ADADG String Gauge?

[Captain Christ]

I have a Nanyo SGC 325 Active 5-String bass and I play in a Experimental Post-Hardcore 3 Piece. I Absolutely hate the sound of new strings, they often sound far too bright and I've been playing this bass for around a year, bought second hand and still using the same strings. However I'm not sure what gauge of strings to replace them with for a lazy rock bassists ADADG tuning and what sort of strings to buy given my dislike for bright strings with little character. Any advice would be appreciated.

Nik

[PilbaraBass]

I use either a 0.125 or 0.130 @ B...I'm sure that 0.130 can handle A.

I often play drop D on a 4 banger with a 0.100 ...so I'm SURE than a 0.105 can handle D

if you like round wounds, stick to nickel as the stainless will be too bright for you. You may want to try flats, however...

personally, I LIKE bright strings...I can tame the treble through the amp and tone control(s) but I can never bring back the "character" of a dead string this way.

Stick with bright strings and tame your tone, IMHO.

Hence, I suggest...

D'Addario XL-170's 0.130, 0.100, 0.080, 0.065, 0.045 they're nickel ...they're bright but wear in nicely...and they have plenty of character.

[Solarmist]

Originally Posted by PilbaraBass

I use either a 0.125 or 0.130 @ B...I'm sure that 0.130 can handle A.

I often play drop D on a 4 banger with a 0.100 ...so I'm SURE than a 0.105 can handle D

if you like round wounds, stick to nickel as the stainless will be too bright for you. You may want to try flats, however...

personally, I LIKE bright strings...I can tame the treble through the amp and tone control(s) but I can never bring back the "character" of a dead string this way.

Stick with bright strings and tame your tone, IMHO.

Hence, I suggest...

D'Addario XL-170's 0.130, 0.100, 0.080, 0.065, 0.045 they're nickel ...they're bright but wear in nicely...and they have plenty of character.

+1 - Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Roland777]

Buy single strings. That way you can get a nice tension-balance across all of the strings. By tuning down, you already lose a lot of punch in the tone, and harmonics. I'd recommend D'Addarios, since they're the string-equivalent to the Kalashnikov - readily available and works for most purposes. If you're deliberately looking for a really dull string, go for GHS Boomers. For ADADG, I would get strings in the following gauges; .130-.100-.065-.050-.035. Note that that is very low tension.
If you like your tension higher, go for .145-.105-.070-.055-.040.

I'm a staunch supporter of balanced string-tension, and very picky when it comes to this. It'll cost you a little more, but the tone and feel to my ears and fingers respectively are so much better than buying ill-balanced sets (that will be even more ill-balanced with your double-drop tuning!), that it's definately worth it. Give it a shot!