Heavy Gauge Strings in Standard Tuning?

[Scott9221]

Hello,
Im going to be buying new strings for my bass (which is a Squire P Bass by Fender). My question was if heavier gauge strings sound ok in standard tuning. Im asking this because i like to play metal music in my free time, but im also in a band that plays in standard tuning (we play rock and reggae music). Ive been looking around for any info on this but could not find. So if anyone has any advice or info, please post. Thanks.

[BassMan250]

Heavy strings sound great in standard tuning, tons of low end and a really strong fundamental (of course this depends on the brand as well). I used to have heavy-gauge Fender flats on my P and they sounded great, as well as allowing me to have a heavy attack without a lot of string noise. As far as rounds go I don't have much experience with heavy gauge, but for rock and metal I'd recommend you try DR Lo-Riders or Rotos.

[magickbass]

I also prefer heavy gauge strings. DR High Beam .50-.110 and LaBella James Jamerson signature series to be exact. I tune in standard and down to C#, with flatwound and roundwound respectively, and love the tone I get with both.

[spaz21387]

I used to only use ernie ball powers the e string was a 110. I only used standard tuning and it sounded great with my jazz. Now I prefer ernie ball hybrids the e is a 105. In standard tuning with the heavy guage string I found bends to be really hard. I switched to 105s and wont play anything else.

[idResponse]

personally
ernie ball!
i've been using nothing but ernie ball after many unsuccessful attempts to use many other strings. the ernies just seem to last forever and retain a certain tone during the entire life of the string.
no i'm not being paid for this.

my old 'stage guitars' fender clone i used to use REALLY heavy strings, i think the orange pack slinkys, and those were all fine and good and such but it does tend to tire one out. nowadays on my g&l i've found i prefer playing the lightest gauge strings, the pink package. it seriously lets my left hand keep going for a lot longer and honestly it's all around easier to play. i used to play heavy heavy strings thinking it'd benefit me, make it easier to pick because the strings move less, i don't know.

i play pretty heavy on the light gauge strings. a lot of slapping and popping, a lot of picking, chords, and punky/metal riffs. they last a long time and begin with a really bright sparkle that dissipates into a general tone that retains the rest of the time and i've had strings on for months upon months at a time. i replace 'em when they finally break. (i'm poor!)

you don't need heavy strings to play heavy!

[ihassiphilus]

You don't need to go more than mediums unless you're downtuning.

[Jayhawk]

I too would recommend Ernie Ball for the heavier guage, but I like to mix my strings sets up a bit.

I put the B from the standard pack of Ernie Ball Slinkys on my 5er (35" scale Schecter), and then the Ernie Ball Power Slinkys E-A-D-G so my gauges from B to G are 130-110-90-75-55 ... I didn't like the feel of the jump from 130 (B) to 100 (E) in the standard EB 5er set. I use the E-A-D-G from the standard 5er set on my P because I play it with a pick quite a bit and like the lighter guage strings (100-80-65-45).

Sometimes I think I have too much time on my hands ....

[stflbn]

I had Power SLinkies on a Stingray 5 for quite a while until I finally got my string attack under control. Meatier sound, less clank. For me at least.

Now I no longer have the Stingray, only play light strings, and action on all my basses is brutally low without any clickityclankityclonk.

[thetawaves]

I used some ernie heavies on my bass for a while - sounded sweet as a nut in standard tuning...and could hold their own in a BEAD tuning you will probably have to mess around with your action a wee bit to get over fret buzz. Also, do be mindful of the effect it may have on your neck. Crazy tension changes and all!