This is really urgent!

[Lunardecay]

I just bought my new bass, an Active GSR 200 Ibanez...
It has 22 frets.

My band plays in a killer low tuning (A E A D G F# B), and I tune my bass likewise.
Now, the strings it had on it when I first bought it buzzed, so I bought some DR Music LO Riders (45-105), and its still buzzing!
I dont know much about intonation, but I messed with it, and got my action pretty high, but then tapped notes fast 12th sounded more like "pats". My style/songs rely on tapping, slapping, finger and pick styles, so its important I can do all these with relative ease.
My old bass (a Cort Action-V) didnt buzz at all.
The Guitar Center dude told me these strings were the heaviest there is, so I dunno what to do.
My guitarist suggested some Dean Markley Skullbusters... low is 106... Im not sure if that one number would make a difference... I saw some Dean Markley Blue Steels where the low is 110. Would this really make much of a difference?
What should I do?!
Please tell me, as we have a gig coming up soon, and my old bass is broken.

[PilbaraBass]

look, if you're going to tune down that low...no standard 4 string set will work well.

use the 4 lowest strings from a 5 string set.

man, I'm so tired of ignorant folks working at music shops. didn't you tell him what you were tuning to?

[Lunardecay]

Yes I did.
I was like "Hey, can I get the HEAVIEST guaged strings you guys have?" and he handed me those.
So, just but a 5 string set and use the B, E, A, and D?
And tune down the B?
Would that warp my neck?
Should I get mediums instead of the heaviest then if Im gonna use a lower string set?

[spudmaster34]

you will have to do a setup when you change to the 4/5 strings, so it will "warp" your neck, but not permanantly. I use a 4 string set with an E thats .110 so I can guarentee that they do excist

[Kronos]

Originally Posted by Lunardecay

Yes I did.
I was like "Hey, can I get the HEAVIEST guaged strings you guys have?" and he handed me those.
So, just but a 5 string set and use the B, E, A, and D?
And tune down the B?
Would that warp my neck?
Should I get mediums instead of the heaviest then if Im gonna use a lower string set?

You'll definitely have to do that. I'd get the heaviest gauge 5 string set because you're tuning lower than what the 5 string set was made for. If you're looking to save money, go to www.juststrings.com. I believe you can get just the low B string from there, and just slide down your other strings.

But remember, you'll probably have to file out your nut so that the string fits, otherwise you'll have tuning problems and the strings will stick to the nut.

It won't warp your neck, though.

[Lunardecay]

Well I saw some Ghs Boomers (which I realised were the ones that I used on my 5'er.) where the E is .115 !
The others are about .5 higher than what I currently have.
Will this make a difference?

[diechris]

theres definately some 115's out there

http://cgi.ebay.com/ROTOSOUND-TRU-BA...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Set-of-Fender-4-...QQcmdZViewItem

...you might want to look into getting a 5 or 6 string soon hah

[EADG mx]

.105 is definetely not the highest gauge string there is. Jean Baudin uses a .200 for his C# string.

I second using a 5 string set, maybe with a heavy gauge B because you're downtuning it.

[dion mauer]

Originally Posted by Lunardecay

My band plays in a killer low tuning (A E A D G F# B), and I tune my bass likewise.

That's an interesting tuning. Low to high I assume. 7 string guitars? The pair of strings tuned G - F# has me intrigued. Is the octave to the G really just 1 fret and 1 string away? Or is the F# string a half step down from the G string?

[Roland777]

Originally Posted by EADG mx

.105 is definetely not the highest gauge string there is. Jean Baudin uses a .200 for his C# string.

Which in turn is ludicrously light for that tuning considering the rule of thumb that for every octave lower, you should double the gauge for the same tightness. The .200 would work fine for a suboctave E, but a low C#? Naaah...

[Poop-Loops]

Originally Posted by dion mauer

That's an interesting tuning. Low to high I assume. 7 string guitars? The pair of strings tuned G - F# has me intrigued. Is the octave to the G really just 1 fret and 1 string away? Or is the F# string a half step down from the G string?

I doubt you can tune a guitar string that high. Well, tune it AND play it. First time I changed guitar strings, I tuned the E up an entire octave by accident. But it snapped real close to it and I would not have been able to play.

[D-gar gets gnar]

Heh, I'm guilty of doing the same thing Poop-loops, heh... I imagine we're not the only ones.

[scourge]

I've strung BEAD before. Its no problem unless you have to drill out the bridge. Filing the nut isn't hard. I adjusted the intonation, but didn't do a setup. Everything worked fine.

Schecter used to sell a 4-string BEAD set for their Scorpion bass. I don't know if they still sell them or not.

[Lunardecay]

Oops! My bad, forget the G string, its just a normal 6 String guitar.
The only thing Im worried about filing wise is ruining it.
Also, Im not a real expert on intonation, so Im not sure how I'd go about that.
I was thinking about the Ghs Boomers, but Im not sure if they'd rattle anyways due to shorter scale.

[moro]

Originally Posted by Lunardecay

Also, Im not a real expert on intonation, so Im not sure how I'd go about that.

Setting your intonation is really easy:

http://www.fender.com/support/setup/basssetup.php

In a nutshell:
1) Tune your bass.
2) Check the 12th fret harmonic against the 12th fret fretted note.
3) If the fretted note is sharp, move the saddle away from the neck. If it's flat, move it toward the neck.
4) Go back to 1)

[Lunardecay]

Thank you!
But how would I set that for use with a B string?
Curved like a U or a n < Exagerated, but I think you know what I mean?
EDIT: Nevermind, I didnt see what you wrote after the link, lol.

[EADG mx]

Originally Posted by Roland777

Which in turn is ludicrously light for that tuning considering the rule of thumb that for every octave lower, you should double the gauge for the same tightness. The .200 would work fine for a suboctave E, but a low C#? Naaah...

It works for Jean, Jaquo III-X, Stew McKinsey, Gary Goodman... At least I think they all use about a .200. I don't think there is a heavier string than that.

As for the doubling rule, it's a theory but physics are a tricky thing. They don't always work out as planned. Consider Jean is using a multi-scale neck. The scale is longest on his C# string which allows him to use a lower gauge.

Look at Piccolo bass sets, they aren't all exactly half of bass standard gauge. http://store.juststrings.net/dad-exl170-8.html

According to your theory every octave D and G string on an 8 string set should be .022.5 and .032.5. Why is this set .018 and .028 then?

http://store.juststrings.net/dad-exl170-12.html

Look at this set, all of the octave strings are less than half of the regular gauge.


It's a rule of thumb for a reason, there are exceptions.

[JAUQO III-X]

Originally Posted by Roland777

The .200 would work fine for a suboctave E, but a low C#? Naaah...

That's not true at all.
The largest gauge I've worked with has been .201 but because of core material not being up to part and me honestly feeling(from my share of personal research) that the best Low C# gauge(for bass guitar) is less than .200,I've chose to keep it at around .185-.195,because that is the area that I've found the clearest and most articulated open Low C#(17Hz)note to be.almost like a good Low B string in response. on my Subcontra Basses I use a .195 Low C# string.

SIT is the only string company that I have yet to hear(besides the original Low C# strings that were made for me by Dean Markley)that has really nailed it and come close to my vision.I've had the chance to check out other Low C# strings made by a few other companies and the first thing they do is simply unravel and because they unravel so easily that is the first indicator for me that the core is of poor material and construction and the wrappings around the core lack a certain level of vacuumed tightness and the proper method of wrapping a string so thick.