling like rotosound or labella flatwounds neither of which I like I like flats that are really smooth like chromes or TI or Ernie Ball or GHS or Rickenbaker... so I hated the things.

Ha! Well regardless it sounds like the worst of both worlds.