Can I tune Ibanez Mikro one octave higher?

[cagincet]

Thanks very much for the detailed replies guys, I appreciate it very much. You helped me learn a vast amount of info with only a thread

I live in Turkey, and guess what, nobody has piccolo bass strings in stock.

I bought the Mikro now. By the way, do you have any knowledge about the brands of guitar strings to put on it? Will every string work with a scale length of 28.6"?

 

[lug]

Thanks very much for the detailed replies guys, I appreciate it very much. You helped me learn a vast amount of info with only a thread

I live in Turkey, and guess what, nobody has piccolo bass strings in stock.

I bought the Mikro now. By the way, do you have any knowledge about the brands of guitar strings to put on it? Will every string work with a scale length of 28.6"?

I put a set of normal Ernie Ball guitar strings on my 30" scale EBO (can't remember the gauge)....plenty of wrapped string for that purpose. The G string is unwound. Next time I replace them, I'll probably try to find a set with a wound G.

 

[ZenG]

This is what I said above. Without a picture. I have installed these on two very short instruments and they work fine, with no rattles at the nut or anything. Plus they feel like bass strings, except for that naughty G string, which is unwound steel.

I even had a custom G string made that was wound (not straight steel), and it kept breaking. Eventually the manufacturer told me the tension was too high for a wound, G-string. So, to this day, I cringe whenever I have to play that high G string in a recording session. The tone is drastically different from the E, A, and D strings. I am working on using a separate pickup for that nasty G string with its own EQ. To make matters more complicated, I am using an ESP BB-5, which is short scale 5-string bass (yeah, that's right -- very uncommon). So, I also have a high C string that also sticks out like a sore thumb, sonically, to deal with.

Good luck. I think it's great you are trying to turn the bass into a melodic instrument. I front a band with a piccolo bass and the musicians seem to really like it. Check out music by Wyman Tisdale, Stanley Clarke, Julian Vaughn and the Braxton Brothers for upbeat music on the piccolo bass.

People have suggested guitar strings. The reason I don't like using guitar strings is I want a heavier string that allows me to pluck with my fingers, like a regular bass. I don't want a piccolo bass that just sounds like a guitar. It needs that kind of plunky sound to be piccolo, and I need to be able to really dig in when I play it without the rebellion you get from lighter strings.

I am still perusing Piccolo strings for my Mikro. Some suggested guitar strings so I looked at those online.

I noticed that a lot of sets say GW for the G-string, which I'm guessing means "wound".

In the world of electric guitar there has been much written about the unwound guitar G-string, going back to George Harrison of The Beatles and even further.

I'll guess I'll go with the Mikro because of the 2+2 headstock. More string choices it seems than Jag SS or Bronco. (inline 4). I have all three basses.

I didn't think that an actual Piccolo string set for bass would be an unwound G.

Someone suggested La Bella Black Tape guitar strings. I'm thinking on those the G would be less problematic.....?

Someone suggested D'addario guitar Chromes. Not a fan at all of Chromes for bass so don't know if I'll like guitar Chromes. But the G on those would be less problem as well...?

The video below is where I want to go soundwise basically on The Mikro (+ processor)

What strings would these be?

 

[12BitSlab]

I am still perusing Piccolo strings for my Mikro. Some suggested guitar strings so I looked at those online.

I noticed that a lot of sets say GW for the G-string, which I'm guessing means "wound".

In the world of electric guitar there has been much written about the unwound guitar G-string, going back to George Harrison of The Beatles and even further.

I'll guess I'll go with the Mikro because of the 2+2 headstock. More string choices it seems than Jag SS or Bronco. (inline 4). I have all three basses.

I didn't think that an actual Piccolo string set for bass would be an unwound G.

Someone suggested La Bella Black Tape guitar strings. I'm thinking on those the G would be less problematic.....?

Someone suggested D'addario guitar Chromes. Not a fan at all of Chromes for bass so don't know if I'll like guitar Chromes. But the G on those would be less problem as well...?

The video below is where I want to go soundwise basically on The Mikro (+ processor)

What strings would these be?

Nice sound!

 

[ZenG]

I'm still no further ahead.

Roundwound guitar strings have more finger noise. La Bella's black tape Piccolos won't fit an electric-sized guitar they say on their site. So probably won't fit Mikro.

D'addario Piccolo strings have real high tension ( 173lbs+)....... Can a Mikro take that?

Then there's the unwound G-string thing if using generic guitar strings.

Might try GHS Boomer Piccolos. If the long string overwrap isn't an issue.

