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Low B gauge question

gimmeagig

gimmeagig

Feb 25, 2004
2,891
1,198
Coeur D'Alene,Idaho
#1
Sorry about posting this, it has been covered I know but when I do a search for low B the engine won't give me anything because "B" is too short.I could not find a way around that.
Anyway,I just go another 5 string bass (Atelier Z, love it!) and I don't know what strings are on there now .
I don't know if it's the bass or the gauge of the low B but it sounds a lot better than the B on my other 5 string basses(Moon JB 5 and KSD Proto J)
I am a Marcus Miller fan and of course play DR fatbeams.
The gauge for the low B I currently use is .125.
I don't have a caliper to measure the string on my Atelier Z with but it seems thicker.Maybe a .135.
What gauge do you guys use? What are the pros and cons of thinner vs thicker B strings.
I love the sound of Marcus Millers low D and I want to get that sound on a 5 string, but have not been able to.
Maybe it's just the low tension of a tuned down E string that creates that funky D???
 
#8
bassist4dalord said:
I bought a Gary Willis book, and he says that if you play higher than the 7th fret on the B and want it to sound good, you need at least a .130, .135 would be better.
Click to expand...

Are you completely sure about that? While "sound good" is a relative term, it's more the exact opposite, trust me. The thicker of a string you use, the more anemic and harmonically lacking the string becomes when you start fretting higher up - this coming from someone who's gone from .130 to .145 to .135.
General concensus after my experiences is that tonally speaking, the lighter, the better, purely because of the fact that it holds a much more consistent sound when fretting, holding the same character up to - at least - the seventh fret, while sounding good beyond.
The .135 has a nice character when played open, which remains the same up to the fifth or seventh fret, but starts to sound anemic beyond that, while the .145 starts to sound muted and old already at the fifth fret, if you compare to the open string and first three frets.
Thus, a thicker string will have more of a difference, quicker, when you start fretting, in the shape of less harmonics and more fundamental.
 
#9
Very interesting.About two years ago I switched from a 135 to a 125 but I don't remember reall what the difference was.The sound I'm after is the one I'm getting when I uses my D tuner on my 74 Jazz.That detuned Marcus Miller sound.
The low D is deep and feels kind of floppy and it is harmonically rich.Not just a thick fundamental.
I wish I had a couple of different gauge B strings to experiment.I have three relatively similar 5 string basses(Jazz on steroids)So It could be fun to check out side by sidewhat the differences really are.
As far as having the B string sound good up high on the neck,I don't care as much about that.Anything I do using the low B usually occurs below the 5 th fret.
Somebody once said"There's no money above the 5th fret"
I'm not sure if that is still true for the 5.It might be!
 
#10
When I want an ultra-fat vibe I take entire patterns and move them to the next lower-pitched string and 5 frets up. Playing what was anchored to the E or A string this way on a good B string makes the conventional fingering seem rather anemic.

So I ask, where's the money, really? ; }
 
#11
gimmeagig said:
Sorry about posting this, it has been covered I know but when I do a search for low B the engine won't give me anything because "B" is too short.I could not find a way around that.
Anyway,I just go another 5 string bass (Atelier Z, love it!) and I don't know what strings are on there now .
I don't know if it's the bass or the gauge of the low B but it sounds a lot better than the B on my other 5 string basses(Moon JB 5 and KSD Proto J)
I am a Marcus Miller fan and of course play DR fatbeams.
The gauge for the low B I currently use is .125.
I don't have a caliper to measure the string on my Atelier Z with but it seems thicker.Maybe a .135.
What gauge do you guys use? What are the pros and cons of thinner vs thicker B strings.
I love the sound of Marcus Millers low D and I want to get that sound on a 5 string, but have not been able to.
Maybe it's just the low tension of a tuned down E string that creates that funky D???
Click to expand...

I use a 125 but my teacher who has the same bass as I do, Warwick Corvette, uses a 120 and swears by it. I think the 125 sounds pretty darn good, even when the bass is tuned down a half step.
 

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