Good string for drop C and drop A

[wetzelman1]

I'm in a mathy-stoner metal band, 1 guitar, 1 bass, singer, drummer. I have a solid low/mid tone with alot of fuzz and growl playing a Spector with a SVT2Pro. Right now my bass is strung up with Ernie Ball Slinky's with the low string at 105. Works fine for drop C (cgcf) but we're also messing around with some drop A tuning (agcf) and my low string is getting pretty floppy and losing all definition.

Any recommendation on a good string that would retain the best tension tuning from C-A?

please no, "get a second bass" or "get a 5 string".

 

[knuckle_head]

a consistent tension set for cgcf would be;

.118 .080 .061 .046
or
.124 .084 .064 .046

I would highly recommend a new low string entirely if you intend to do A as that string would live in the .142 to .150 range. A is a huge leap from C and no string will behave well at both tunings.

If you absolutely HAVE to switch between the two then get a .136 or so - it won't be right at A or C, but will be better than committing to one or the other and having the other side absolutely suck.

 

[Moogeddy]

What about a string that can preform well in standard AND C standard? I'm asking this beacuse I only have one bass and like to play alot of standard and some master of reality sabbath tunes like Lord of this World and Into the Void that are in C# standard.

Sorry this isn't meant as a thread hijack, didn't seem necessary to create another thread.

 

[wetzelman1]

I know the technicality of strings but they aren't exactly routed in reality. I need a set of strings that I can easily replace quickly/on the road. Saying I need a 118 for c doesn't make much sense since I use a 105 and it works great. Every different string has different tension so a 105 ernie ball might actually be looser than say a 110 GHS.

I'm really curious if anyone else has experience with this. I know Mastadon does the same thing with going from C to A for certain songs so someone else must be doing this too.

 

[BassistFreak416]

Dr DDT strings
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[knuckle_head]

I know the technicality of strings but they aren't exactly routed in reality.

Here is the reality;

If you were to use a .118 for C you would have roughly 33.5 pounds of tension, which is about normal.

That same .118 at A will sit at 23.5 pounds. You will feel this and the string will behave both completely differently, and IMO poorly. Standard wound strings are manufactured at more than 25 pounds of tension, and ought to be played at least at the tension they are manufactured at.

If you are determined to have one string do both you are best served by splitting the difference. You are still going to have to slog through the 10 pound shift, but you will be able to intonate in between the two and it is always preferable to be slightly out on both sides than to be dead on on one and horribly out on the other.

FWIW, the playing tension on a .136 at A would be 31 pounds, and at C would be 43 pounds. A .130 would give you 29 and 40 pounds respectively. Either would be a better option than the .118 (or lighter) at A.

The specific tensions may vary from one manufacturer to the next but the intervals, tension shifts and shortcomings of too-low tension will be consistent from any one of them.