This is getting depressing.

Always the damn caveats and hoops you have to jump through.

 

[el_Bajo_Verde]

I'm still no further ahead.

Roundwound guitar strings have more finger noise. La Bella's black tape Piccolos won't fit an electric-sized guitar they say on their site. So probably won't fit Mikro.

D'addario Piccolo strings have real high tension ( 173lbs+)....... Can a Mikro take that?

Then there's the unwound G-string thing if using generic guitar strings.

Might try GHS Boomer Piccolos. If the long string overwrap isn't an issue.

This is getting depressing.

Always the damn caveats and hoops you have to jump through.

You should go with the Kaliums as suggested earlier. 59 43 31 22 if you want between 38-40 lbs of tension

 

[ZenG]

You should go with the Kaliums as suggested earlier. 59 43 31 22 if you want between 38-40 lbs of tension

O.K...I'll look those up..

 

[lz4005]

Roundwound guitar strings have more finger noise.
D'addario Piccolo strings have real high tension ( 173lbs+)....... Can a Mikro take that?

Finger noise is a technique issue. You can make it not happen.

Stop giving yourself option paralysis. Spend $5 on a set of guitar strings with a .050 or .060 low E and try it.

 

[ZenG]

Finger noise is a technique issue. You can make it not happen.

Stop giving yourself option paralysis. Spend $5 on a set of guitar strings with a .050 or .060 low E and try it.

LOL! "Option paralysis".. I get that just about every time I buy anything..

well..I should able to find a cheap set of guitar strings as you described at my local mom and popper here...

 

[lz4005]

LOL! "Option paralysis".. I get that just about every time I buy anything..

well..I should able to find a cheap set of guitar strings as you described at my local mom and popper here...

Excellent. Support a local business and try something cool. Nothing better.

If you can get close to half the thickness of the strings that are on there now you may not even need to touch the truss rod.

 

[cagincet]

I got the Mikro now at my hands. It is surprisingly good, especially for the price. The build quality is very nice. No neck pocket gap, truss rod functioning properly, no neck issues, fretwork is nice, no buzzing or dead spots after setting up the neck and fully lowering the saddles. Action might be a little better, but it is fine. I couldn't hook it up to an amp, so I don't have an opinion but probably the electronics are not so good. But since it has a string spacing of 19 mm, I can upgrade it with good pickups if needed. Highly recommended for young people, piccolo enthusiasts, and experimenters. I'm sure it will sound very nice with an octaver and other effects as a synth, after tuning up.

I found a baritone set (EXL158) and a 7 string guitar set (EXL110-7). The first 4 strings are wound on both sets. I used all the tension calculators I found, including D'addario's own, but all gave me different results. Since baritone's thickest string was .62, I was inclined to buy them. But I read reviews saying that baritone strings are for shorter length guitars, so I did not buy them. I bought the 7 string set (.59 .46 .36 .26). All of them are wound as I said. The last three will be dump. I will get the strings tomorrow, let's see how they will sound and feel.

Thank you for the quick and detailed answers, information, brainstorming and everything. Love U.

 

[drblooze]

I got the Mikro now at my hands. It is surprisingly good, especially for the price. The build quality is very nice. No neck pocket gap, truss rod functioning properly, no neck issues, fretwork is nice, no buzzing or dead spots after setting up the neck and fully lowering the saddles. Action might be a little better, but it is fine. I couldn't hook it up to an amp, so I don't have an opinion but probably the electronics are not so good. But since it has a string spacing of 19 mm, I can upgrade it with good pickups if needed. Highly recommended for young people, piccolo enthusiasts, and experimenters. I'm sure it will sound very nice with an octaver and other effects as a synth, after tuning up.

I found a baritone set (EXL158) and a 7 string guitar set (EXL110-7). The first 4 strings are wound on both sets. I used all the tension calculators I found, including D'addario's own, but all gave me different results. Since baritone's thickest string was .62, I was inclined to buy them. But I read reviews saying that baritone strings are for shorter length guitars, so I did not buy them. I bought the 7 string set (.59 .46 .36 .26). All of them are wound as I said. The last three will be dump. I will get the strings tomorrow, let's see how they will sound and feel.

Thank you for the quick and detailed answers, information, brainstorming and everything. Love U.

How did that work out for ya?

 

[cagincet]

How did that work out for ya?

I sold the bass a while ago. Strung with baritone guitar strings, low frequencies were not prominent enough for me. I would rather go with a shorter scale, but regular thickness strings. And the feel did not suit me either.