BEAD sets?

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Needed a low B string in a few tunes and my 6 strings aren't that practical to haul around just for a few tunes I restrung one of my basses to BEAD.

Liked it a lot, found out that I didn't need the G as much that I had thought, and went shopping for better strings.
Found only one 065-135 set , "Skull Strings B4xt". A bit of on-line search revealed only one other set, "Warwick Black Label Low B".

Is this really the case?
Do all the BEAD bassists buy 5er sets and discard the G. Seems a bit silly to me.

Opinions?

What do You do?

Regards
Sam

[Rav]

Most people that play BEAD do exactly that. Buy a 5 and toss a string.

However. a couple of the string manufacturers will make custom sets for minimum orders. I have a friend of mine that does this with DR strings. He uses a really odd sized set for a 6 string bass and orders the set direct from DR with an artist account with them.

I haven't done this personally. But if i remember hearing him correctly they require a 140 string minimum order for this. ( I could be way off on this ). So if this is accurate that is 35 sets you need to order at one time to fill their requirements. The upside is you get them fairly cheap ( somewhere between dealer cost and retail ) and your not wasting cash on the extra 5th string.

Of course if you only use 2 sets a year this isn't really all that appealing.

-Rav

[D.Don]

More or less, unless you build your on sets on juststrings or something.

Last time I bought a bunch of 4-string set and loose B-strings, I have 2 fivers and then one four-banger that is tuned in BEAD.

D.Don

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Thanks guys, that's what I thought.

If I don't like the Skulls, my first coated and first exposed core strings BTW, I have to try to make a deal with my "local" music shop to buy 5er sets and let them keep the Gs.

It's not so much about the money, I just hate wasting good strings.

Regards
Sam

[D.Don]

Or use juststrings

http://www.juststrings.com/bassguitarsinglestrings.html




D.Don

[Darkstrike]

Roto do a BEAD flatwound set, in other words a 65-130 set, mabye they do a round as well.

[D.Don]

Oh, is that so? Which one is that?

D.Don

[emythefretless]

What do you do in case the 130 gauge doesn't sit in the groove of the bridge saddle?

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by D.Don

Oh, is that so? Which one is that?

D.Don

You can get the Swing Bass rounds in 65-80-105-130 (RS 66LH),

I can't find the flats on their site, but I know a TB'er used to use them, but I think he tuned 'em to standard!

[scrodzilla]

Originally Posted by emythefretless

What do you do in case the 130 gauge doesn't sit in the groove of the bridge saddle?

File it.

[emythefretless]

I'll try, but need an extra spare saddle in case it doesn't work for me.

[dystopiate]

i usually order my "custom" sets from d'addario. You can buy one string at a time, direct through their site. Regarding getting the B into the bridge saddle, I usually buy a tapered 135, so it fits fine.

[emythefretless]

Tapered B string sounds wise, I'll check if I can find a tapered Fat Beam B string. I was planning to purchase bulk strings but I was kicked out of my day job this Friday... Buying just 4 strings won't hurt nobody I guess

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Originally Posted by emythefretless

What do you do in case the 130 gauge doesn't sit in the groove of the bridge saddle?

Originally Posted by scrodzilla

File it.

+1. The Skull Strings 135 has an exposed core, so it's not a problem, the saddle obviously needs to be raised though. Might pose a problem if the individual saddle height can't be adjusted (Ric, Gibsons etc.).

Originally Posted by emythefretless

Tapered B string sounds wise, I'll check if I can find a tapered Fat Beam B string. I was planning to purchase bulk strings but I was kicked out of my day job this Friday... Buying just 4 strings won't hurt nobody I guess

Damn, that sucks, hope You'll find work soon.

Regards
Sam

[BassoP]

Originally Posted by Rav

Most people that play BEAD do exactly that. Buy a 5 and toss a string.

However. a couple of the string manufacturers will make custom sets for minimum orders. I have a friend of mine that does this with DR strings. He uses a really odd sized set for a 6 string bass and orders the set direct from DR with an artist account with them.

I haven't done this personally. But if i remember hearing him correctly they require a 140 string minimum order for this. ( I could be way off on this ). So if this is accurate that is 35 sets you need to order at one time to fill their requirements. The upside is you get them fairly cheap ( somewhere between dealer cost and retail ) and your not wasting cash on the extra 5th string.

Of course if you only use 2 sets a year this isn't really all that appealing.

-Rav

Man, the first part of your post got me excited, the second part, not so much. I'd like to do a custom set for my 6 from DR, but their singles are prohibatively expensive. I only change every few months though, so that is a no go.

[dystopiate]

You might try getting touch with DR directly. I e-mailed them once about a custom set. They said that they couldn't do it direct, but that I could do it through a distributer (mom & pop will probably be more helpful than bix box). They didn't mention anything about a minimum order amount. I wouldn't be surprised if the price were quite a bit higher. Even ordering direct through d'addario my 4 string set costs around $27, vs. around $17 if I bought a set.

[emythefretless]

Originally Posted by T-Bird

Damn, that sucks, hope You'll find work soon.

Regards
Sam

Thank you a lot, I hope I'll figure out something soon.

Jobs are pretty scarce here these days, lots of displacement going on, due to crisis.

GAS doesn't know no crisis tho

By the way, bridge is standard jazz bridge, that's gonna be easy to find one...

[Gubna]

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

Roto do a BEAD flatwound set, in other words a 65-130 set, mabye they do a round as well.

yeah, I just got a Rotosound Roundwound set from Juststrings. I was looking around a bit before someone on here mentioned them. I tried to do a singles set, but they were cost prohibitive.

[Rav]

Originally Posted by Rav

Most people that play BEAD do exactly that. Buy a 5 and toss a string.

However. a couple of the string manufacturers will make custom sets for minimum orders. I have a friend of mine that does this with DR strings. He uses a really odd sized set for a 6 string bass and orders the set direct from DR with an artist account with them.

I haven't done this personally. But if i remember hearing him correctly they require a 140 string minimum order for this. ( I could be way off on this ). So if this is accurate that is 35 sets you need to order at one time to fill their requirements. The upside is you get them fairly cheap ( somewhere between dealer cost and retail ) and your not wasting cash on the extra 5th string.

Of course if you only use 2 sets a year this isn't really all that appealing.

-Rav

I clarified with my friend today. The only reason he has to do a 140 string order is because he orders a string they don't commercially make. So they make them just for him.

He said if you want custom sets from them direct that are comprised of strings they make in normal production runs then you can order as few as 2 sets at a time.

Hope this helps.

-Rav

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by Gubna

yeah, I just got a Rotosound Roundwound set from Juststrings. I was looking around a bit before someone on here mentioned them. I tried to do a singles set, but they were cost prohibitive.

Please let us know how they turn out!