D Standard Club (DGCF)

[Ringhammer]

Someone tell me about these Black Beauties. I see they are “coated”. I’m normally not a fan of coated strings, but I’m interested in these for setting up a bass in E-flat/drop D-flat. Does the coating make these less bright and go rapidly dead sounding?

Are these also tapered at the ball end? I’m also not necessarily a fan of that, but what is the advantage of the taper?

 

[michael_t]

Are these also tapered at the ball end? I’m also not necessarily a fan of that, but what is the advantage of the taper?

The 50-110 set comes in two versions - "heavy" and "taper heavy". Only the E and the A in "taper heavy" are tapered.

 

[Thundar]

Someone tell me about these Black Beauties. I see they are “coated”. I’m normally not a fan of coated strings, but I’m interested in these for setting up a bass in E-flat/drop D-flat. Does the coating make these less bright and go rapidly dead sounding?

Are these also tapered at the ball end? I’m also not necessarily a fan of that, but what is the advantage of the taper?

I use mine for DGCF and they work great. I don't notice them going dead faster and they are still pretty bright string for sure. I do like that they are not quite as harsh regular rounds. Another black coated set I like even better is the Rotosound Nexus, but they are about $10 more a set.

 

[RodRy]

Someone tell me about these Black Beauties. I see they are “coated”. I’m normally not a fan of coated strings, but I’m interested in these for setting up a bass in E-flat/drop D-flat. Does the coating make these less bright and go rapidly dead sounding?

Are these also tapered at the ball end? I’m also not necessarily a fan of that, but what is the advantage of the taper?

I have a light set of Black Beauties on the bass I call Blackie. They start out not quite as bright as a normal stainless steel string, and then just stayed there. Couple years on, and they still sound pleasantly bright and nearly identical to new. Granted, my practice sessions on that bass are few and far between these days, but I've got no complaints on the sound of these strings.


Only caveat I have is that they seem just a tiny bit quieter than other strings, but that may be something with my setup.

Surprise bonus is that the coating makes them easier to bend a note on than metal exterior strings. Surprising because I did not notice the same effect with nylon tapewounds.

 

[Ringhammer]

Got a set of Black Beauties for my Eb tuned bass (50-110), and love them. Just the right amount of brightness. Gonna try some 45-105 on one of my E tuned fretless next!

 

[W_R]

Congrats on the success. I just bumped up a string on my DGCF to some DR PB’s 50/70/90/120 that I have on-hand, from the DR LR’s 45/65/85/110 I had been using. The feel is more consistent with my main standard tuned bass with 40/60/80/105, which is what I was trying for at the moment. These strings are new, still settling in terms of zingy-ness, the set up of the bass, EQ etc. I’m curious about the larger gauge for some LR, and maybe some DDT but I’ll look into that at a later time when I buy more strings.

 

[MirandM]

Got a set of Black Beauties for my Eb tuned bass (50-110), and love them. Just the right amount of brightness. Gonna try some 45-105 on one of my E tuned fretless next!

You should try the 50-110 on the fretless in DGCF, reaaaallyyyy rocks!

 

[MirandM]

...Surprise bonus is that the coating makes them easier to bend a note on than metal exterior strings. Surprising because I did not notice the same effect with nylon tapewounds.

Not really surprising, because the tape makes the string just a little stiffer, which is why I prefer tapes (you know I adore Magma's) for fretless instead of flats, tapes have better zing and are close to stiffness of flats.

 

[Ringhammer]

Has anybody set up a short scale bass in D standard?
Since normally a short scale feels like looser tension when using standard (105-45) strings, would you want to do 115-55?
Do they make that gauge set in SS?

 

[michael_t]

Has anybody set up a short scale bass in D standard?
Since normally a short scale feels like looser tension when using standard (105-45) strings, would you want to do 115-55?
Do they make that gauge set in SS?

I don't play a short scale myself, but this post made me curious enough to play with the Stringjoy Tension Calculator, which is a handy tool for putting together custom sets in any tuning for any scale. Stringjoy specializes in "nickel-plated steel roundwound on a hex core".

Here are a couple of ideas I've come up with...

 

[MirandM]

Now let me see, I have a Gypsy Rose 30" short scale, which as all of my basses are, is in DGCF, but I didn't change the strings, most probably because of what you said they were probably 45-105. Since these are shorter they generally tend to be less floppy so that's likely the reason why I didn't change them, 45-105 is reasonably usable for DGCF, it depends a bit on the construction of the string, if it's stainless hex then most likely it'll do perfectly.
Short scales make for faster playing style so a bit less tension is a benefit to have the same output. I prefer thicker strings on long or extra long scale to go really booming low. Well that's my experience, others may differ of course.

Btw, @michael_t you forgot to include the "standard" EADG tensions for 30", they come up to 136 lbs total, which is much closer to the somewhat lower tension on DGCF with 45-105. I wouldn't do 55-125 because the tension goes up a lot and that would definitely affect the truss rod.

 

[2strings2frets]

Has anyone tried D G C F on a Mikro? If so with what strings? I thinking small kids might find bass easier by being able to play two frets closer to the guitar body.

 

[MirandM]

Has anyone tried D G C F on a Mikro? If so with what strings? I thinking small kids might find bass easier by being able to play two frets closer to the guitar body.

good question, and nope no micro here.

