Will I snap my Neck?

[Mr.Pennybottom]

If I try to stick some Rotosound Dropzone RS66LH+ (VERY heavy Gauge strings: 85 105 135 175), and then try to tune my bass to standard tuning will I destroy it?

[Chopper]

yes

[ehque]

0.175 to E?

If your neck doesn't break, your strings will.

[Mr.Pennybottom]

I thought as much... How much do you think I would have to drop the tuning to avoid this? The strings are made for F# tuning, but I don't want to go quite that low, and I want to avoid snapping my neck, as the idea of having splinters in my face is a turn off...

[TheEmptyCell]

I'd say 110 or 115 is the heaviest you should go for E standard on a 34" scale bass.

[nealw]

Why?

[Bardley]

Why would you ever want to use strings of that size for regular tuning?

[Mr.Pennybottom]

It's just an experiment to be honest... Sort of a "Dragon Ball Z train at 100x Gravity" thing... My theory is that the heavier the Gauge that I have on my Practise bass the quicker and more accurate I'll be when I play on my Main bass, which has Medium Gauge strings... I've actually noticed a difference after practising on strings with a Gauge of: 55 75 90 110.

Although I now realise that I wouldn't need to tune up to standard to get the same benefit... :S

[ehque]

You could always raise your action a few inches. That's sure to put the hair on your chest, as well as cause permanent finger ligament damage.

[wshines1892]

You'd have to have balls of brass to do that my friend. I use a .130 to tune down to a C on my fifths bassand I wouldn't even think of tuning it to E. I'm not sure if it would snap your neck or simply fold your bass in half

[Flounder102Bass]

i will say go for Daddario flatwrounds man and they last long. by the way you dont want to put that heavy of string on your bass.

[mongo2]

Originally Posted by Mr.Pennybottom

If I try to stick some Rotosound Dropzone RS66LH+ (VERY heavy Gauge strings: 85 105 135 175), and then try to tune my bass to standard tuning will I destroy it?

Enjoy modding the nut to fit those strings.

[Mr.Pennybottom]

Ah! I didn't even think about my nut! :P Ah, innuendo.... I love you so...

[Pilgrim]

Just because something may be possible doesn't always mean it's a good idea.

I'd recommend that you pass on that experiment.

[Mr.Pennybottom]

Yeah, it's probably not a good idea, but I've bought the strings already, so I'll just tune them to F#, like they're supposed to be, until I get bored of them, and once that happens I'll buy a new Nut, and turn the top string into a bracelet for my wife...

[SuperTbass]

So, I am a personal trainer that has heard a lot about 'sport specific' training and this seems like a logical extension of that. Do something that mimics what you want to be better at, but make it more difficult. However, the whole idea seems to me a lot like assuming that you will become a better basketball player by practicing with a medicine ball. You will perhaps become stronger, but not in any way that would transfer over that to which you are trying to become better. If anything, you will simply become accustomed to the new strings and metaphorically throw the basketball over the hoop when you go back to it, thus ruining your skill. If the idea is merely to make your hands stronger, Ironmind.com has a lot of great grip tools. If you want to get faster, practice more.

Raising the action may work as might playing heavier strings, however, my concern would be that you might end up losing your touch.

[FunkMetalBass]

That's unecessary. You will invariably do some damage to the neck. A .175 string at A# is over 10 lbs more tension than any of your other strings, and it likely wont stand up to much more than that.

Raise your action a hair and get some heavier gauge strings (around .115 is probably about as heavy as you should go for a typical E-string).

[Mr.Pennybottom]

Originally Posted by SuperTbass

So, I am a personal trainer that has heard a lot about 'sport specific' training and this seems like a logical extension of that. Do something that mimics what you want to be better at, but make it more difficult. However, the whole idea seems to me a lot like assuming that you will become a better basketball player by practicing with a medicine ball. You will perhaps become stronger, but not in any way that would transfer over that to which you are trying to become better. If anything, you will simply become accustomed to the new strings and metaphorically throw the basketball over the hoop when you go back to it, thus ruining your skill. If the idea is merely to make your hands stronger, Ironmind.com has a lot of great grip tools. If you want to get faster, practice more.

Raising the action may work as might playing heavier strings, however, my concern would be that you might end up losing your touch.

Good Point! I've invested in one of these instead:

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/produc...-varigrip.html

It won't help with stretching my fingers from fret 1-4, but it will strengthen my fingers a bit, and it's got some sort of "Callus builder", which will help me a lot, as I have not played bass properly in over 2 years, and I'm trying to get back into it. (It's also a lot more portable than a bass with thick ass strings)

[ixlramp]

Tuning the 85 105 135 175 set up 1 semitone from F#BEA will still have less tension than that insanely tight and unbalanced 55 75 90 110 set