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Holy Cow! 110 B string!
- Thread starter Jaco Taco
- Start date
I have used that set off and on for years, and found both feel and sound as excellent.
i'm not a fan of anything less than .150 for a B string, i recently tried a .114 E string and surprisingly liked it.
Considering that acoustic contrabasses use a 41+" scale for E, and Fender chose 34" as a playability compromise for E, 34" or 35" for B is short. Roundwound strings being more flexible has helped, but Bs suffer due to stiffness caused by gauge becoming significantly large relative to length.
String stiffness is determined by gauge relative to scale length. As you play up the higher frets on a B it effectively becomes stiffer due to being shorter. I use 'slenderness', being scale length / gauge, as a value for flexibility, 34" / .100" = 340 for a typical E.
In this situation a low tension B can produce flexibility advantages that outweigh the issues of low tension.
A 40" scale bass increases length but also reduces gauge for a particular tension, the result is a 'slenderness' and flexibility similar to a 34" E.
It's important to remember that B is extremely low seen in a historical perspective. Acoustic contrabasses, and therefore bass guitars, are actually 'contrabass' instruments not 'bass' instruments, so are that which is below 'bass'. The cello is a bass instrument. Guitars are probably best described as baritone instruments.
String stiffness is determined by gauge relative to scale length. As you play up the higher frets on a B it effectively becomes stiffer due to being shorter. I use 'slenderness', being scale length / gauge, as a value for flexibility, 34" / .100" = 340 for a typical E.
In this situation a low tension B can produce flexibility advantages that outweigh the issues of low tension.
A 40" scale bass increases length but also reduces gauge for a particular tension, the result is a 'slenderness' and flexibility similar to a 34" E.
It's important to remember that B is extremely low seen in a historical perspective. Acoustic contrabasses, and therefore bass guitars, are actually 'contrabass' instruments not 'bass' instruments, so are that which is below 'bass'. The cello is a bass instrument. Guitars are probably best described as baritone instruments.
you could always just buy a single high string i guess. DR will also make you custom sets if you go to an autorized dealer. i think you have to buy a min of 10 sets though.
I have a prototype set of GHS Omni Crossovers (round-core brite flats) I just took off my P that was designed with a .108 B string. They basically took their medium BF set and moved them down one string position. Wasn’t bad on my P, but I’m trying a conventional BEAD set of BF next.
