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B-E-A-D on a P or . . . ?
- Thread starter howlin
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- carrots fender precision bass
My brother went BEAD on a Squire P back in the 90's Sounded good but rather floppy on the B. Probably had as much to do with the crappy neck as the 34" scale though.
Personally I have on interest in any B string that is less than 35" so that colors my opinion quite alot.
As for BEAD on a standard 34" P-bass I wouldn't do it, but it's your bass and if it has a sturdy neck there's not much reason not too. You can probably widen the nut yourself and it's not really a big charge to have a luthier install a new nut if you want to go back.
As for the issue of BEAD on a 4 string I'm actually working towards that myself. I'm having a 35" conversion neck made for my jazz bass and if I like it, I'll have my Carlo (basically a custom 4-94 with 35" scale) converted to BEAD. I love 4 strings and don't have any 5's anymore but I find myself missing the low B. At the same time I don't want to be without an EADG fretted 35" 4 string either.
Personally I have on interest in any B string that is less than 35" so that colors my opinion quite alot.
As for BEAD on a standard 34" P-bass I wouldn't do it, but it's your bass and if it has a sturdy neck there's not much reason not too. You can probably widen the nut yourself and it's not really a big charge to have a luthier install a new nut if you want to go back.
As for the issue of BEAD on a 4 string I'm actually working towards that myself. I'm having a 35" conversion neck made for my jazz bass and if I like it, I'll have my Carlo (basically a custom 4-94 with 35" scale) converted to BEAD. I love 4 strings and don't have any 5's anymore but I find myself missing the low B. At the same time I don't want to be without an EADG fretted 35" 4 string either.
Neck strength shouldn't be an issue. If you look at the string tension of a B string in a set which has overlap with a four string set of the same type the tension is pretty similar in total. If anything B strings tend to be a bit lower, so BEAD from most manufacturers is probably a little lower tension than EADG. D is often the taughtest string, though, so I suppose there is a very small chance of twisting, but I haven't heard many having an issue with it. I had a bass strung CGDA for a while with just a 5 string string for the C, and the others ADG from a four string set (I was young and not cautious) and I still have the bass and the neck is one of the best if not the best on any bass I have, so it didn't seem to get damaged by it. Swapping from EADG to CGDA on different basses was a struggle and I failed to go the whole hog to CGDA across the board.
Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Don't forget the good ol' G - D - A - D from top to bottom, with a thicker gauge on the D that is downtuned, with a hipshot on it so you get the low C or B as well! And learn how to play a tad differently on the lowest D-string, but it's just two semitones.
Actually don't do it, it's really confusing. Not as confusing as getting a fiver and stringing it from the bottom up C-G-D-A-E, where the two upper strings sounds like a guitar, but still.
Good luck with finding what suits you! BEAD is great, no audience ever wanted a G-string.
Actually don't do it, it's really confusing. Not as confusing as getting a fiver and stringing it from the bottom up C-G-D-A-E, where the two upper strings sounds like a guitar, but still.
Good luck with finding what suits you! BEAD is great, no audience ever wanted a G-string.
No reason you couldn't. I've seen lots of bands that tune low use P-basses.
Yeah, but replacing a nut is super cheap. I think of them as almost as disposable as strings. In fact, sometimes strings even cost more.
Indeed. For low BEAD tuning, you want pretty strong low mids and some high end.
I setup my P for BEAD, ended up tuning that up a half step for a band I was in. It was a rock/metal-ish band. Worked well for that, but in general I enjoy my 5 string much more for that. Everything else is a standard (maybe 1/2 step down) tuning or drop D. Just works better for me.
I completely disagree. I've heard plenty of people use P-basses, sometimes tuned down to low A sound punchy and awesome.
BEAD is less tension than EADG, as you are ditching the G in favor of a B, which is usually lower tension with most string manufacturers. So it's actually easier on the neck.
I have found that all that's needed for a good sounding low B is a good setup. I have three basses currently tuned to BEAD. Two are 34" scale, one is 33.25" scale.
