String Gauge for drop C# tuning.

Mr.Pennybottom · #1 10-10-2010, 10:11 AM

I wants to buy me some of them fancy D'Addario Half Round strings. What Gauge would be best? I have 55 75 90 110 on my practise bass, which is tuned down one step, but my new band want to play in drop C# (even though I'm not a fan of dropped tuning myself), but I want to have as light a Gauge as possible, as I want a more "twangy" sound... If that makes sense... But I don't want my strings to be "loose"

The available Gauges are:
50 70 85 105
45 65 80 100
40 60 75 95

ixlramp · #2 10-10-2010, 02:36 PM

The D'Addario site shows they do a 55 75 90 110 set too. Also a 130 single.

So yeah start with a light 110 for C#. A 130 would be tight.

Umm... a tension balanced set would be... (applies method)...

Gb 40
Db 55
Ab 75
C# 110

That's the heavy set without the 90, plus a 40. Cool.

Now, to check my method of choosing gauges, here are the tensions for half rounds using the D'Addario tension chart pdf.

Gb 40 32.4 lbf
Db 55 33.4 lbf
Ab 75 33.4 lbf
C# 110 31.6 lbf

Looks good to me, 33 pounds is a light tension without being overly loose.