Help with piccolo bass

[wRaith]

Hi guys,

I play a lot of solo bass and am interested in exploring the idea of stringing my Schecter 6 Studio with piccolo strings.

The bass is 35" scale, B-C. Will I have trouble setting it up as a piccolo?

Also, I can't find piccolo bass strings in Australia (what exactly should I be looking for?), so can someone give me an idea of the gauges I should look at ordering as singles?

I guess I'm also looking for someone to explain the idea of a piccolo bass to me (tunings, technique, adjustments etc.) I'm assuming truss adjustments and a new nut, anything else?

While I don't know a lot about piccolo setup, I do know that I've heard it and I love it.

Hopefully this is in the right board too.

Thanks guys.

[Opas]

I use a piccolo a lot. If you go to my myspace you can hear how I employ a 4-string piccolo. All the "guitar" parts are piccolo bass (standard tuning). All you need to do is get a new nut and readjust your neck. I am using GHS boomer piccolo strings. Hope this helps.

[wRaith]

What gauge are the strings?

[Elrend]

I dont think there are piccolo strings for 6-bangers, then again i dont know everything

[Opas]

I do believe these are the ones I use. sorry - its the best i can do at the moment!

http://www.juststrings.com/ghs-p3045.html

[wRaith]

I meant the gauge of the 4 string sets. From there, I should be able to work out some gauges to try for the low B and high C. Trick thing will be finding strings of the correct gauge with a long enough scale length.

Found some D'Addario for four string: .052, .042, .032, .020

[Jazz Ad]

Strings tend to be extremelly tensed on piccolo.
35" doesn't make it the ideal candidate since it's just going to make it even more trouble.

[wRaith]

Ah..

Maybe better going 4 string piccolo on my EB0 short scale?

[EADG mx]

You the right gauges that will not break and will give you the tension you want. That won't be easy for a 35" scale 6 string.

Check out juststrings.com and conklinguitars.com

You might be able to get away with using a few guitar strings. I have a Studio 5 tuned EADGC and I use a D'addario .028 for the C.

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by wRaith

Maybe better going 4 string piccolo on my EB0 short scale?

My old college roommate had a Gibson EB-0 converted to a piccolo bass. Unfortunately, the sonic qualities that make an EB-0 what it is (regardless of whether you like them or hate them) don't seem to lend themselves to piccolo tuning. It didn't sound awful, it just sounded...boring.

[Turnaround]

Originally Posted by wRaith

Ah..

Maybe better going 4 string piccolo on my EB0 short scale?

A short-scale bass like an EB0 would make a far better piccolo than at 35" bass, IMHO. If you don't like the sound of the EBO, you can change the wiring/electronics and change the sound a lot. I put a switch in mine that sent the output of the pickups to the jack, bypassing even the volume control. I liked the way it opened up the sound, but YMMV.

[lug]

Originally Posted by Turnaround

A short-scale bass like an EB0 would make a far better piccolo than at 35" bass, IMHO. If you don't like the sound of the EBO, you can change the wiring/electronics and change the sound a lot. I put a switch in mine that sent the output of the pickups to the jack, bypassing even the volume control. I liked the way it opened up the sound, but YMMV.

I have an EBO that I piccoloed. I hated that bass for 30 years until I piccoloed it, now it's replaced my guitard. It does just the opposite of what it did as a bass....sustain for days.

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by Turnaround

A short-scale bass like an EB0 would make a far better piccolo than at 35" bass, IMHO. If you don't like the sound of the EBO, you can change the wiring/electronics and change the sound a lot. I put a switch in mine that sent the output of the pickups to the jack, bypassing even the volume control. I liked the way it opened up the sound, but YMMV.

Ironically, my roommate had done exactly that: The only thing that remained stock from the original Gibson EB-0 was the neck, body, & tuning machines. Pickup became a DiMarzio Model One, bridge became a Leo Quan BadAss I, nut became a custom brass job reslotted for piccolo strings, and custom electronics that went straight from the pickup to an 5-pin XLR jack; a splitter box on the other end of his custom wiring harness allowed him to take the signal direct from the pickup into an amp or DI, or route it into the signal path of choice & then have it come back into the bass so that he could still control his post preamp/post FX output level from the volume control on the bass.

And yet...boring.

[lug]

Originally Posted by Hoover

Ironically, my roommate had done exactly that: The only thing that remained stock from the original Gibson EB-0 was the neck, body, & tuning machines. Pickup became a DiMarzio Model One, bridge became a Leo Quan BadAss I, nut became a custom brass job reslotted for piccolo strings, and custom electronics that went straight from the pickup to an 5-pin XLR jack; a splitter box on the other end of his custom wiring harness allowed him to take the signal direct from the pickup into an amp or DI, or route it into the signal path of choice & then have it come back into the bass so that he could still control his post preamp/post FX output level from the volume control on the bass.

And yet...boring.

An EBO witha Model One and BadAss I bridge you say? That dude must be smart AND good looking!
Mine:

[Opas]

A DiMarzio Model One works great for piccolo. Its what I use on mine.