Double Bass How high can double bass string tune too without breaking

[GC34]

I heard someone on youtube got their G on upright up to C and it broke. So you could safely conclude the D can go to G. Just did some calcs. So upright bass strings can handle up to 120 pounds of tension. The A can take up to 110.The E would be probably break at 200 pounds of tension. Scary.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Any such conclusions are wrong. You cannot expect that a string can get tuned up and not break.
Some might and others don't.
Also playing a string raises the tension, so it might break then.

By personal experience: sensicore high C broke a perfect fourth above intended pitch on a 110 cm scale. Sensicore Supreme high C broke on intended pitch on the same scale.
Using a string on a 110 cm scale is roughly similar to tuning up by a halftone on an average 3/4 scale of 105 cm.

 

[Co.]

Using a string on a 120 cm scale is roughly similar to tuning up by a halftone on an average 3/4 scale of 105 cm.

Not according to Art's string calculator.

Tuning up a half step increases tension by 12%.
Same string, same tuning on 120cm scale instead of 105cm increases tension by 30%.
I guess, you have to sqare the difference in scale, to get the difference in tension.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Oops, typo, not 120 cm but 110 cm.
Missed the right key and might have been tired, corrected!
I meant a 110 cm scale in comparison to a 105 cm scale as mentioned before.

 

[GC34]

Any such conclusions are wrong. You cannot expect that a string can get tuned up and not break.
Some might and others don't.
Also playing a string raises the tension, so it might break then.

By personal experience: sensicore high C broke a perfect fourth above intended pitch on a 110 cm scale. Sensicore Supreme high C broke on intended pitch on the same scale.
Using a string on a 110 cm scale is roughly similar to tuning up by a halftone on an average 3/4 scale of 105 cm.

How far can the low E go past it,s intended pitch?

 

[wathaet]

I heard someone on youtube got their G on upright up to C and it broke. So you could safely conclude the D can go to G.

String I breaks when tuned up a fourth so you can safely tune string II up a fourth?
Your reasoning

How far can the low E go past it,s intended pitch?

As he said, it depends entirely on the individual string, string length, age and probably the bridge and nut grooves.

FYI, this will kill your strings and do bad things to the top of your bass.

 

[unbrokenchain]

How far can the low E go past it,s intended pitch?

I'll check it out for ya as soon as I'm done changing this light bulb!

 

[Silevesq]

If we compare bass strings to security material then the strings is made to be tuned the way it should... Even if some security material can withstand 5 times the loading it was designed for. It doesn't make it safe to use it in such a context.

Climbing gear have a best before date, same for slackline, rescue material also. Does it mean you can't use it for that no but if you end up in trouble you have to assume it.

But then let me ask the people here, if there's such a mathematical concepts that can tell us why a string is safe to use at the notes it was designed for? Is it because it can withstand 25% more tension till it breaks? So because of that we assume it is safe for a certain pitch?

 

[donotfret]

But then let me ask the people here, if there's such a mathematical concepts that can tell us why a string is safe to use at the notes it was designed for? Is it because it can withstand 25% more tension till it breaks? So because of that we assume it is safe for a certain pitch?

To a certain extent yes, there are mathematical concepts, but more in an empirical sense. I'm fairly certain string manufacturers do tensile tests to determine the string properties and probably also some finite element simulations during the development phase.

Without knowing a lot about string mechanics, it seems fairly obvious to me that a string should be elastic in the playing range. There's also the von Mises criterion that can be used to find the elastic limit of a material. But again, I'm fairly sure if you want to know exact(-ish) numbers there's no way around experiments.

 

[GC34]

I'll check it out for ya as soon as I'm done changing this light bulb!

View attachment 3381633

Can,t wait to find out.

 

[robobass]

I don't understand the premise of this thread. Why would you ever consider tuning up more than a whole step? Why even that much?

 

[misterbadger]

Redneck last words. "Hold my beer and watch this!"

 

[TroyK]

I'll say it again. The string is almost definitely not the first failure point. Something else will likely break before a new Spirocore, for example. It's a big hollow wood chamber that is glued together. If you're just being a wonk, then the answer to your question lies somewhere on some jig that isn't a bass...like a shop table set up for this experiment. If your question somehow has some musical ambition, I think you're dreaming of the wrong instrument.

 

[Aidan Woodward]

I once broke a spiro med. E tuning it up just a half step. The rest of the set had no damage though. I was trying to see if my bass would sound better at higher tension. Results inconclusive...

 

[GC34]

I once broke a spiro med. E tuning it up just a half step. The rest of the set had no damage though. I was trying to see if my bass would sound better at higher tension. Results inconclusive...

Must of been an old string.

 

[unbrokenchain]

The G string will definitely go to H, I've tuned it as high as J/K

 

[GC34]

I don't understand the premise of this thread. Why would you ever consider tuning up more than a whole step? Why even that much?

To see how much it takes to break the string. I,m just curious. I don,t want to test the strings.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Troll post, and y’all keep responding.

 

[GC34]

Troll post, and y’all keep responding.

I just a weird obsession I have sorry.

 

[turf3]

Well, quit asking and answer the question.

Go get a 2 x 10 more than 4 feet long, one tuning machine, a piece of angle iron, a long dowel, a set of strings, and some safety glasses and heavy gloves.

Mount the tuning machine on the 2 x 10; make a hole in the angle iron to secure the ball end of a string and screw it down to the plank; cut a slot in the dowel and use it to turn the knob of the tuning machine, and also to strike the string lightly to determine the string's current pitch (this way you will not be putting your body in line with the string when it breaks). Mount String #1; use you electronic tuner to tune it to its normal pitch, then keep twisting and lightly striking the string, recording the pitch, till it breaks. Repeat with each string in the set. Report the results to us.

It's a simple experiment that you can do for only the price of a set of strings and maybe $50-100 additional in test materials.