I've never met a low B string I liked.

[JEDI BASS]

I am strictly a 4-string player, but if I ever decided to get a 5-string bass, it would definitely be a Dingwall. Why? Because that 37" scale length on the B string makes all the difference in the world! I used to know a guy who had a Dingwall, and I played it a couple of times (not during a gig.....just messing around with the bass at his rehearsal place through his amp). That B string is da bomb.

Yep, Dingwall's have the best B.... PERIOD! I've owned a 5er and a 6er, recorded w/ the 5er... the engineer preferred my Lakland 55-94 for everything BUT the open B in the chorus of this song Link Removed

I'm playing chords during the verses that blend w/ the guitar's... most people think there's no bass during the verse, 'til you pull it out . Anyways, I sold both Dingwalls because (1) the fret spread in the lower register hurt my left hand, (2) chords up high were nearly impossible and (3) the bridge tilt messed with my plucking hand.

All, the other songs on our myspace use the low B (DR SS Longneck) and my 55-94.

 

[JEDI BASS]

Most top players use 4 string basses. I have read many interviews where they have said they cannot get the clarity out of a low b string. I played a 5 string for a while. When you really think about it, all a low B does is give you a total of 5 lower notes than a 4 string. Is it really worth it?

It's more than that... you can play licks up higher on the neck where the tone is sweeter (IMO). I routinely use my B up to the 9th fret and play lines that allow me to use my other strings in this "sweet spot" between the 5th and 12th frets while being able to grab the low notes on my B string, instead of an open E etc. It's also less strain on your left hand... less stretching.

 

[JTE]

Hi John! We've spent years together on TBL, BTW.

I figured 'twas you! Wow, it HAS been years ain't it?

I'm thinking I may have to try DR. The reason I haven't done so in the past is that Minneapolis, despite being a fairly large metropolitan area, absolutely sucks for bass retail. I've never been able to get them without going mail and for some reason that's meant not getting them at all. Your post is the most applicable thus far.
KO

I understand- I live in the middle of cornfields and soybeans in Central Illinois and don't go to The Land of Wrigley much (and never the City of Bad Beer down in Missouri). Plus I used to manage a guitar store so I really really don't like doing the mail-order thing. Having said that, after a couple of bad experiences with trying to get some specific strings (having to order and pay for a whole box, then they ordered the wrong ones), I started using Juststrings.com. That's where I got the DR Hi-Beams with the 0.130 B. No one here even knew that DR had that as an option, let alone be willing to order a set for me to try unless I wanted to pay full-boat on 'em (in the store's defense, it does take a full box order to get any reasonable wholesale break, otherwise the store's paying what most places retail them for).

I do like those strings very very much (enough passion for you? ) and I've been using the 4-string sets on my US Laklands pretty regularly since about 1999.

John

 

[knuckle_head]

If tonal consistency from string-to-string is the goal, then fanned frets are the way forward.

Really?

Redesign the instrument because of string choice issues? Overkill IMO.

That is not to dis Sheldon or his work/instruments. The better part of his design is ergonomic - that string sets have been wrong for decades and fan frets happen to correct their shortcomings is pure happenstance.

...and if you think B is enhanced by 37" you should experience 39.5" or even 42" - what flies well on 37" at .130 could be as light as .118 with awesome tension and huge overtones.

 

[okcrum]

35" Skyline. The strings are .040 to .128, stainless as linked in the original post. Not "Mark King light" by any stretch. What strings are among your "liked" list? That is the point of this thread.

KO

The ones I endorse. I'd buy them list if I had to.

 

[ixlramp]

kraigo, the 55-01 looks to be through-body stringing only, so the distance from ball-end to saddle may be large. Have you ever managed to use a tapered B and get the taper on the saddle? DR long-necks apparently have a long tapered section that would work when stringing through-body as Chasarms suggested.

Also, if a B string contacts the saddle at full gauge, and goes down at a steep angle to the string-through hole, then it may be going over the saddle in a curved shape, instead of a sharp kink, because a string that thick doesn't bend well. This curve could be affecting the tone.

What does anyone think about this? Could this be the problem?

Perhaps you could try forming a kink at the saddle by pressing the string down hard either side of the saddle. The string should come off the saddle in a straight line towards the nut. This is something I always do when stringing up.

These probably have tapers too short for your 55-01, but check out Link Removed. They are the best designed strings I know of, ultra-flexible and excellent for low tunings. There are some reviews here where people are saying they are the best B strings they've tried.

 

[kraigo]

kraigo, the 55-01 looks to be through-body stringing only, so the distance from ball-end to saddle may be large. Have you ever managed to use a tapered B and get the taper on the saddle? DR long-necks apparently have a long tapered section that would work when stringing through-body as Chasarms suggested.

The Lakland bridge will do either through-body or not.

