short brite flat equivalent, in custom gauge

[kozmikyak]

As my avatar shows, I play electric cello. (I play the _role_ of bass in my bands.)

I use a GHS short brite flat on my electric cello, for the low F string. It works better than strings designed for the instrument, and is just the right length if one trims off an inch of silk from the top of the string.

I'm wondering if anyone knows a good candidate for the following:

* Same scale as the GHS short brite flats
* Larger than .108, likely somewhere in the range of .130 or slightly higher

Availability of something in the realm of .100-.108 would be nice too. Ability to order singles, or at least just a bulk set of the one string rather than a packaged set, would be nice.

Reason being that I'm putting together a second electric cello in octave cello tuning, with magnetic pickups on it, solely for plucking (no arco). Yes, it will be floppy, but logic also says that the .108 that I have on there as a low F string will inevitably be floppy, yet it manages to work fine.

No need to get a whole set of strings like this, because I can use a regular light gauge cello set for the upper 3 strings and a short brite flat for the next one.

[kozmikyak]

I should have posted in the existing thread I just found, it involved crimping a lug onto a long-scale string and cutting off the portion below the lug.

Mostly wondering if anything's changed lately on the market.

[kozmikyak]

Found my own answer, here's someone who will make custom flatwounds:

octave4plus

[SLaPiNFuNK]

GHS does offer "Brite Flats" in singles... however, for "Short Scale" you are limited to the 4 gauges they make. So that really is not helpful in creating a "custom set"

Can you get away with using a longer scale string? How small in diameter are the tuning posts?

[FunkMetalBass]

Originally Posted by kozmikyak

Found my own answer, here's someone who will make custom flatwounds:

octave4plus

Last time I checked the website, custom sets weren't available, but you should definitely email them and see. I'd love to be wrong, and I've been hoping for a source of flatwound singles in a multitude of gauges.

[Marton]

By low F, you mean a 7th below a standard bass guitar ? You just don't know how floppy the string will be. And about 99% of bass cabinets on the market won't handle that note anyway.

Standard cello but one octave lower (CGDA) would be much more usable, with a standard B string from a 5 string set.

[kozmikyak]

No, F as in a half step above the low E of a 4-string bass guitar. Not at all floppy either.