What would happen if i put a D string on in place of a G, and tuned it up to G? Too much tension on the top and or just the string?
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Double Bass D instead of G
- Thread starter Meddle771
- Start date
Maybe the reverse would work in a pinch . You break your d string , how I don't know so you put an old G string in its place. I don't play or have a String Bass anymore, if that's what you're talking about....The strings are meant to be used as is and anything else does not work. Drop tuning on the electric bass works but on an Upright I would not do it. 
Maybe the reverse would work in a pinch . You break your d string , how I don't know so you put an old G string in its place. I don't play or have a String Bass anymore, if that's what you're talking about....The strings are meant to be used as is and anything else does not work. Drop tuning on the electric bass works but on an Upright I would not do it.
A lot of modern stuff on the double bass use different kinds of drop tuning by the way.
The the OP, I would never tune a string more than a step higher.
Open string pitch varies with the square root of the string tension. For every semitone you want to raise the open string pitch, you have to increase the tension by 12.2%.
In your case, you want to raise the open string pitch by a perfect fourth -- 5 semitones -- so the tension will go up by 78%. If the string tension tuned to D was, say, 60 lbs, the tension to get it to G would be 107 lbs. WAY too high, the string would probably break or otherwise be damaged.
In your case, you want to raise the open string pitch by a perfect fourth -- 5 semitones -- so the tension will go up by 78%. If the string tension tuned to D was, say, 60 lbs, the tension to get it to G would be 107 lbs. WAY too high, the string would probably break or otherwise be damaged.
