Highest tension B string or a 5er?

[bassguitarded]

check this handy link out... it helped me find the right strings for my down tuned bass... it can probably help you find the B you are looking for...

[This invalid link has been removed]

good luck!

 

[Pete skjold]

Jumping in a little late, but hard to imagine a Quantum with a weak feeling B. Might wanna check the setup to see if there are any problems. Construction AND 35" scale shouldn't have any deficiencies.

Also, tension is good, but only to a certain extent. If you start really increasing the tension, you'll start losing the ability to play the B string in the upper positions. I realize most bassists like to only utilize it from the fourth position on down, but my 35" scale Conklin uses a .127 taperwound string that has a strong fundamental and can be used articularly in the 15th position without terribly audible overtones.

That is a very good point , and I use a tapered 128 B and the tapering does change ( I think for the better ) the fundamental on bigger strings . You will get a huge fundamental on non tapered string that will sound bigger and fuller in the open note and the first couple of frets but as you go up past the E note the fundamental starts to take over and you get a kind of phased sound . I have also had this problem with contact core strings which have just the core wire going over the saddle . They produce different fundamentals that get louder as you fret the notes and become less musical too .

I'm just glad I found something that works for me , it only took two years and a bunch of money

 

[ajb]

I have a 20th Anniv. Stingray 5 and the B is probably the best I have played. Useable all the way up and down the neck. These are rare and pricey, but definitely worth a look if you stumble across one in your search for the perfect B.

 

[spade2you]

That is a very good point , and I use a tapered 128 B and the tapering does change ( I think for the better ) the fundamental on bigger strings . You will get a huge fundamental on non tapered string that will sound bigger and fuller in the open note and the first couple of frets but as you go up past the E note the fundamental starts to take over and you get a kind of phased sound . I have also had this problem with contact core strings which have just the core wire going over the saddle . They produce different fundamentals that get louder as you fret the notes and become less musical too .

I'm just glad I found something that works for me , it only took two years and a bunch of money

I kinda discovered it since that's how my Conklin was set up. The piezo saddles were extremely narrow, too. I think the taper also helps have better contact with the bridge, which could be important with a piezo, although my Rob Allens still do alright with the one piece bridge without tapered strings, but the higher action to acheive the upright-ish tone adds a bit of extra warble in the upper positions.

The main downside I can see to the taper core string is that they might be a little sensitive to construction. The B string is an interesting beast that doesn't seem to have a wide range of tolerability. For the most part, I feel that strings need to be evaluated on a case by case basis, which may upset a few on TB that believe in absolutes.

 

[merseymale]

This is something I learned after two years of developing strings for my custom sets .

A 135 is going to produce more tension ( pull ) on the neck regardless of scale length but a 125 is going to FEEL more tight and less floppy . So if you put a 135 on a 34 inch scale neck it will appear to feel floppier that the lighter string even though it is producing more tension . The longer you make the scale the more tight feeling a string will feel ( hence Dinwall using shorter scales for the lighter strings ) . If you are going to use a really heavy string you will want a longer scale . I have found that a 128 works best on my scale length ( 35 ) to produce a full sound and tight feel . 125's also work great .

Try a lighter gauge B and see what you get . My guess is you will get a clearer sounding tighter feeling B .

Pete

Hmmmm....

 

[Pete skjold]

Hmmmm....

Did you try it? What was your experience?

 

[merseymale]

Did you try it? What was your experience?

with ALL instruments I’ve ever worked on; built; owned or encountered again & again -given the same Scale Length- the thicker the string/the higher the tension; hex-core seemed to be tauter as are FlatWound

I got a pair of Ernie Ball 145guage strings in today so will be trying them soon...

they are RoundWound & so, by your reasoning, they should feel even looser than the .125 that’s currently annoying me on that bass!

 

[Pete skjold]

Right, the thicker the string the higher the tension, the bigger the gauge the longer the scale wants to be to make the strings feel a similar "tautness" if that makes sense. Continuing to go heavier the tables start to turn again as the scale length wants to be longer still to make up for the mass. I used to have the exact same opinion as you so I am curious to see how it works out for you. More tension and mass doesn't always equal a tauter feeling B string, that was my only point. But everything is open to a personal perspective on this subject.

