.110 E String - Unhealthy?

I use a .110 string for standard tuning and drop D. Works great for me on 34" scale.

 

The recommendation of thicker strings for lower tunings is based primarily on string tension. You can use either size string (.110 & .105) for standard or drop D tuning and shouldn't have a problem going back and forth. A short scale tends to be lighter tension anyway so I'd probably go with the thicker strings if it were my bass. Any significant change in string sizes may well require a neck adjustment and some bridge tweaks to set it up to your liking. I hope this helps

 

Pure nickel half-rounds (D'A) vs. pure nickel roundwound (GHS) - the difference between the two in tone wouldn't be night-and-day.

Or, if you want to stick with half-rounds, you can try the GHS Brite Flats (Alloy 52 half-rounds), which come in "short scale" 49-62-84-108.

 

Have you ever played a 065 ("high") D on a 34" scale? Did you find it tolerable? Well, you could use a 130 tuned to low E on your Mustang and not (or barely) reach the same tension of that D; a 110 E on a 30" scale bass has about the same tension as a 100 on a 34" instrument; a 105 tuned to low D on a shortie is, well, quite low-tension (about the same as a short-scale 90 E, or a long-scale 80~85 E). Which is not to say one can't get used to, or even like that. It really is a matter of trying things and finding out what works best for you.

Above comparisons as per the Stringjoy string tension calculator:
Stringjoy Guitar String Tension Calculator

 

D'A Half-Rounds Short Scale:

G 045 - 38.6 lbs.
D 065 - 38.1
A 080 - 32.0
E 100 - 30.1 (138.8)

GHS Balanced Nickels Short Scale:

G 044 - 37.0 lbs.
D 060 - 35.8
A 080 - 35.6
E 106 - 34.9 (143.3)

D 106 - 27.7 lbs.

The GHS BNs are actually only 4.5 lbs. more than the D'A HRs in total tension only because of a larger E, which you do want.

 

I think both tunings will work great with that gauge on a shorty. File out the nut slot, cause that's enough difference to crack the nut.

 

I have a bass with a Hipshot D-tuner. That is exactly what I do: 110 or 115 instead of a 105. Tension varies as the square of the mass, which on an E string differing only 5 or 10 thou is pretty small, bordering on negligible.

 

I use .50 - .105 strings. On everything

 

Years ago on my first bass, a $100 used Jay Turser, purchased with orange, furry strings and a pick guard that was so warped it touched the strings, I ended up running 5 string sets minus the G. E was .130". I filed the nut and made accommodation with the truss rod. The sustain was great. Tone was great. It felt like playing train tracks, which strangely enough, I liked. About 200 gigs (a year and a half) later, the neck started to bucket unevenly around the 7th and the G string broke twice at a 90 minute wedding gig. I went back to my Ernie Ball's at $14/set and played it for another year before finally upgrading. After a few years on a Gould GGi-5, I don't look back, but I do fondly remember those train tracks. They were smooth.

 

Never tried it with a pick. I don't touch that stuff.

 

Oh, gosh, I wasn't suggesting you use a 130 as an E on your Mustang! (I mean, you could, but it comes with its own potential drawbacks regarding fretting and picking feel, as you pointed out, as well as inharmonicity - chorusy tone, due to stiffness - past a certain fret. One puts up with them on a fiver or a four-string tuned BEAD, if extended range is needed, and some may accept the tradeoffs if in need of high tension - not super-high, as we've seen - and other benefits, as @Discount Bassy said, on a short-scale bass, but there definitely is no free lunch here as anywhere in life.)
It was just meant to reassure you as to the tension you'd get out of the 110, i.e. nothing outside of the ordinary.