Good Bass Strings for Downtuning?

[HunterBurgan4Me]

Playing in a metal band, we play most songs in drop C

I have a crappy tanglewood bass at the moment and am getting a fender deluxe active jazz in a few months. ATM i have some DR bass strings but they are slightly too loose so when I downtune they sound CRAP. I liked having loose strings when I played in E a lot but I really need tighter ones for downtuning. Any1 got any suggestions?

I was thinking that when I get the Fender I could keep the tanglewood in standard/drop D and just put the Fender into C for the most part.

Do you reckon the fender would handle having thicker strings well? Do some basses take thicker strings better than others? So many questions

What sort of guage of strings should I get for nice and tight drop C but still able to play at E?

[Muckaluck]

For drop C I'd get a 5 string set of light D'Addario Chromes. I'd use the BEAD strings and then tune them up a semitone.

The Chromes should sound really thick for the drop tuned metal stuff while still allowing you to punch through the band.

[CHILDISHGAMBINO]

Originally Posted by Muckaluck

For drop C I'd get a 5 string set of light D'Addario Chromes. I'd use the BEAD strings and then tune them up a semitone.

The Chromes should sound really thick for the drop tuned metal stuff while still allowing you to punch through the band.

I used to do this in the last band I was in(see sig) and if you are always going to playing in C it's the way to go. Before I had my properly setup for C tuning I broke my down tuned E and didn't even notice a difference in string tension.

You may, depending on your nut and bridge have to have a small amount of filing done to them to allow for slightly larger strings. If you do decide to buy a 5 string set I recommend that, unless you are handy with this type of thing, you take your bass to a shop and have it professionally setup. Good luck.

Edit: If you are drop tuning and still want to play in standard the method mentioned above won't work for you. If you are always going to be playing in C then you will either have to have your bass setup for it or deal with the floppyness. Why not keep your old bass in standard for when you want to play in standard. There may be some solution to your problem that I'm not aware of but this was a problem I had the whole time I was in Sleeper and for some time afterwards. I still had my bass setup of BEAD and was playing with guys in Standard and it messed them up even though BEAD is standard just no G.

[knuckle_head]

I offer a drop C set;

.124 .084 .061 .043

[sidez81]

I was usin 55 - 110 in drop C on my fender aerodyne jazz worked fine but then again I only went that high so I wouldnt have to mod the nut (usual gauge DR 45 - 105) also what knuckle head can sell works too and slightly better you'd just have to file out the nut a shade and your rockin....
Speaking of which Mr. Knuckle head may I ask what brand?, how much? and also do you ship to australia?

[Spero]

Gibson makes a set of string meant for drop tunning. Not sure how it would sound for a bass, but the guitar strings are excellent.

[cubinicano]

When I played in drop C, I used DR's DDT in the extra heavy gauge set. The highest I was able to tune was in C. And they sounded amazing, and they were nice and tight. You shuld really look into it.

[ixlramp]

You can't have a tight drop C set and retune it to E standard. That's a big change in pitch that greatly increases the tension. If you want tight drop C you will have to stay in that tuning. If you need to retune between drop C and E you need an EADG set with a heavy E string. I recommend building a set from single strings 115/110 80 60 45.

Originally Posted by sidez81

Speaking of which Mr. Knuckle head may I ask what brand?, how much? and also do you ship to australia?

This is knuckle_head's string company: Circle K Strings - Circle K Strings

[ampegfuzz]

I use the .118 standard drop set on my ric for dropC and I love them. These strings last a long time too!

[jjp259]

I recently got a music man sterling 4 string and it comes with Ernie ball super slinkys where the low string is .100 I believe. I have mine tuned to drop c and I really like the way it sounds. Didn't think I would because my old bass has heavy ghs boomers on it.