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Low B on a 4 String Bass

J

JessicasBoy

Apr 10, 2011
6
0
#1
Howdy Guys. I'm new to the forum and I'd like to ask a question on behalf of my old man, as he's not internet savvy.
Now straight up I'll tell you:
Yes, I am a (lead) guitarist but I have MASSIVE respect for Bass players having learnt bass before going to a shortboard lol Please don't hate me. Bass & Drums is what get's the kids dancing. Lead is for the bar-flies' entertainment :P.

I HAVE searched the forum for an answer to this but haven't found it.

Ok, So Dad plays in my Blues/Rock/Rockabilly band and is awesome. He loves playing his 80's MIJ Fender PJ as the neck is quite narrow (Mesa V12 with 4x10 and 1x15 cabs). He's contemplating getting another bass and stringing it as B E A D as opposed to the regular E A D G. I'm sure this has been done heaps before. What advice do you have for me...err him? Are there any modifications required apart from widening the slot in the nut? Is there a type/brand of string that does this conversion best? Cheers,
Rob.
 
#3
I did the same thing on my Esp les paul bass.

I put on a 135 gauge D'Addario which worked out well coz I didn't have to touch the nut, due to the fact the string tapered off about 1 mm before the nut. (just lucky I think)
I then just had to tweak the truss rod a little to counter the extra tension, and finally a small tweak of the intonation.

Pretty straight forward really, it took about 10 minutes all up.
 
#4
Hey Rob.
Not a problem at all. I've done it several times. I didn't do any adjustments to the guitar, I just put the strings on. But I always then missed having the G string more than liking the B string, and so the "novelty" would wear off and I went back to EADG.

Still I really wanted to have the B *and* the G, so I bought a 5-string (Ibanez SR405 - nice). BUT!!! As a long-time 4-string player, my eyes and fingers were so trained to expect the lowest string to always be a E. And so I felt instantly stupid and lost.

MY SOLUTION to the above transition from 4 to 5 strings was/is to put a colored string on as the B string. Sort like "training wheels". I used a DR "Black Beauty" .125 for the B, and left the EADG strings "normal" color. Instant joy.
 
#5
I've done this on my Warwick Fortress, used a set of Rotosound 45-105 with a 125 for the B and it sounds and plays good.

To widen the nut and give it a decent set up after took me about an hour but I'm new to performing set ups. For someone with experience it would probably be no more than a 15 minute job.
 
#8
JessicasBoy said:
Hey if I can't get another good PJ for the money are there any recommendations on a good guitar with a similar neck?
Click to expand...

There are a few PJ's you can get, hell there's a Fender Aerodyne Jazz Bass (MIJ Fender PJ) for sale in the Classified Section of the forums for cheap. If it's a Fender Jazz bass, it'll have a slim neck and thus you'll want to find a bass with a slim neck, the Aerodyne has that and there are a few other basses that'll advertise a 'jazz' style neck(Sterling by Music Man SB14 for instance, great bargain for the money FYI). Ibanez/ESP basses usually have very slim necks, tighter spacing than jazz basses and then you can also have Stingray/Precision style necks (My preferred neck for 4 strings) that are wider/fatter. If you can get the string spacing or nut width on the current bass it'll be a lot easier to find out what'll suit you.
 
#10
JessicasBoy said:
Cheers. It's actually a Fender PJ (MIJ) bass.....so does it have a 'Jazz' Neck or a 'Precision' neck lol? I'll take some measurements!!
Oh, P.S. I'm in Australia, so Classifieds on here probably wont help me :)
Click to expand...

The jazz bass neck is a lot narrower and slimmer.

Body

Body Shape: Jazz Bass®
Neck

Neck Shape: Modern "C" Shape
Number of Frets: 20
Fret Size: Medium Jumbo
Fretboard Radius: 9.5" (24.1 cm)
Fretboard: Rosewood or Maple
Neck Material: Maple
Nut Width: 1.5" (38.1 mm)


Body

Body Shape: Precision Bass®
Neck

Neck Shape: Modern "C" Shape
Number of Frets: 20
Fret Size: Medium Jumbo
Fretboard Radius: 9.5" (24.1 cm)
Fretboard: Rosewood or Maple
Neck Material: Graphite Reinforced Maple
Nut Width: 1.625" (41.3 mm)

From Invalid Link Removed

The precision neck will also be a bit fatter too.
 
#14
JessicasBoy said:
Really? I thought Basswood was a cheap wood. I looked at the 'speil' for Aerodyne and it was all looks.... which has made me suspicious. Dad plays a PJ same as Duff, which I think is Alder?:cool:
Click to expand...

Basswood is less expensive but it's not a 'cheap' wood(It's used on the EBMM Bongo, not a cheap instrument!). Wood has minimal effect on tone. The Aerodyne maintains a great tone while weighing less. There are other PJ's of course to check out.
 

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