Talk me into Piccolo strings

[insomniac2295]

They´ve always intrigued me.
I think that they would be fun! Talk me ino them.

What are the pros and cons of piccolo strings?

[bassteban]

Pros: Can be tuned quite high, giving you guitar/violin-like range; great conversation starter.
Cons: Sometimes hard to find; cannot be used in typical bass range(IMO).
Talk you into it: Get a set or I'll lose all feigned respect for you.

Seriously, setting a bass up this way is a great way to work in a different register yet still feel comfortable w/the overall feel of the instrument. This is assuming that you, like me, play bass 99% of the time.
I'd like to have a spare 6er(Ibanez SR, ideally)tuned guitar-style(EADGBE)for wankage.

[insomniac2295]

i think it would be a sweet setup for me because i play in a 3 piece and end up playing basicly as a 2nd guitarist with lots of chords and stuff like that.
what are some good piccolo string brands?

[JustDavid]

Pro; when guitards get into some dipshit hyper-dropped tuning that's darn near EADG bass, you can then let THEM play bass & steal the guitar solo!!

[insomniac2295]

i have a 120 watt tube power amp that doesn't exactly cut it all the time. it's ment to be used with guitar. if i used piccolo strings, would i be louder since i'd be up an octave?

[Major Rajor]

Originally Posted by insomniac2295

i have a 120 watt tube power amp that doesn't exactly cut it all the time. it's ment to be used with guitar. if i used piccolo strings, would i be louder since i'd be up an octave?

I wouldn't think that it would be louder, but I would think that it would be easier to hear because it's higher, if that makes sense.

[insomniac2295]

yeah that makes sense. haha its kind of actually what i was asking(well thinking in my head when i asked the question)

[insomniac2295]

what would be a good 5 string set of piccolo strings for drop c tuning(c-g-c-f-b-flat)? im not really familiar with these string gauges.

[fretlessguy]

I do not think that you'll have a problem me doing that.
If you do go that route, then get you a really good octaver. When you want to go back to regular bass frequencies and actually play bass instead of chord work or soloing, you do not have to switch basses so often.

[insomniac2295]

Originally Posted by fretlessguy

I do not think that you'll have a problem me doing that.
If you do go that route, then get you a really good octaver. When you want to go back to regular bass frequencies and actually play bass instead of chord work or soloing, you do not have to switch basses so often.

i was thinking of doing that. what would be a good octaver that doesnt really color the tone very much? i dont want it to sound too fake and synthy.

[fretlessguy]

Stanley Clark does that with his piccolo. He uses an EBS, I believe. Their stuff is quite expensive (you do get what you pay for). If not, check out the Boss/DOD stuff, which has always been workable for myself.
Believe it or not, one of the best octavers I ever heard was on a cheap Zoom Bfx 708! Go figure!

[bassteban]

I haven't played a lot of octave pedals, but the one in my B2.1u tracks nicely & goes pretty silly low. On topic, I believe I used Ken Smith strings when I went all twangie.

[Number27]

i once bought a set .... waste of money. you wanna play near middle c? buy a guitar