KO

 

[martyman5000]

I went to see band a while back and the young guy was playing a 5 string. The music was sorta muse style and the bass sounded almost like a Sub woofer tone...I really dug it keep thinking about buying one or can you tune a 4 to sound that low? I really have not spent much time tuning down...dried drop D it didn't really do anything for me.

 

[Kenner]

Kraigo, Music-Go-Round in Roseville and Burnsville both carry em....

 

[Ric5]

I never met a 4 string bass that I liked.

 

[BassLife77]

Most top players use 4 string basses. I have read many interviews where they have said they cannot get the clarity out of a low b string. I played a 5 string for a while. When you really think about it, all a low B does is give you a total of 5 lower notes than a 4 string. Is it really worth it?

depends on your playing style. If a bassist just bangs on the root note in every song then a 5 string bass isn't neccesary. If you play a lot of melodic lines and chords then a 5 string string is great because you have more notes to work with without jumping all over the neck

 

[plangentmusic]

I never met a 4 string bass that I liked.

So you only use the B string?

 

[plangentmusic]

depends on your playing style. If a bassist just bangs on the root note in every song then a 5 string bass isn't neccesary. If you play a lot of melodic lines and chords then a 5 string string is great because you have more notes to work with without jumping all over the neck

Ah, so those who chose a 4 just bang roots and those who choose a 5 are the melodic players. Gotcha.

Actually, chord voicings on a B string tend to sound awful, as they would with any instrument in that register.

 

[REV]

I have a Modulus Genesis 5 string with a 35" scale. It has the the best low B I have ever played. Period.

 

[PaulMacCnj]

I play a 5 and a 4. If it's a 4, 5 or any other number of strings, basses (like all instruments) vary greatly across all the brands and models. There is no "one size fits all". B strings tend to be especially subject to these differences. Then, of course, there are all the combinations of string brands, materials and construction that can make it quite a big quest for a nice playing and sounding B string. I currently have GHS Boomers on a 35" scale, 5 string bass and am pleased with the B. Other nice strings that I've tried are DR Lo Riders.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I'm not sure I've ever met a G string I've liked. I consider them a necessary evil.


My favorite B strings are on my Sadowskys, which are 34". They are extremely well balanced with the other strings, even on my Sadowsky P-basses which don't have a bridge pickup. I now prefer fretted E in the same way I've almost always preferred fretted A, even back when I was four-stringing. I often play classic rock songs five frets higher up than I would on four: I start on the B string rather than the E, which gives me more room up top to work with.

I tend to prefer taperwound B strings, but non-tapered can sound good too.

It's probably been mentioned, but intonation is especially critical on the low B. With a good bass that's been properly intonated, you can play low B string even above the 12th fret.

 

[Mayers]

I don't like big B strings at all. I find that must set with a ,100 E and a ,130 B are just not even in sound and in feel. I prefer a ,100 E and a ,120 B or a ,110 E and a ,135 B.

 

[ilmaio]

I tend to prefer taperwound B strings, but non-tapered can sound good too.

It's probably been mentioned, but intonation is especially critical on the low B. With a good bass that's been properly intonated, you can play low B string even above the 12th fret.

I had the same problem of the OP, i was always unhappy with the low B sound and definition.
I tried nickelplated, stainless steel and flatwound strings, but always with the same result: low B too muddy and too separate from the others strings and intonation problem.

Than a couple of days ago i tried a tapered lowB (d'addario half rounds 130) and to my ears is a lot better!
The notes are more defined, tight, with more overtones; the right intonation is also a lot easier to achieve, and the sound is more even with other strings.

For me the problem of most lowBs is that bridge saddles are not properly designed to accomodate such big strings, so the problem of intonation and muddines.

For me tapered B string is the way to go.

 

[Atticus]

I happen to like the string spacing on my ESP LTD more than my Fender copy. I rarely actually use the B string for more than a thumbrest, but being able to play songs in Eb or drop D without switching basses is nice. It doesn't sound exactly like the original, but it's not something worth nitpicking over.

 

[12bass]

Really?

Redesign the instrument because of string choice issues? Overkill IMO.

That is not to dis Sheldon or his work/instruments. The better part of his design is ergonomic - that string sets have been wrong for decades and fan frets happen to correct their shortcomings is pure happenstance.

...and if you think B is enhanced by 37" you should experience 39.5" or even 42" - what flies well on 37" at .130 could be as light as .118 with awesome tension and huge overtones.

It may be a combination of string design along with scale length. Even with 34" scale, I find that the low-E tends to be darker sounding than the other strings. Actually, with parallel frets, the norm appears to be that, as the fundamental pitch decreases, each lower string tends to have less upper-harmonic content than the previous string. Using the piano-like technique of making the speaking length longer as pitch goes down mitigates this issue. And, FWIW, I don't think that variable speaking length is a trivial solution. Rather, I'd suggest that it addresses the problem fairly directly.

As for the suggestion of different strings, on my Rapture 5 I've found that the tapered low-B in the Pedulla 5-string set sounds more harmonically alive and more like the low-E than non-tapered sets I've tried.