35'' Scale Bass - What Strings

[Gjallarhorn]

Hello!

I tired to read through the FAQ + Rules but it's really hard for me, as a newbie, to make it all clear.

Short story: I want to advance my bass-playing, so in the future (6-12 months) I will probably upgrade my equipment. Currently I am playing a Jumpstart kit from Ibanez, where I use a 4-strings bass and a 15W Bass amplifier.

Since I play a lot of Metal where songs tuned to B, I have to tune my 4-string from E-tuning to B-tuning, which requires me to tune all the strings back and forth.

The electric bass I am looking into is an 5 string bass, ESP LTD F-105 BK with a 35'' scale. I have read about the differences about a 34'' scale and a 35'' scale but I am still not sure if I have got it right.

34'' scale = Darker sound, most of the time spaghetti B-string and easier to play notes with
35'' scale = Brighter sound, more tight B-string but harder to play notes with

Correct me if I am wrong!

Now to the point!
What strings are good to use for a 5-string bass with a 35'' scale? I have been searching around a lot on forums but I need more detailed and specified information.

Play-style: Finger

I don't know what else to bring up, I read some on the FAQ between stainless steel and nickel, and his experience was that stainless steel was a pain for your fingers.

If there's something I've missed to point out, just tell me!

I appreciate all answers,
Gjallarhorn

 

[AngelCrusher]

D'Addario steels - super long scale.

Those are the ones being used on some major metal releases right now.

The steels will not be a huge pain for the fingers. If that is a concern, go nickel, but steels really work great for recording metal.

 

[Jeff Roller]

Circle K strings.

 

[tranceFusion]

Personally, I would ignore all that stuff you just wrote and get a bass that you like the look, feel and sound of. If you haven't been playing long enough to have a list of complaints and compliments for your current bass, it's going to be hard to find something that will guarantee to be an improvement in the long run.

Also, there's no reason you can't "advance your bass-playing" with the equipment you've got.

Now I'll answer your questions more specifically since you will probably ignore my above advice .

Fret spacing - The difference in between frets is fairly miniscule on 34" vs 35". Moving from a 4 to a 5 will be a MUCH bigger adjustment than changing the scale. I wouldn't use this to make a decision.

Flabby B - 35" have more tension. Everything else being equal, there's a 6% increase in tension on a 35". That doesn't mean flabby 35"'s don't exist or taut 34"'s don't exist. Play the bass and see if you like it. There's plenty of 34"s like G&L's and the new Fenders that have very usable B strings. Also, sometimes a little bit of flab could be desirable, it gives more differentiation in tonal quality of the same note played on different strings.

Tone - Again like the rest of this stuff, the difference in tone on scale is going to be dwarfed by the type of strings you put on the instrument, the type of pickups, and the amp. Any generalizations about tone related to scale are probably far more attributable to the fact that the 35" scale instruments are much more likely to be a newer, modern style of instrument, where bright, zingy pickups are popular, while the 34" instruments tend to be more traditional instruments with darker, passive pickups.

So again, I would just keep playing what you have, figure out what you love and hate about it, and then take your time to find something used here on the TB classifieds so that if you hate it you can re-sell it without losing a fortune. Or, spend plenty of time at your local shop test driving to make sure you get the right bass.

 

[walldaja]

I've been looking for strings for a 35" bass recently and was surprised by how few offering there were. That being said, I still like the scale and I use D'Addario Prosteels.

I first avoided 34" basses until I actually got my first five-string. After playing just 35" basses I tried a 34". Actually I was quite pleased with it despite my initial prejudice against the scale. I have two 34" fives and one 35" six. I don't notice any problem switching between them. I typically play from the fifth fret up and rarely play any open notes--the difference between the frets as you get higher up the neck is not much of a factor (IMO).

 

[Immigrant]

Personally, I would ignore all that stuff you just wrote and get a bass that you like the look, feel and sound of. If you haven't been playing long enough to have a list of complaints and compliments for your current bass, it's going to be hard to find something that will guarantee to be an improvement in the long run.

Also, there's no reason you can't "advance your bass-playing" with the equipment you've got.

Now I'll answer your questions more specifically since you will probably ignore my above advice .

Fret spacing - The difference in between frets is fairly miniscule on 34" vs 35". Moving from a 4 to a 5 will be a MUCH bigger adjustment than changing the scale. I wouldn't use this to make a decision.

Flabby B - 35" have more tension. Everything else being equal, there's a 6% increase in tension on a 35". That doesn't mean flabby 35"'s don't exist or taut 34"'s don't exist. Play the bass and see if you like it. There's plenty of 34"s like G&L's and the new Fenders that have very usable B strings. Also, sometimes a little bit of flab could be desirable, it gives more differentiation in tonal quality of the same note played on different strings.

Tone - Again like the rest of this stuff, the difference in tone on scale is going to be dwarfed by the type of strings you put on the instrument, the type of pickups, and the amp. Any generalizations about tone related to scale are probably far more attributable to the fact that the 35" scale instruments are much more likely to be a newer, modern style of instrument, where bright, zingy pickups are popular, while the 34" instruments tend to be more traditional instruments with darker, passive pickups.

So again, I would just keep playing what you have, figure out what you love and hate about it, and then take your time to find something used here on the TB classifieds so that if you hate it you can re-sell it without losing a fortune. Or, spend plenty of time at your local shop test driving to make sure you get the right bass.

Yes.

 

[mmbongo]

Now to the point!
What strings are good to use for a 5-string bass with a 35'' scale? I have been searching around a lot on forums but I need more detailed and specified information.


Gjallarhorn

That's a hard question to answer because it's so vague. It's kind of like asking "What kind of tires do I get for my car". The answer is...the ones that fit and deliver what you're looking for.

Find out the winding length you need by measuring your existing strings from just beyond the nut to the ball end, then look here to see which ones fit:
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Then figure out whether you want flats or rounds....steel or nickel...halfwound or pressurewound...by the type of sound you want.

From there, the experimentation begins!

 

[darkstorm]

The only diff Ive found between 34 and 35 scale is slightly tighter feel to strings and just maybe slightly tighter tone. Marginal tone diff if any. 35 mainly give slight but useful improivement to low B tone for budget basses imo. The esp ltd F105 is a nice bass and a big improvement over your starter pack bass. However Id suggest save up a little bit more and get the 155DX instead. That gives 3band instead of 2band eq (there midrange control is nice imo) along with slightly more agressive tone which I think is combination of the 3band eq and maple top. Both have basswood body which is nice choice for resonance and growly mids etc imo.

String wise I used same rotosound swing66 and dr neons on my 4 string version that I used on 34 scale basses with no problem. So long as you use top load isntead of thru body stringing if you use the DR's. I find no advantage to string thru over top load for qaulity bridges like the esp ltds have. Imo you get more advantage from 35 scale then you do from 34 scale done thru body. I did try thru body with my 4 string esp ltd 154dex and switched back to top load. Strings felt little stiffer with thru body but no noticeable tone diff. So top load made more sense to me.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Hello again!

Thanks for all the replies, I have read them all back and forth and I have now decided what to do.

tranceFusion, I have not ignore what you said, actually, I will do as you recommended.

There is no problem with the bass I have at the moment, except that I really would like a 5-stringed bass so I don't have to tune it from EADG to BEAD 4 times within 30 minutes when practising.

What I really need is a new bass amplifier, that's all!

Though, all the other replies have not gone wasted, I will eventually buy a 5-stringed bass and I will check this thread for the recommendations from all of you, when it comes to strings and bass.

Thanks everyone!