Is this downtuning? Have you done it?

That's not downtuning, that's just flabby strings

 

F# 174, B 124, E 90, A 67, D 51, G 39. That's downtuning.

 

Downtuning means you are tuned to a lower register than a standard bass. You are tuning to standard but using light gauge strings. The strings are too light (for me and most) causing them to be loose and sloppy, as mmbongo said. If you like your strings that way all the power to you. I would rather just get some low end out of my amp than make my strings sloppy (and slow.)

 

I can't stand floppy strings, so to me, using gauges so light would not be a good idea. (I use a .135 B string.) But you need to figure out what works for you.

 

Depending on what you're looking for, I'd go more .120 - .095 - .075 - .055 - .040 - .030 for your six string. Those are the same gauges that I'm using on my 6 right now, and my hands thanked me after 26 gigs and a couple rehearsals over the last three weeks.

 

I haven't found that the case (losing some of the higher harmonics). For me, you can coax a lot more nuance out of your sound with lighter gauge strings. Not to mention that slapping is a piece of cake with light strings.

 

Sounds like a perfect light tension set, I used 120-40's on my old 5 string Spector that felt and sounded great...a .080 E string as the OP suggested just seems too light

 

It was road tested over a couple of months. The only thing I changed was I originally had a .025 for the C, and tonally it was too bright and thin sounding compared to everything else, so I moved it to a .030 and it's better.

 

Totally feel ya - I prefer lighter strings on both bass and guitar. In regard to your question and the responses here, I would phrase it this way:

What you're doing is not downtuning, but reducing string tension is one of the supposed advantages of downtuning. Supposedly down tuning started in metal to reduce string tension, but happened to produce a more brutal sound (but I can't remember which band was the one that started it, and can't find it on google now either)

 

I suspect that google will give you about 5,984,273,842 different opinions on who exactly invented this.

 

It wasn't until I talked to a couple of our artists that downtune (they use our 50-115 set to tune to Drop A#) that helped to get me to appreciate the tonal difference that a (in their case, very) downtuned string has. In the context of their group setting, it works. I don't think having thicker strings would work in their situation; they tried it, and it was lacking.

So will Talkbass. ZING!

 

What do you know, you guys were right about the number of different opinions! Seriously, though, I'd like to remember who was that classic metal guitarist with the hand injuries who had to downtune.

I agree that downtuning offers more than just being easier to play. I use half step down because it made it easier for me to get the percussive off-the-fretboard sound. To me, there's two advantages of having a lower tension string - easier to play, and easier to get a more aggressive sound.

But, correct me if I'm wrong, the way you phrase it, are you saying there's also another compounded advantage of using a thinner string, -in addition- to having the lower tension? i.e. for the same note, at the same tension, the thinner string will sound more appropriate than a thicker string? (also, I'm not sure how feasible that comparison is, since you'd have to adjust scale length to make up for having different thicknesses at the same tension)

By the way, 115 seems pretty light for a low B, but 50 seems heavy for a high G? IIRC at the moment I'm using 45-120 with A# standard. I feel like the higher strings are just nice, although I'd like my lower strings to be thinner.

 

I'm not sure appropriate is the right word, given that there are many that love light strings for certain tonal characteristics, and some that hate them for those exact same characteristics. It comes down to preference at that point.

You need to put it in context. The 50-115 is our heavy gauge for 4 string bass, so in standard tuning the 115 is your E string (the gauges are 50-75-95-115).

When my buddy tunes that set to Drop A#, EVERYTHING is lowered and "seems pretty light," but he loves it.

 

Compared with Les Claypool those strings are positively HUGE - I couldn't find anything definitive, but his B is like a 100! and progressively smaller from there.
As oher have already said - if it give you the sound you want, great, it will tend to have a lot less fundamental, but that's not always what everyone wants.

 

P.S. Yes it is downtuning - sort of. You are using strings that would ordinarily be used for a higher pitch so you have "down-tuned them" but generally when people say downtuning they mean making the instrument go lower than is traditionally done.