D Standard Club (DGCF)

[MirandM]

...
Also to clarify I spend alot of time on action for playability, I prefer relatively low action (1.7-2.0mm at the 12th). Taking D std well have very much seemed to be a bass-to-bass thing so I don't know how you have 40 basses that all do the same thing. I've never had multiple basses that all respond the same way to strings, setup and playing technique. That seems less probable than what I'm saying but congrats. I also talked about technique and sonically what makes playability better or worse. I can't speak for you or what you do, but this is my experience.

Which is exactly what I was saying.

Of course my 40+ don't all do the same thing, that wouldn't make much sense as I could do it with just one. They all have different sounds, different ways of playing them, which is exactly what I want. The uniqueness is what makes the difference, even between two of the same basses (of which I have more than one pair).

 

[Prodigus Filius]

@2thAche
Have you considered giving La Bella original 54's 52-110 a go for D standard. Their tension at D standard is similar to a set of nickel rounds 45-105 tuned to E standard. So you have pretty much the same tension, but due to the big cores they are stiff. So you get less width to the string pulse and can have low action. I use them. Well I actually replace the 110 with the 128T from the 5 string set, due to going lower than D standard periodically, but I can confirm you can have low action with them.

 

[ravlin]

How do I sign up with ya'll? I play D standard on 4 different basses/string sets (GHS .115, La Bella .110, Roto77 .110 and EB Slinky Flat .110). Do I get a certificate in the mail?

 

[Prodigus Filius]

This is a rough estimate of the la Bella set 0760M, due to la bella not publishing tensions for them. But in my estimate comparing the both the 110 and 128T with Chromes 10 and 128T they are a little more tense. 5% might be in the ball park. If so the tensions at D standard would be as follows
La Bella 54's 052 073 095 110 tuned to D standard

D1 - .110 /39.16 lbs
G1 - .095 / 51.98 lbs
C2 - .073 / 55.35 lbs
F2 - .052 / 50.50 lbs
TT = 196.99 lbs compared to a set of 45-105 D'addario nickel rounds
D'addario Nickel Rounds tuned to E standard
E1 - .105 /40.30 lbs
A1 - .085 /48.40 lbs
D2 - .065 /51.30 lbs
G2 - .045 /42.80 lbs
TT = 182.80 lbs

 

[2thAche]

Theoretically, you could have a plain strings tuned to D standard with roughly the same gauges and tension as a standard 45-105 set tuned to E but with less of a pulse and you could have a lower action. But the string would be incredibly stiff and less sustain. The compromise is to have wound strings but a thicker core. To have similar gauges, but more stiff, less pulse width = lower action with a bit of a loss in sustain but not as much as a plain string would entail

I would take the stiffer strings at same guage with less amplitude. I've tried a BEAD set tuned D Std but they're too thick, same problem. Yes, give me a thicker core.

 

[2thAche]

@2thAche
Have you considered giving La Bella original 54's 52-110 a go for D standard. Their tension at D standard is similar to a set of nickel rounds 45-105 tuned to E standard. So you have pretty much the same tension, but due to the big cores they are stiff. So you get less width to the string pulse and can have low action. I use them. Well I actually replace the 110 with the 128T from the 5 string set, due to going lower than D standard periodically, but I can confirm you can have low action with them.

Flats? They just don't have the sound I need. D'Addario half-rounds have great tension but they still don't cut it for what I want out of the sound and sometimes sound dead out of the package. I really want the tension but in rounds.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Flats? They just don't have the sound I need. D'Addario half-rounds have great tension but they still don't cut it for what I want out of the sound and sometimes sound dead out of the package. I really want the tension but in rounds.

I like to try to convert folks to flats he he

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Rotosound 77's 50-110 are another good stiff option for downtuners who want lower action, and an over all tension not too far from the oh so familiar garden variety 45-105 rounds a 4 string bass often comes with if new. I'm not sure myself why Roto 77's have roughly 10% more tension than Chromes. I dunno If it's greater mass due to whether the monel alloy of nickel/copper wrap has greater mass than the iron/chromium alloy wrap D'addario uses on Chromes or some other aspect of the construction. Anyhow these are the tensions for Roto 77's at D standard.

Rotosound 77 50-110 Tuned to D standard
D1 .110/40.29 lbs
G1 .095/ 54.59 lbs
C2 .075/ 56.30 lbs
F2 .050/49.60 lbs
TT = 208.78 lbs
I've tried a Roto 77 .050 as F2 ( and D2 in BEAD for that matter) and it felt and sounded ok to me. A bit bright out of the box for my tastes and it was just an experiment so I never had it on long enough to mellow, but tension and low action wise it was good

 

[2thAche]

I tried some Roto66 110s with high hopes and they didn't work well even at Eb. I do wish flats would do it for me.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

I tried some Roto66 110s with high hopes and they didn't work well even at Eb.

