Upright strings on a fretless/acoustic?

[Woodpecker]

Has anyone ever tried to put upright bass strings on a fretless and/or acoustic bass? How would that work out, fair or a total disaster? The attachment of the strings is of course a chapter of it's own, but as they say "If there is a will, there's a way". Just brainstorming about what would a acoustic fretless sound like with upright strings on it... Maybe worth a test... :-)

[Buskman]

Originally Posted by Woodpecker

Has anyone ever tried to put upright bass strings on a fretless and/or acoustic bass? How would that work out, fair or a total disaster? The attachment of the strings is of course a chapter of it's own, but as they say "If there is a will, there's a way". Just brainstorming about what would a acoustic fretless sound like with upright strings on it... Maybe worth a test... :-)

Crazy talk.

First off, an upright's scale length is 41"... you'd have four 'wet noodles' on your (34" or 35" scale) bass & wouldn't even be able to get it up to pitch.

Second, you'd be paying about 5X as much for upright strings as opposed to electric strings.

You should just buy some flatwounds & call it a day!

[Bassman316]

Originally Posted by Buskman

First off, an upright's scale length is 41"... you'd have four 'wet noodles' on your (34" or 35" scale) bass & wouldn't even be able to get it up to pitch.

+1

Funny that you ask this question because for a second I wondered to myself whether or not this would work, but then I immediately thought of acoustic bass strings and their 41" scale length compared to a bass guitar's 34" or 35" scale. I'm willing to bet it would be completely unplayable because the strings would be so floppy.

[Maladroit1]

Originally Posted by Buskman

Crazy talk.

First off, an upright's scale length is 41"... you'd have four 'wet noodles' on your (34" or 35" scale) bass & wouldn't even be able to get it up to pitch.

Second, you'd be paying about 5X as much for upright strings as opposed to electric strings.

You should just buy some flatwounds & call it a day!

This is absolutely correct. Get some Flats or possibly tapewounds if you are trying to get closer to that upright sound.

[Jumbotron]

Yep. The main reason not to try is price. No way you want to shell out for upright strings if you don't have to.

[Pilgrim]

You'd have to burder your bridge to mount strings at those diameters.

I agree with others, good old flats are the best option.

[Bassman316]

I've always been a bit skeptical to put flats on an acoustic BG because in my experience, when I throw some flats on one of my electric basses, it seems to get pretty tight when I'm tuning them up. I'd still like to try it though.... see how it sounds. Does it sound any more upright-like than with regular roundwounds?

[DistantTremor]

For tension, you simply have to break the strings in by playing on them for a while after you first put them on. My flats were terribly tight on my fretless when I first put them on, but they are very comfortable to me now.