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PICCOLO Bass. Is it just REALLY light strings on just about any bass?

jbasedig

jbasedig

I'm unique, like everyone else.
Jul 8, 2015
497
606
Tucker, Georgia
#1
PICCOLO Bass. Is it just REALLY light strings on just about any bass? I bought a box of various strings, EBs TI's and ... some piccolo strings. So I have strings, but no dedicated piccolo bass. Is that a thing? DO the pickups need to be... uh... different? ( I don't know much about electronics. I hate changing strings, especially unnecessarily, but I AM curious, could I put them on , say ,my petite MM Sterling H ?. I imagine, the nut and bridge slots will need ... well, something. Haven't thought of piccolo bass since Stanley Clarke and Foley in the 80's. I would mostly play chords, and lines and not slap( cause I cant').
What say ye TB'rs any experiences to share with piccolo bass?
 
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#2
jbasedig said:
PICCOLO Bass. Is it just REALLY light strings on just about any bass? I bought a box of various strings, EBs TI's and ... some piccolo strings. So I have strings, but no dedicated piccolo bass. Is that a thing? DO the pickups need to be... uh... different? ( I don't know much about electronics. I hate changing strings, especially unnecessarily, but I AM curious, could I put them on , say ,my petite MM Sterling H ?. I imagine, the nut and bridge slots will need ... well, something. Haven't thought of piccolo bass since Stanley Clarke and Foley in the 80's. I would mostly play chords, and lines and not slap( cause I cant').
What say ye TB'rs any experiences to share with piccolo bass?
Click to expand...
Piccolo Bass strings are bass strings especially made to be tuned an octave higher. They are not and have never been 'just simply lighter' bass strings.
And ANY bass can be a Piccolo Bass.
Piccolo bass - Wikipedia
32" Dean Performer Radiant ABG

32" Dean Stylus Hollowbody

32" Dean Performer

34" Peavey BQuad bass

Piccolo Bass 20P-50 4 String Set
Link Removed
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Platinum Piccolo 5 string bass – Newtone Strings
Invalid Link Removed

The nut and some times the bridge usually have to be replaced or modified.
 
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#4
Killing Floor said:
I've been known to play a 25.5" scale piccolo that's tuned 1 octave higher than a Bass VI.
Click to expand...
Lets see it.

25.5" is guitar scale. They would be guitar strings.
  • 25.5″ (648mm) most Fender, Ibanez, Jackson, Kramer, Schecter, Squier, and Steinberger models
The point is any bass can be a Piccolo bass.

A Bass VI, which is 30" scale can be a Piccolo Bass if you can find the right short scale Piccolo Bass strings for it.

A 6 String Contra Bass (BEADGC or EADGCF#) can also be a Piccolo Bass if you can find the right strings for it.

A 5 string bass BEADG or EADGC can also...but 35" Piccolo Bass strings may be hard to find.

I don't think anybody makes multi scale Piccolo Bass strings for Dingwall yet?
 
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#5
B-Mac said:
Lets see it.

25.5" is guitar scale. They would be guitar strings.
Click to expand...
6 string bass VI tuned 1 octave high, 25.5" scale.
upload_2023-2-6_22-27-13.jpeg
 
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#7
Killing Floor said:
6 string bass VI tuned 1 octave high, 25.5" scale.
View attachment 4961117
Click to expand...
IC wut U did thr
_____
jbasedig said:
PICCOLO Bass. Is it just REALLY light strings on just about any bass?
Click to expand...

Yes.
What makes you think it shouldn't be the case? Literally take a bass and swap strings -> instant piccolo.

A piccolo string set is just guitar strings, single wrap, only with bass ball ends and wound longer. Actually, normal guitar strings can be themselves long enough to go on a bass, even a long scale one. In the latter case it depends on
- whether the guitar string manufacturer makes them about 38" long (some do, some don't)
- if tuners at the headstock are in 2x2 arrangement (as opposed to inline)
- if strings can be toploaded at the bridge (or they have to be strung through the body).
If you do decide to not bother with piccolo sets and instead try guitar strings, you may have to thread them through stoppers of some kind (like old bass ball ends) in order to install them on a bass bridge.

