Will it hurt if I take the B string off my 5'er?

aLLard · #1 12-12-2011, 05:45 AM

Sup guys, kinda wanna try something out as my Tbird is..somewhere, so I'm pretty much back to playing my Ibanez GSR205 again, but this has kinda become my "screw-around" bass, craved alotta shyyt and quotes into it, but never tinkered around with anything that I thought could influence the sound of it. Actually I never did anything to my basses besides playing them for that matter. Too inexperienced and scared I'm gonna screw something over :P Anyway, since I don't use the B string and it's really kinda in my way, I'm just wondering if it's gonna affect the pickups or the sound in anyway if I take it off? Thanks

gricko · #2 12-12-2011, 05:50 AM

pickups and sound - not much [if any] but neck will suffer. because of different tension, you would need to readjust truss rod.

Rage1331 · #3 12-12-2011, 05:51 AM

Well for starters, the tension on your neck will be different.

TNCreature · #4 12-12-2011, 08:07 AM

best bet- sell it and buy a 4

Bassplayer222 · #5 12-12-2011, 04:32 PM

Idk if this would maintain healthy tension, but instead of simply taking off the B, what if you strung it EADG(LowB) with a replaced nut. That way the B doesn't really get in your way, you don't risk damage(I think?), and even if it seems like it'd be useless, you may find cool uses

grisezd · #6 12-12-2011, 06:27 PM

Take off the B and it's tuner and saddle (so they won't rattle) and play it. If the strings buzz on the frets after you take the B off adjust (loosen) the tension rod a half turn or so and let it sit overnight. Repeat as necessary. Nothing magic about it. Have fun. You can't hurt it any worse than you've already done by carving on it, right?

hdracer · #7 12-12-2011, 06:36 PM

Why do you want to take off the best thumb rest ever invented?

E-At · #8 12-12-2011, 06:49 PM

I don't think that a low B string produces any significant tension, I believe that the high strings are the ones with the tension and stuff so...

Bass-aholic · #9 12-12-2011, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grisezd

Take off the B and it's tuner and saddle (so they won't rattle) and play it. If the strings buzz on the frets after you take the B off adjust (loosen) the tension rod a half turn or so and let it sit overnight. Repeat as necessary. Nothing magic about it. Have fun. You can't hurt it any worse than you've already done by carving on it, right?

I agree. If it already has that much "character" I would assume you don't keep it in a case, maybe on a stand either way as long as you aren't in the humidity of the deep south or play like Les Claypool I am thinking you are ok. Especially for a ****-around bass.

darkstorm · #10 12-12-2011, 09:38 PM

Your bass will be sad, cause it wants five strings on it. lol. Have you concidered replacing low B with high C or high B string? Some prefer that setup. I prefer high B same as on guitar. Makes more sense for chords and such and since I play guitar to, well, theres that similarity for tuning and fingering etc. Lol.

Journey55 · #11 12-12-2011, 09:44 PM

I remember one famous bassist (idr the name now...) who took a fiver neck for use with a four string....you could do that but you'd probably need to swap the pickups, bridge, and nut

xepher2792 · #12 12-13-2011, 07:53 AM

Chris Wolstenholme (the bassist for muse) does that to gain the extra spacing.
I don't know if you would need to replace the pickups but their sounds might change a bit.
Might be cool to get the single string bridges so you can set your spacing farther than you could on a four string bridge and utilize the whole five string neck