This is just my humble experience, which at this time has changed again now that I do so many 33" basses. The tautness which is my point has a lot to do with the strings and how they are made as you have stated.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[bassbully]

Give me a Lakland 35” scale neck and I’m good.

 

[embellisher]

My Cirrus has such a ridiculous high tension that I tune it ADGCFBb because the G and C strings are too tight in standard tuning.

The B string on it is one of the tightest around, and yes, it is a 35" scale.

The only ones I've played with a tighter B is a Roscoe and a Dingwall. Of course, a Dingwall has a 37" B.

 

[TomB]

I have a 20th Anniv. Stingray 5 and the B is probably the best I have played. Useable all the way up and down the neck. These are rare and pricey, but definitely worth a look if you stumble across one in your search for the perfect B.

It’s been a while, but I do recall that the 5-string Ray B-string beat all back in the early days - Fender struggled.
Newer high-quality 34” scale builds (eg: Moon, Moollon, Fodera, Sadowsky, Valenti, Low-End, Sandberg, IME) with medium-sized or tapered B-strings match that 90’s Ray (would love to try a Skjold ).

 

[merseymale]

Right, the thicker the string the higher the tension, the bigger the gauge the longer the scale wants to be to make the strings feel a similar "tautness" if that makes sense. Continuing to go heavier the tables start to turn again as the scale length wants to be longer still to make up for the mass. I used to have the exact same opinion as you so I am curious to see how it works out for you. More tension and mass doesn't always equal a tauter feeling B string, that was my only point. But everything is open to a personal perspective on this subject.

This is just my humble experience, which at this time has changed again now that I do so many 33" basses. The tautness which is my point has a lot to do with the strings and how they are made as you have stated.

Thanks for the reply.

Thank YOU & I apologise that I’ve still not got round to trying out this, frankly monstrous, .145...

BTW I used love playing shorter scales despite(because of?)my astonishingly large hands BUT when I just HAD to commit to BEADtuning the meagre tension on That B was just more than I could put up with so I’d be very interested in any thoughts/recommendation you have for high attention on the lower scales

Just for the record that .145 is going on a 34 inch -Prob my fender 50s copy

 

[songwriter21]

I must be the only person to not have been convinced by Dingwall. Played them at NAMM, and the B didn't feel any better, plus the fanned frets were annoying.

By far, the best B-strings I've played are all 34"...Warrior, Ken Smith, Yamaha (BBP35), and Warwick.

 

[merseymale]

Did you try it? What was your experience?

right!
Well, I’ve finally got round to trying that .145

I have to say that we’re kinda both right
& equally wrong!

I believe that there IS a tension difference & the .145 is...kinda...well, tauter?

B U T the difference was shockingly minimal

I reckon that a different brand of string -maybe even just a Hex Core- would’ve swung it the other way

iF either was Flat Wound, well then, that would spin it all ‘round again!

it’s like aiming at a moving target


FWIW i’ve been reading up a hell of a lot about this and I can honestly say but the general consensus seems to be that, regardless of string material or gauge or even scale-length, it’s the quality of workmanship and stiffness of wood &/or graphite that determines the feel & sound of a B string, etc.

as ever YMMV

 

[merseymale]

Right, the thicker the string the higher the tension, the bigger the gauge the longer the scale wants to be to make the strings feel a similar "tautness" if that makes sense. Continuing to go heavier the tables start to turn again as the scale length wants to be longer still to make up for the mass. I used to have the exact same opinion as you so I am curious to see how it works out for you. More tension and mass doesn't always equal a tauter feeling B string, that was my only point. But everything is open to a personal perspective on this subject.

This is just my humble experience, which at this time has changed again now that I do so many 33" basses. The tautness which is my point has a lot to do with the strings and how they are made as you have stated.

Thanks for the reply.

check out my latest post on this thread!

