Double Bass Can I leave my strings in fifths tuning indefinitely?

[Persona87]

I have a set of daddario helicore medium subs on my upright, and I decided to retune it cdga as an experiment. I really like it so far, but the tension is really unbalanced. Can this cause damage to the bass over the long term? Can the G string pop if it's tuned up a whole step for a while?

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Maybe, and maybe. I had a Helicore pop while I was tuning it to pitch. Why not switch to a fifths set?

 

[Persona87]

I want to give it a little more time before I invest in a $240 set of strings. I probably will some day soon, but I can't really afford it right now.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

So you'd rather risk damaging a $120 set of strings at least, and the health of your bass at worst, rather than pony up $4 for a monthlong supporting membership and post a wanted ad for a fifths set?

OK.

 

[misterbadger]

Tension's unbalanced? That's gotta set some kind of record for understatement!

 

[Persona87]

So you'd rather risk damaging a $120 set of strings at least, and the health of your bass at worst, rather than pony up $4 for a monthlong supporting membership and post a wanted ad for a fifths set?

OK.

There's a reason that I asked. If someone had said "yes, it's likely that the string will pop and/or the top will crack from the extra pressure," then I would retune it back to standard until I could afford a set of fifths strings.

I'm living on a pretty tight budget right now. As in, I have $50 to last the rest of the month and I need to put gas in my car. I have three guitars on CL right now because I don't use them enough and I could use the cash. If I can get away with it, that's what I would rather do for the time being.

You shouldn't assume you understand someone else's situation after reading a couple of paragraphs.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

You shouldn't assume that no one else has ever been broke because, well, whatever your logic. And that catastrophic possibility is precisely what I warned you about.

Retune your bass appropriately. If you want a fifths set you can afford on your budget, ask me, and I'll find one. No need to be huffy about it.

 

[Reiska]

Hi, tune them CGDG until you can afford a fifths tuning set, which will be Spiro Red Mitchell mittels. This way you get very close to the real thing without killing your current G string and can safely wander between different tunings. Spiro RM`s are great in that they can be taken a lot on and off the bass and the low strings are the best ones available anyway. If you`re anything like me you`ll go thru a perioid where things might change pretty often, this is why you need durable sets in 5ths and 4ths. If you settle in 5ths and are pirimarily a pizz player your fingerboard needs to be redressed and bass set up to 5ths tuning. You need air between that fat C string and the fingerboard to get a strong pizz sound for low F and F#.

 

[Ikonoklast]

Hi Reiska,

Could you give more details about appropriate set up for 5ths tuning.
Particularly regarding string heights.

I'm curious.

Thanks

 

[Reiska]

Sir, you are propably far more deeper in all of this than I am. I`ll PM you and we`ll share the results in this thread later on?

R

 

[SVT4001]

Respectfully,

Why not consider changing out the G string for the A from a solo tuning set? Contact Mark Gollihur, I'm sure he'll be able to help you find an affordable single string.

Joe