High C string for E-C bass....silly me

[mkr1]

I've picked up a few basses in the last two years branching out from guitar, and decided to convert one 5-string to E-C tuning because I prefer the low B of another instrument.

I had the smart idea of raiding the single string remnant box at Guitar Center and buying a .030 guitar string for just 50 cents...then started to install it and watched the smaller ball end slip straight through the Monorail bridge as I tuned up! Creating an extra loop at the end didn't work - it just compressed and slipped through again as it approached pitch. It's clearly not bridge-specific either, as my Hipshot bridge slots are too wide for a guitar-string ball as well.

I've since ordered a single .032 genuine bass string for about 9 bucks, which is no big deal, and if I ever needed a completely new set of strings on this bass, I'd just buy a 6-string set and keep the low B in case of a future B-G need.

Just amazed me that an equivalent string with a bigger ball end commanded 18 times the price. Any E-C or 6-string players ever use a guitar string in a pinch and was there any successful hack (tape, etc) to make it stay in the bridge under tension? Maybe keep a guitar bridge ferrule around as a collar/washer?

 

[HaphAsSard]

Maybe keep a guitar bridge ferrule around as a collar/washer?

Thread the string through a used bass string ball end before installation?

 

[mkr1]

Thread the string through a used bass string ball end before installation?

I knew I was missing something obvious. That would work! Outer diameter of a guitar string ball end is larger than inner diameter of a bass string ball end. Then if I want to move to different tension C strings I can still rummage through the single string boxes.

 

[Funky40]

Thread the string through a used bass string ball end before installation?

thats exactly what i do ! works / i´m on headless basses, though.

 

[aus_bass]

You could also put a washer on the string, to prevent the ball-end from slipping through.

 

[el murdoque]

Just out of curiosity: Is a guitar string long enough to go on a bass?

 

[mkr1]

Just out of curiosity: Is a guitar string long enough to go on a bass?

I can tell you with certainty it would have strung up nicely on the high-side tuning peg of my 32" bass, but your question is a good one and shows why I didn't see lot of discussion of this - would definitely be too short for a 34" scale.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Just out of curiosity: Is a guitar string long enough to go on a bass?

I can tell you with certainty it would have strung up nicely on the high-side tuning peg of my 32" bass, but your question is a good one and shows why I didn't see lot of discussion of this - would definitely be too short for a 34" scale.

It probably depends on the brand. D'Addario and GHS guitar strings have a 38" winding length, from ball-end to exposed core (they don't taper, unless we talk very large guitar strings for downtuning - say >.072" or so), which is plenty for even a 34" bass (unless it's strung through the body and the tuning post is far from the nut - even then, I've successfully secured the bare core of a guitar string on a bass tuning post). Other brands, I don't know.