Gaugewise, get them with diameters about half of what you use for standard tuning.
(One linear inch of a 050 string is a cylinder 1/4 the volume of a linear inch of a 100 string; assuming, for simplicity, that the internal construction is the same, the above means the former also has 1/4 the mass of the other; this, in turn, means they will have the same tension, when tuned an octave apart.)

You may find you prefer a short scale bass as a piccolo platform (less tension and easier to do chord shapes therefore more comfort overall);
then again, you may not (I'd expect a long-scaler piccolo with high-tension strings through a woofer+tweeter cabinet to be more distinctly different from a guitar, tonewise).


This is pretty much all there is to know about it.
 
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#10
HaphAsSard said:
IC wut U did thr
_____


Yes.
What makes you think it shouldn't be the case? Literally take a bass and swap strings -> instant piccolo.

A piccolo string set is just guitar strings, single wrap, only with bass ball ends and wound longer. Actually, normal guitar strings can be themselves long enough to go on a bass, even a long scale one. In the latter case it depends on
- whether the guitar string manufacturer makes them about 38" long (some do, some don't)
- if tuners at the headstock are in 2x2 arrangement (as opposed to inline)
- if strings can be toploaded at the bridge (or they have to be strung through the body).
If you do decide to not bother with piccolo sets and instead try guitar strings, you may have to thread them through stoppers of some kind (like old bass ball ends) in order to install them on a bass bridge.

Gaugewise, get them with diameters about half of what you use for standard tuning.
(One linear inch of a 050 string is a cylinder 1/4 the volume of a linear inch of a 100 string; assuming, for simplicity, that the internal construction is the same, the above means the former also has 1/4 the mass of the other; this, in turn, means they will have the same tension, when tuned an octave apart.)

You may find you prefer a short scale bass as a piccolo platform (less tension and easier to do chord shapes therefore more comfort overall);
then again, you may not (I'd expect a long-scaler piccolo with high-tension strings through a woofer+tweeter cabinet to be more distinctly different from a guitar, tonewise).


This is pretty much all there is to know about it.
Click to expand...
VERY. COOL. Thanks for your thoughtful response.
 
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#12
B-Mac said:
Piccolo Bass strings are bass strings especially made to be tuned an octave higher. They are not and have never been 'just simply lighter' bass strings.
And ANY bass can be a Piccolo Bass.
Piccolo bass - Wikipedia
32" Dean Performer Radiant ABG

32" Dean Stylus Hollowbody

32" Dean Performer

34" Peavey BQuad bass

Piccolo Bass 20P-50 4 String Set
Link Removed
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Platinum Piccolo 5 string bass – Newtone Strings
Invalid Link Removed

The nut and some times the bridge usually have to be replaced.
Click to expand...

This is Awesome. I need to cross this thread with the "Does anyone like ABG" Thread
 
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#15
I've turned a number of my standard-tuned basses into piccolo-tuned, without much modification at all. The only problem I've found is that the piccolo tuning sounds kind of thin and metallic to my ears. Maybe if I had spent more time EQing the bass or used some effects, but I would usually take off the piccolo strings within a week.

I always think it's a good idea, but then I look at the piccolo bass and think, "man, I miss playing this bass like a bass." And then I put the old strings back on. ;)

I had a six-string Skjold that was 33" scale that I tuned in an expanded piccolo tuning, E-A-D-G-C-F, which was basically like a guitar tuned in fourths. It was interesting...
 
#16
Ric5 said:
for me rather than string a bass ADGC I would get a 6 string BEADGC

or if you like high strings on a bass get an 8 string
Click to expand...

For chords and melody work, I've been thinking about stringing a 4 string short scale bass ADGC but tune it a whole step up, to end up BEAD but an octave up.
Is this a crazy idea??
 
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