6 String Hybrid Piccolo Setup?

[ixlramp]

rhett, i've heard over and over again on the ERB forums that the Conklin GT7s are amazing quality for the money. Octave-up BEADGCF is roughly the highest possible tuning on 34", you will need a special .007 from Octave 4 Plus for the F. With normal plain strings G#C#F#BEAD is roughly the highest tuning on 34" using a .008 for D.

 

[ixlramp]

So if I put these new strings on and tune like you said I should have the right tension that the guys described, right?

Ah ... so you're after an octave-up EADG set with the low and gradually falling tension we discussed? The EXL280 piccolo set you bought, when tuned to octave-up EADG will have similar tension to a standard bass set tuned to standard EADG, the tension will be quite high and also unbalanced having the middle strings tighter than the outer strings.

So here's my suggestion, much looser than the EXL280 set:
G .014p 20.1 pounds tension
D .020p 23.0
A .032 27.5 (or .030)
E .045 30.3
p = plain steel string

You'll need to buy single strings, there is no set like this available, here's a good place to [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. For the top 2 you can use plain steel guitar strings if you can find ones long enough (D'Aquisto and Rotosound are) they are also cheap. Detach some old bass ball-ends from old bass strings and thread them onto the guitar strings, slide them up against the ball-end, this makes the ball end large enough to fit a bass bridge. I guess you could also use some sort of washer from a hardware shop.

Here's another good place to buy single strings, they sell plain steel bass strings too Link Removed