In what way?

 

[2thAche]

In what way?

Very noisy, probably because they're so bright, fret buzz.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Very noisy, probably because they're so bright, fret buzz.

If you had standard 45-105 rounds on tuned to E standard before you put the Rotosound 66's on then you'd need to loosen the truss rod a bit if downtuning to D standard because the overall tension of the Rotos in D is quite a bit less than a standard 45-105 set of rounds in E. Likely the cause of the buzzing. Here are the Rotosound 66 50-110 tensions in D standard
Rotosound 66 50-110 in D standard tuning
D1 .110/33 lbs
G1 .085/37.35 lbs
C2 .070/42.99 lbs
F2 .050/42.22 lbs
Total Tension = 155.89 lbs

 

[2thAche]

If you had standard 45-105 rounds on tuned to E standard before you put the Rotosound 66's on then you'd need to loosen the truss rod a bit if downtuning to D standard because the overall tension of the Rotos in D is quite a bit less than a standard 45-105 set of rounds in E. Likely the cause of the buzzing. Here are the Rotosound 66 50-110 tensions in D standard
Rotosound 66 50-110 in D standard tuning
D1 .110/33 lbs
G1 .085/37.35 lbs
C2 .070/42.99 lbs
F2 .050/42.22 lbss
Total Tension = 155.89 lbs

So what rounds have the highest tension? Anywhere to get info?

This bass is a MIJ Sadowsky Will Lee and was already set up for and playing a set of DDT 110 pretty cleanly in Eb, I was hoping that the 66 110s could be an option but they were buzzy so I went back to the trusty DDTs.

I did decide to swap in a 107 from an EXL70BT set (balanced tension) into the Sadowsky to see how it would play and it did fine alongside the DDT set (the 110 E goes dead pretty quickly so I just swapped the 107 for sh!ts and giggles), so I'm planning to try the whole set and see how that is this weekend.

 

[2thAche]

Oh and PS, you can build sets of single strings on GHS with individual strings. I had great luck with building a set of I think Boomers with a 110 E but it came out to $40+ so it's not practical.

 

[ravlin]

Oh and PS, you can build sets of single strings on GHS with individual strings. I had great luck with building a set of I think Boomers with a 110 E but it came out to $40+ so it's not practical.

Boomer heavy .115 - .050 set work great and are cheap.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

So what rounds have the highest tension? Anywhere to get info?

This bass is a MIJ Sadowsky Will Lee and was already set up for and playing a set of DDT 110 pretty cleanly in Eb, I was hoping that the 66 110s could be an option but they were buzzy so I went back to the trusty DDTs.

I did decide to swap in a 107 from an EXL70BT set (balanced tension) into the Sadowsky to see how it would play and it did fine alongside the DDT set (the 110 E goes dead pretty quickly so I just swapped the 107 for sh!ts and giggles), so I'm planning to try the whole set and see how that is this weekend.

As mentioned. Probably Bass Boomers. A Bass Boomer 105 at E1 requires 43.6lbs of tension to tune to pitch, whilst a D'addario XL nickel round requires 40.3. Whether that 3lbs of extra pull required to achieve pitch is of any significance in how they feel feel flexibility/ stiffness wise is another matter. Bearing in mind that tension and stiffness are two different aspects of string stuff.

 

[MrAB4003]

Flats? They just don't have the sound I need. D'Addario half-rounds have great tension but they still don't cut it for what I want out of the sound and sometimes sound dead out of the package. I really want the tension but in rounds.

Maybe try heavy (55-110) gauge D’Addario nickel rounds. I have the medium (50-105) gauge ones on my D Standard bass and I love them!

 

[2thAche]

Boomer heavy .115 - .050 set work great and are cheap.

OK Boomer.


Sorry I had to get it out.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Here's another equation for selecting gauges based on the Unit Weight if it is known. This is for tuning in 4ths. Obtain the multiplier by this equation
1.059463^-10 =.561( I simplified the formula from post #67 in this thread https://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-simple-mathematical-approach-to-choosing-strings.701545/page-4

If descending in gauge, multiply the UW by .561 .Select the UW of the string that is closest to your new derived UW
For example D'addario's listed unit weight for Chrome .110 is .00226455. multiplying by .561 gives 0.00127041255
The closest gauge match being 080 and so on and so forth. The result would be a set 110 80 60 45 of Chromes with tensions
110 36.5
080 34.70
060 35.9
045 36.3
This method is of course restricted to brands that have UW data. Of which there are few.
There is good discussion in the thread mentioned about balanced and so called progressive tension. Worth reading the entire thread.

 

[stubborne]

I'll join! We added Looks That Kill and Lithium back to back tuned to D standard. Wooopeee!