String Guage and Setup

[brianh]

Hi Janek,

I love the sounds you get on your Fodera. I'm curious as to your general setup and string guage. Do you set your basses up differently for different types of playing?

I keep my P bass setup with fairly high action and use .50 guage strings. It sounds/feels perfect for really "traditional" playing. I play it on rock or country gigs and the couple times I've done a session with it....it's been perfect.

However, I've always set up my F Bass about the same, also with .50 guage strings. As my main bass for live performances I use it for gospel gigs, funk, and almost anything else. It's kind of like a jazz bass on steroids...

Recently, I've really been trying to expand my technique and am having some problems with the action/string guage. I've always really loved the sound I get with thicker strings and higher action...is this something I should try and deal with, or maybe consider a lighter guage string? Maybe another bass?

Thanks for all your help!
Brian

[janekbass]

Brian,

I do set my basses up differently for different music sometimes, but I really only play the P-bass and the fodera which I keep pretty consistent. On any of the rentals I get when producer wants a certain sound, I'll spend some time setting up the bass in the studio for that particular sound and song.

You're going to find it easier to play more technically demanding music with a lighter gague string. So some of your fristration might come from the fact that you use slightly heavier strings. But you will sacrifice some of the sound, unless you really work on how to get that sound from playing lighter.

It's something I've been working on with the fodera for quite some time. How to squeeze the same fat sound out of lighter strings. There are a lot of things you have to change with your right hand, most of which I can't realy explain in writing, you'd have to see it in person or on video.

You also have to really learn about ecconomy of movement too. It took me a long time to really relax and stop using more hand/muscle/finger movement than I needed to in order to execute what I wanted.

Easy,

Janek