Hi Folks
I've been playing electric bass for 10 years and just recently picked up a Sam Shen 1/2 size double bass. It came with steel strings but I wanted to try gut strings. I ordered a set of Superior Bassworks Standard Dirty Gut strings. I installed them starting with the G and worked my way up to the E. Not being used to gut strings I missed the lower octave on the A and E and kept winding (worriedly) until I hit a higher E and A but by now I knew I had overtightened the strings. I backed them off but I wonder if they are stretched beyond usefulness. They seem very slack ( especially the E) It's playable but I wonder if I should replace them. Is there a way to judge which octave to tune to other than the tension in the string. Sorry for the newbie questions any help appreciated.
Congrats on the Shen 1/2!
Your Superior BassWorks (SBW) string problem is sort of unusual and I've never encountered someone having tuned up to octave E and A like that before. That's actually pretty amazing. I would guess that the strings might recover, but with a 1/2 size DB I can imagine the strings are always going to be looser than normal, so it may be hard to tell if the strings have recovered or not...
The only thing I can suggest is try the thickest 4 of all 6 of the strings in the "bump" pack (.170" E, .155" A, .130" D and.105" G) to try to get higher tension and usable strings at concert pitch. While new SBW strings (that haven't been over-stretched) are advertised to fit your 1/2 DB properly, they may not play or sound well at concert pitch on a 1/2 DB.
If these strings don't work out well enough for you, you may need to get different strings, strings that are made for a 1/2 size DB. There are other synthetic strings (and other metal strings) that are available for 1/2 DBs; they'll generally be 3 to 4 times more expensive than SBW strings. Also be aware, there are other metal strings available that may be easier on your hands than the metal strings that you removed from your 1/2 DB.
Also, to be clear, SBW "Standard" Dirty Guts are not real gut strings, they're basically Kevlar core gator-line (like weed wacker) strings. The "Deluxe" Dirty Guts strings are also not real gut, also made of the same gator-line, but they are spiral cut for the length of the strings which makes them feel and look more like real gut, they feel less sticky in high humidity situations, they noticeably move more air and they work very nicely with a bow. As has been mentioned, if you do decide to go with real gut, they're going to be much more expensive than SBW strings, and probably even more so for a 1/2 size DB.
Btw, be aware that SBW strings are unusual in that they stretch a lot more than real gut or synthetic or metal strings before breaking. Had you done the same with these other strings, they probably would have snapped before you were 2 steps sharp.
Even on a 3/4 DB, if you're playing acoustic (no amp), you may find that the SBW E and A strings of any of the bump pack's gauges just are not loud and clear enough. Many of us have found that to be the case with SBW E and A strings on our DBs. They are fine with an amp or over a PA, but the E and A strings just don't cut through while playing acoustically with other instruments. I've heard the same problem discussed with some real gut E and A strings, so this is really nothing new.
Just as an example of something that does work, I use SBW Deluxe Dirty Guts for my D (.105"} and G {.095") strings and Innovation Silver Slaps E and A strings on my 3/4 DB. This mixed set produces good volume and clarity on all strings and they cut through in an acoustic instrument group very nicely. They do also sound fine when amped or with a PA.
Lastly, if you do decide on new strings, I'd suggest a visit to
Gollihur Music's string section to look around at everything that is available; a huge amount of free learning is available there.
Best of luck with all this!
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