It's your P-Bass, so do what you want/think you need to do. No reason why it shouldn't work fine on a P. Some people have intonation problems going BEAD (bridge's range is too limited), but a P-Bass' bridge should be OK. I tried it with this Kramer Lumie a couple of years ago, with heavy Warwick Black Labels and the stock nut. It was...OK, function-wise, and the sound was awesome. But, not awesome enough to mess up the left hand, pinned-in-place aluminum nut. It was hard enough to find the bass.. So, back to EADG it went. I tried it again on this LB-20 Carvin, with a new nut and the top 4 strings from a 5-string set of La Bella Black Tapes. The B string is playable, but a little more rubbery than I would like. And, to be honest, I don't really need a BEAD bass. Nothing I like to play needs/benefits from it, and I no longer have to play anything I don't want to, anyhow. So, it's going back to EADG soon. I do like the La Bella tapes, though...
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I should have been more clear. I meant the tension of the B string specifically. I think the neck itself just wasn't very stiff, exacerbating the tendancies of B strings to be floppy.
I put it back to EADG later and it still was tough to get a good setup on. I don't remember specifically, but it wouldn't surprise me if the E string was floppy too in either configuration. It wasn't a good bass. I think I ended up selling it to a guy for $30 or $40.
I've played regular scale basses with pretty good sounding B's, but I've generally found that 35" gives a tighter feeling B, which is almost as important to me as the sound, which also tends to be better. Also, I like the way the longer scale pulls the rest of the strings taut.
I should add as an asside that this is all helped by my long monkey arms so the extra reach is not an issue.
I use the E and B from the EXL175 set. Great strings. Usually my strings are 130, 100, 80, 60.
Ah, see, I don't like what 35" scale does to the other strings. Makes the A and D (and G, on five strings) too zingy.
My Peavey feels better in BEAD than it did in EADG. The Rickenbacker and Epiphone about the same. All have good low Bs.
I did BEAD with flats on a P and later used the same strings tuned BEAD on a J (see my avatar). For what ever reason, the J had more punch and presence than the P did..... almost seemed as if the B string was missing on the P Bass.
Now that I've gone back to EADG, the P is far more punchy than the J is...... so much more noticeable that the drummer commented on it, and you know when a drummer notices something, it must be significant.
Now that I've gone back to EADG, the P is far more punchy than the J is...... so much more noticeable that the drummer commented on it, and you know when a drummer notices something, it must be significant.
Yes swapped out the pre for an Aguilar. I left the stock pups ..sounds fantastic.
My Peavey Foundation 5 loves EXL170-5 string sets - I typically buy them in the twin packs, as they're pretty cheap that way...
Oh that crazy Bob Fripp! Does he actually have Tony Levin playing in cello tuning now?
Cello tuning...tried it for a little while before I ever got a 5...didn't like it...too used to EADG. Ended up not liking 5's, either, but grudgingly used one when I needed low notes. Never wanted to commit any of my 4's to BEAD, but as long as it's not your only bass, I see no reason to try it if you think it could work for you.
Nowadays when I need those low notes, I just set my EHX Pitch Fork to a 4th down and electronically retune. OK, so it's not identical to the sound of an actual string putting out those notes, but throw a little mild overdrive on it and it sounds pretty good
Nowadays when I need those low notes, I just set my EHX Pitch Fork to a 4th down and electronically retune. OK, so it's not identical to the sound of an actual string putting out those notes, but throw a little mild overdrive on it and it sounds pretty good
I use mostly 5 strings but on both my 4 strings (a cheapo' P/J kit build and an Epiphone Viola) I string BEAD. The low B on the 30.5" scale Viola is simply ridiculous. Still, with some sansamping and proper compression it becomes usable both for "acoustic" setting I (seldomly) use it or the pickstyle fast HC punk I mostly play. Now on the P/J kit thing it's better but in line with what you'd expect to have on any Fender 5er which, IME, is really poor (used to Stingray5s, love Fender tones too, but WAY prefer EBMM's construction, playability and low B). If I wanted to go BEAD seriously on a 4 string P or P/J I'd give an EBMM Caprice or Cutlass a try (in fact am waiting for the Caprice5, will probably be the ultimate Fender killer for me).
I have a bass with BEAD tuning. IMO you need a bridge pickup to get good definition out of the low notes. I wouldn't use a P for it.
