5 strings on a 4 strings bass

[stefffbasss]

I would like to have your opinion about having B,E,A,D strings on a four strings bass. The reason why i want to try that is because i have an OLP five strings but there is a problem with the electronics and i have no sound at all coming out of the bass. I have check the input and it sounds like a cable problem in the input. Also it's a bit difficult to go to a luthier because of the Covid 19 situation. The question i have before making the switch of the string is : Does it take a bigger neck? I have a jazz bass the neck is thin so i d'ont no if the B string will be too big for that kind of bass.

 

[Aidil]

FWIW, many low-B strings have lower tension than G strings. So, changing from EADG to BEAD is actually easier to the bass neck (given the same EAD strings are used).

 

[beatdatthang]

If you want to string a 4 string BEAD, you’ll probably have to file the nut slots to fit the larger strings. If you don’t know how to do this, there are videos but you may have to then replace the nut to go back to EADG.

Other than a setup (truss rod, action, maybe intonation) it won’t adversely affect your neck to go BEAD.

You might just want to do some research on fixing the issue with your electronics. Either way, it’s gonna cost you time/money and you’ll have 2 working basses instead of a quick fix to get a low B on a 4 string and a busted bass.

 

[subdude67]

It is common to string a 4 string bass BEAD. The only potential change you have to consider is to make the slots in the nut bigger to accomodate the larger diameters of the strings.

 

[Volker Kirstein]

I would like to have your opinion about having B,E,A,D strings on a four strings bass. ....

I restrung a Stingray clone as BEAD. It was easy, and I enjoy the end results thouroughly.

On the technical side, it's easy peasy. All that was needed was filing the nut slots* (the strings are fatter), and doing a setup** (one does this every time one changes strings anyway).

* I recommend getting/filing a new nut, and keeping the old one - in case you want to change back.

** BEAD strings, in general, have lower overall tension than EADG, so your neck will probably have a slight backbow after restringing to BEAD.

That being said, chances are that your OLP 5er issue is easilly dealt with. It may be someting as simple as a wire disconnected from the jack, or from a pot. It sounds like you're not comfortable opening up your control panel, but looking to see if a wire is disconnected would require no real expertise: something like that should be glaringly obvious.

Resoldering a disconnected lead is also easy peasy. However, if you've never done any soldering before, it can be daunting. You can practice on scrap wire. Or perhaps one of your bandmates/buddies knows how to solder.

If it's not a disconnected wire, it gets more tricky.

 

[A9X]

^^ I agree with Volker, it should be an easy fix. Open the cover and take some photos and it might be obvious to the brains trust here what's wrong.
If you need to solder, an iron is cheap (I and others can give advice on what + solder) and there are lots of great tutorials on YT. Try to fix it before you mod it.

 

[Ostie]

Do you have a multi meter? If you do it should be fairly easy to diagnose the problem. We can probably walk you through it here on TB.

 

[shwabilly]

As far as your OLP 5'er. At the risk of sounding too simplistic, if that bass has active electronics, did you happen to check/ replace the battery?

 

[burgerdj]

You’ll need to adjust the truss rod and possibly the nut. Other than that, no worries. Check out strings made for dropped tuning so you don’t waste a string - DR DDTs come to mind.

 

[mikeswals]

Fix the bass you have!
Remove the guard and see if its a broken wire.

 

[Bass Blender]

I’ve done this on 2 basses I’ve had in the past. Lately, I’m considering going to BEAD on my Les Paul bass. I just can’t make up my mind! I currently have flats on there in standard tuning & I really like the way it sounds right now. There are times though that I would really like to have that B string to use.

 

[Ric5]

Try DGCF with a 105 set

 

[Ric5]

if you really want 5 strings on a 4 string bass then have a look here >>> 4 to 5 bass conversion (3dentourage.com)

or here >>> 4 to 5 bass conversion (3dentourage.com)

 

[makdub]

I changed my main bass to BEAD. I can get by on 90-95% of songs with no issue. Filed the nut, adjusted the truss rod, and adjusted the intonation.