Is equal tension a good thing?

[Lo-E]

Wait, what? Where do you get those? I would love to get some short scale Hi-Beams in 45-60-80-105.

DR will do custom sets through any of their retailers. The gauges have to be gauges that are already available in one of their sets (in other words, you can mix and match from existing sets) and they have a minimum order of six sets. I got my last box of Sunbeams from Jason at Fret Nation. There was about a week and a half lead time. This was a couple months ago.

GHS will do the same thing. I forgot what their minimum is.

 

[Yahboy]

Depending on what you're going for, you can get pretty close to balanced tension even with gauges that all end in 5. For example, 45-60-80-105 is pretty close to balanced.



Yeah, I mean, really, why would you want the people making stuff to actually understand the science behind what they make?



I haven't noticed a problem with this, but I always have a couple extra 107s lying around from when I put the BTs on a bass that I'm leaving in drop D. I replace the 107 with a 115 or a 120.




I wish I had caught their error sooner.



Wait, what? Where do you get those? I would love to get some short scale Hi-Beams in 45-60-80-105.

Experience with 2 pack, each E just die after a month . The 100E from 170XL has longer lifepan. Give up and found a great solution - Dunlop SBN 40-100, healthy lovely tone , quite balance string stiffness and the E string lasting ! Extra bonus are smooth string feel .

Actually I prefer balance stiffness along with balance tone rather than balance tension from tension list.

I mostly play with flatwound bass string, both Labella LTF4A and Ti JF344 suit for me, following the EB Cobalt flatwound 2814, 2816 and 2810.
I don't want DEAD or lifeless E and B string.

 

[SunByrne]

DR will do custom sets through any of their retailers. The gauges have to be gauges that are already available in one of their sets (in other words, you can mix and match from existing sets) and they have a minimum order of six sets. I got my last box of Sunbeams from Jason at Fret Nation. There was about a week and a half lead time. This was a couple months ago.

Wow, I had no idea. Thanks for the tip, I will definitely have to look into this.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

Interesting discussion. And I’m impressed with the knowledge of the folks who’ve posted on this thread.

I have zero experience with shorter scale basses. But because I’m seeing more and more of them on the market these days, I’m going to guess that at least some of the major string manufacturers have put in some research to produce good playing, sounding, and feeling sets for shorter scale basses.

To echo what some folks here have already posted, do some experimenting by buying a couple of different brands of readily available short scale sets. And, personally I’d first look at the bigger brands first, like D’Addario, Ernie Ball, and GHS. I don’t think you need to try a more expensive brand at this point. Try each set out, and take notes along the way. This will give you at least a good starting point.

Personally, I very much need higher tension strings for my plucking hand, but I’ve never given balanced tension for each string much thought. I also like my strings to have a good amount of tension for my fretting hand.


The first thing I look for from a set of strings is a tone that I really like, then a certain amount of tension across my fingerboard. An added plus for me is if the string’s outer surface is somewhat smooth and uniform feeling, but if it isn’t, I’ll adjust to it.

Now I’m kind of curious to try a set of GHS Balanced Nickels.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

If you get an account with DR you can order any gauges or sets you want, as long as they make what you need.
They'll even custom box them, no 6 sets minimum.

 

[Jeff Elkins]

If you get an account with DR you can order any gauges or sets you want, as long as they make what you need.
They'll even custom box them, no 6 sets minimum.

DR will do custom sets through any of their retailers.

How does one "get an account" with them? I tried to order a mixed set a couple years ago, and they directed me to local dealers, who wouldn't (said that they couldn't) combine [existing] strings to match my request.

 

[Lo-E]

If you get an account with DR you can order any gauges or sets you want, as long as they make what you need.
They'll even custom box them, no 6 sets minimum.

Good to know! Will investigate….

How does one "get an account" with them? I tried to order a mixed set a couple years ago, and they directed me to local dealers, who wouldn't (said that they couldn't) combine [existing] strings to match my request.

That’s surprising…. and a little disappointing. Either they didn’t want to bother or they just didn’t know. I’ve been getting custom sets - both guitar and bass - from DR through local dealers for at least 15 years and through several different local shops.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

You just need to contact their (DR) Customer service and open an account.
Just tell them you don't need terms, unless you do. I just do credit card directly and no problem.
I email my orders direct to my rep.

The added benefit is you get dealer cost pricing too, don't forget to ask for your dealer price list.

 

[SunByrne]

Now I’m kind of curious to try a set of GHS Balanced Nickels.

Someone from GHS (@Jon Moody) hangs out here on TB and I recall that he said the Balanced Nickels were originally designed specifically for short scale.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

Someone from GHS (@Jon Moody) hangs out here on TB and I recall that he said the Balanced Nickels were originally designed specifically for short scale.

Awesome news! I’m going to try a set of the BNs on my Alembic, -which IMO sounds inherently bright, to my ears. As I understand it, the tone of the BNs are on the warm side of the spectrum, which will I think will be a nice pairing.

An Update on String Tension and the GHS Bass Boomers-6 string set, gauged .030 to .126:


I have them on a Spector Euro 6LT, which has a 35” scale. Because of the discussion on this thread, I’ve been paying attention to the amount of tension each string in this set has, or how they feel compared to one another.

I know the OP’s initial question is in regards to strings for a short scale bass, and I apologize, because my bass is considered an extra long scale instrument. But this being said, to me this set feels pretty balanced from the high C-string to the A-string. The E-string and the low B-string feel like they have a little bit less tension, but there’s still enough tension for my plucking hand, which can sometimes be somewhat forceful.

So, to the OP: If you’re considering a short scale set of nickel plated roundwounds for your bass, IMHO, a short scale set of GHS Bass Boomers are worth checking out.


One thing that I feel is important to mention to folks who want a brighter sounding set of roundwounds, I find Boomers to be one of the least brightest sounding strings. They excel in the low mids and midrange, which perfectly fits my tone goals.

 

[Jeff Elkins]

Awesome news! I’m going to try a set of the BNs on my Alembic, -which IMO sounds inherently bright, to my ears. As I understand it, the tone of the BNs are on the warm side of the spectrum, which will I think will be a nice pairing.

An Update on String Tension and the GHS Bass Boomers-6 string set, gauged .030 to .126:


I have them on a Spector Euro 6LT, which has a 35” scale. Because of the discussion on this thread, I’ve been paying attention to the amount of tension each string in this set has, or how they feel compared to one another.

I know the OP’s initial question is in regards to strings for a short scale bass, and I apologize, because my bass is considered an extra long scale instrument. But this being said, to me this set feels pretty balanced from the high C-string to the A-string. The E-string and the low B-string feel like they have a little bit less tension, but there’s still enough tension for my plucking hand, which can sometimes be somewhat forceful.

So, to the OP: If you’re considering a short scale set of nickel plated roundwounds for your bass, IMHO, a short scale set of GHS Bass Boomers are worth checking out.


One thing that I feel is important to mention to folks who want a brighter sounding set of roundwounds, I find Boomers to be one of the least brightest sounding strings. They excel in the low mids and midrange, which perfectly fits my tone goals.

That was an excellent review. Thank you!