Need advice on a good 5 string set that could tune down to Eb and.....

[armybass]

still give me close to the same response as a set tuned to pitch.

My guitarist tunes down to Eb to make it easier on his voice because we play a lot. I tune my bass down to Eb too because we do a lot of requests and tunes on the fly that I have never played before and I have to watch his left hand to get the chord changes. I did not want to tune down but it was just too confusing to look at his left hand and transpose down a half step and try to sing harmony all at the same time.

Anyway, my biggest complaint is that on the rare occasion I have to slap on a tune...I do not get the same kind of response from the strings even tuned down a half step....still a little floppy. I usually stray away from heavier gauge/higher tension string.... but me thinks I need a set like that now

[Darkstrike]

What strings do you use now?

Moving up a guage should do the trick, say from 105's to 110's.

[mmbongo]

I'm in the same boat!

DR Sunbeams 40-100 are my normal go-to string, so I just dedicated one of my basses to be tuned down and put 45-105 Sunbeams on it. Works great! Sunbeams are a lower tension string anyway, so even if you need to tune them back up they are still lower tension than most other strings.

[armybass]

I use Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys 45 to 130. That is a good idea, I don't have any problem with the 130 B but the 100 E is pretty flimsy.

[armybass]

Yeah, I really like Sunbeams a lot! I will see if I can find a heavier gauge 5 string set.

[mmbongo]

Originally Posted by armybass

Yeah, I really like Sunbeams a lot! I will see if I can find a heavier gauge 5 string set.

BAM!
Buy DR Sunbeam Electric Bass Strings from Bass Strings Online.

You can even put together your own custom gauged set there!

[Ds1]

Or even DR DDT strings! Made specifically for drop tuning.

[LowerCrust]

Originally Posted by Ds1

Or even DR DDT strings! Made specifically for drop tuning.

My DDTs absolutely destroy when tuned down, and I've only got the medium gauge set

However, I bumbled hard when cutting the E and A strings and I fear it's done something to the tone, so that set is staying on my beater bass in order to preserve my stoke.. No hi-fi reviews here

[SLaPiNFuNK]

SO you want to tune Bb Eb Ab Db Gb ?

The heavies 5 string sunbeams set should handle that just fine .045 - .130

If you want something a little less "floppy" but want the tone of the sunbeams, maybe step over to the Nickel Lo-Riders. The hex-core will tighten them up a bit... You can even try mix and matching .130 .105 Nickel Lo-Riders and .085 .065 .045 sunbeams if you like the feel of tighter lower strings better.

DDT's would handle the half step drop as well, can do it with the 45-105 set with a .130 low-b added. The .125 B should do it as well, but sounds like you want a little more responsiveness out of the B.

If you wanted to experiment with some other brands, there are ones where you can put together a set .050 .070 .090 .110 .140 and be pretty solid too, but they arent going to be sunbeams or a nickel dr string...

[armybass]

Thanks for all the input folks. I will definitely be grabbing some DR's today. I have always been a DR guy but have been putting Slinky's on just because I have been getting them in bulk. But I love DR's. Thanks again for all the input.