 

[merseymale]

Right, the thicker the string the higher the tension, the bigger the gauge the longer the scale wants to be to make the strings feel a similar "tautness" if that makes sense. Continuing to go heavier the tables start to turn again as the scale length wants to be longer still to make up for the mass. I used to have the exact same opinion as you so I am curious to see how it works out for you. More tension and mass doesn't always equal a tauter feeling B string, that was my only point. But everything is open to a personal perspective on this subject.

This is just my humble experience, which at this time has changed again now that I do so many 33" basses. The tautness which is my point has a lot to do with the strings and how they are made as you have stated.

Thanks for the reply.

BTW do you ever do a B on medium or shorter scales? Either 5string or BEAD?

 

[HaphAsSard]

I’ve finally got round to trying that .145

Do you find that the "usable" portion of fretboard is significantly reduced? I mean, has the threshold (or the transition zone) beyond which notes sound too chorusy clearly moved toward the nut (as in, say, around the 9th fret while it used to be at the 13th with a thinner B) or, well, not? Of course, this information would only be relevant for the two specific B strings used in the comparison.

 

[Thegrandwazoo]

Some of it has to do with the construction and scale length of the bass, some of it's string construction, some of it's string gauge. The longer the scale length, the higher the tension will be for a given string at a given pitch. Things like headstock tiltback and top-load/string-through bridge are factors in PERCEIVED tension. They don't change the scale length, and therefore don't change the tension at a given pitch, but a lot of people (myself included) feel that the increased break angle at the nut and saddle does make the string behave a little more stiffly under the fingers and have a slightly snappier attack.

Try buying 4-string bass string sets and heavier, single B-strings (like .040"-.100" with like a .135" B) of whatever strings you already like, unless your brand offers a 5-string set like that already. Also, stainless tends to feel a little stiffer than nickel, flatwounds tend to feel a little stiffer than rounds, and hex core tends to feel stiffer than round core.

If your bass has a bridge that will both top-load and string-through, try setting it up with a disproportionately heavy B string strung through the body and lighter E-G top-loaded, and if they're hex core, all the better. Or for that matter, a hex core B with round core E-G as long as the winding composition is the same.

I personally hate them, because I personally find them hideous and difficult/distracting to play (though I'm sure I'd get used to it in short order), but multi-scale/fanned-fret basses seem to solve this problem. Depending on how radical the scale length difference is from high to low, though, they can create a new one, which is getting strings that work for them without buying single strings for each position, which is impossible from a lot of string manufacturers and expensive from any of them.

 

[Thegrandwazoo]

I have a 20th Anniv. Stingray 5 and the B is probably the best I have played. Useable all the way up and down the neck. These are rare and pricey, but definitely worth a look if you stumble across one in your search for the perfect B.

For all intents and purposes, though, they're just like a normal Stingray 5, aren't they? I mean all the components are the same, the 20th models just have different finish, inlays and such, don't they? And I wholeheartedly agree, every 5-string Music Man I've ever played has been a fine example of the species, but I don't play fives and most people can't get over the string spacing.

 

[merseymale]

Did you try it? What was your experience?

right!
Well, I’ve finally got round to trying that .145

I have to say that we’re kinda both right
& equally wrong!

I believe that there IS a tension difference & the .145 is...kinda...well, tauter?

B U T the difference was shockingly minimal

I reckon that a different brand of string -maybe even just a Hex Core- would’ve swung it the other way

iF either was Flat Wound, well then, that would spin it all ‘round again!

it’s like aiming at a moving target


FWIW i’ve been reading up a hell of a lot about this and I can honestly say but the general consensus seems to be that, regardless of string material or gauge or even scale-length, it’s the quality of workmanship and stiffness of wood &/or graphite that determines the feel & sound of a B string, etc.

as ever Y

Do you find that the "usable" portion of fretboard is significantly reduced? I mean, has the threshold (or the transition zone) beyond which notes sound too chorusy clearly moved toward the nut (as in, say, around the 9th fret while it used to be at the 13th with a thinner B) or, well, not? Of course, this information would only be relevant for the two specific B strings used in the comparison.

V E R Y GOOD point!

let me get back to you on that...