 

[2strings2frets]

I pulled out my Micro and tuned it to D G C F with EXL220s strings on it. It sounded ok except that above the seventh fret on the E string the notes sounded dead with no sustain. I don’t want to shoot in the dark, any string suggestions; anyone? Thank you

 

[MirandM]

I pulled out my Micro and tuned it to D G C F with EXL220s strings on it. It sounded ok except that above the seventh fret on the E string the notes sounded dead with no sustain. I don’t want to shoot in the dark, any string suggestions; anyone? Thank you

you mean D string right? 40-95 I suppose?

 

[Ringhammer]

I pulled out my Micro and tuned it to D G C F with EXL220s strings on it. It sounded ok except that above the seventh fret on the E string the notes sounded dead with no sustain. I don’t want to shoot in the dark, any string suggestions; anyone? Thank you

I see LaBella makes a SS set of Stainless Steel Flats, .49-.109. That might be good.

I have a ‘73 Fender Mustang neck that is on a Warmoth SS Jazz body, currently being put together and I also have a 2021 Fender American Mustang neck the will be mated to a Warmoth SS P-Bass body (I just do not like the look of the Mustang body). So I’ll have a baby Jazz and a baby P. One of these two will be set for D-Standard tuning. I like the idea of the LaBella flats for one of these, but I think the band that I would use the one set to D-Standard should have rounds. So I’m curious, is there an easy place to see all the short scale offerings available?

 

[MirandM]

I see LaBella makes a SS set of Stainless Steel Flats, .49-.109. That might be good.

I have a ‘73 Fender Mustang neck that is on a Warmoth SS Jazz body, currently being put together and I also have a 2021 Fender American Mustang neck the will be mated to a Warmoth SS P-Bass body (I just do not like the look of the Mustang body). So I’ll have a baby Jazz and a baby P. One of these two will be set for D-Standard tuning. I like the idea of the LaBella flats for one of these, but I think the band that I would use the one set to D-Standard should have rounds. So I’m curious, is there an easy place to see all the short scale offerings available?

Yeah, I was about to suggest stainless too.

 

[michael_t]

I pulled out my Micro and tuned it to D G C F with EXL220s strings on it. It sounded ok except that above the seventh fret on the E string the notes sounded dead with no sustain. I don’t want to shoot in the dark, any string suggestions; anyone?

GHS Balanced Nickels Short Scale, 44-60-80-106.

Here's a comparison in tension figures between the EXL220S (EADG) and the BN (DGCF)...

D'Addario EXL220S in EADG:

G 040 - 25.24 lbs.
D 060 - 31.81
A 075 - 27.57
E 095 - 24.65 (Total 109.27)

GHS Balanced Nickels Short Scale in DGCF:

F 044 - 29.4 lbs.
C 060 - 28.4
G 080 - 28.3
D 106 - 27.7 (Total 113.8)

The Balanced Nickels (pure nickel roundwound on a round core) are specifically designed for balanced tone on a short scale across all four strings as well as up and down the neck. As you can see above, they have plenty of tension for overall stability even when tuned down to DGCF.

 

[MCS4]

Has anybody set up a short scale bass in D standard?
Since normally a short scale feels like looser tension when using standard (105-45) strings, would you want to do 115-55?
Do they make that gauge set in SS?

If you can't find a short scale set with a 115-ish E string, you could also look at lighter-gauge five string sets (i.e. Low B around 120) and use the heavier four strings. I do this with a 32" scale bass that generally lives in CGCF tuning but needs to be able to tune to DGCF on command. If I kept that bass in DGCF permanently without needing the abilty to tune down for a low C, I would use a lighter gauge for less tension, but it is still perfectly playable even for someone like me who prefers lower tension in general -- and obviously the drop to 30" would help with that anyway.

 

[MirandM]

GHS Balanced Nickels Short Scale, 44-60-80-106.

Here's a comparison in tension figures between the EXL220S (EADG) and the BN (DGCF)...

D'Addario EXL220S in EADG:

G 040 - 25.24 lbs.
D 060 - 31.81
A 075 - 27.57
E 095 - 24.65 (Total 109.27)

GHS Balanced Nickels Short Scale in DGCF:

F 044 - 29.4 lbs.
C 060 - 28.4
G 080 - 28.3
D 106 - 27.7 (Total 113.8)

The Balanced Nickels (pure nickel roundwound on a round core) are specifically designed for balanced tone on a short scale across all four strings as well as up and down the neck. As you can see above, they have plenty of tension for overall stability even when tuned down to DGCF.

Good suggestion, seems very apt for ss, I like the BN for the higher gauge, it's just that tad bit more that does it.

If you can't find a short scale set with a 115-ish E string, you could also look at lighter-gauge five string sets (i.e. Low B around 120) and use the heavier four strings. I do this with a 32" scale bass that generally lives in CGCF tuning but needs to be able to tune to DGCF on command. If I kept that bass in DGCF permanently without needing the abilty to tune down for a low C, I would use a lighter gauge for less tension, but it is still perfectly playable even for someone like me who prefers lower tension in general -- and obviously the drop to 30" would help with that anyway.

Good suggestion, I did something similar with a fretless at 34", got the D at 125 and just discarded the high 5th string works nicely if you can't get a custom set or it blows you wallet away.