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Piccolo Bass Club!!
- Thread starter BassClef 2010
- Start date
For a high C4 treble string (ADGC tuning), a .018p - thinnest commonly available plain string with bass ball-end - could work but would be pretty tight at 30" scale (over 45 pounds' tension) more so on a 32" scale (over 50 lbs), let alone 34" (a little under 60 lbs).
For comfortable tension, personally I would go with a .017" (short scale) / .016" (medium scale) / .015" (long scale), tops.
I'm not aware of any companies offering these gauges for bass (I haven't looked nearly hard enough though), so it would probably have to be either custom-ordered, or a guitar string threaded through a stopper of some kind. Once again, to the best of my knowledge the type of steel used for guitar or bass plains is the exact same.
EDIT - for the (Hendrix) record, on his 34" scale Keisel B24 signature, Bromberg uses a .011" for the high C (for about 20 lbs tension):
https://bassmagazine.com/artists/brian-bromberg-talks-bromberg-plays-hendrix
For comfortable tension, personally I would go with a .017" (short scale) / .016" (medium scale) / .015" (long scale), tops.
I'm not aware of any companies offering these gauges for bass (I haven't looked nearly hard enough though), so it would probably have to be either custom-ordered, or a guitar string threaded through a stopper of some kind. Once again, to the best of my knowledge the type of steel used for guitar or bass plains is the exact same.
EDIT - for the (Hendrix) record, on his 34" scale Keisel B24 signature, Bromberg uses a .011" for the high C (for about 20 lbs tension):
https://bassmagazine.com/artists/brian-bromberg-talks-bromberg-plays-hendrix
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Might want to check out this thread too!
PICCOLO Bass. Is it just REALLY light strings on just about any bass? Post #80
Update - These strings are very low tension, so you could probably tune them as high as a minor third up (GCFBb). I stopped using them because I tune my regular basses to D Standard (DGCF) and they were too floppy. My piccolo bass remains in standard piccolo tuning (eadg) for now because I can't find thicker strings to tune down a step. D'Addario only makes one gauge for piccolo strings (20-52).
Hi, I want to try to switch my Ibanez TMB35 (30"-5 strings) to piccolo tuning, looks like Ernie Ball's for 8-string guitar are long enough for 30" but what abou tension (24-74)? Any experience? Thank you W.
Tight but not preposterously so (decidedly bassy rather than guitary), is what it looks like.
Extrapolating from the old D'Addario tension chart (the assumption is nickel-plated steel roundwound guitar strings can only have so much variation in tension across brands) and adjusting for scale,
024W @ G3 @ 30" - ~38lbs
032 @ D3 @ 30" - same as the above
044 @ A2 @ 30" - ~40lbs
058 @ E2 @ 30" - a smidgen over 40lbs
074 @ B1 @ 30" - <36lbs
is what I quickly came up with.
The Stringjoy online string tension calculator
(set string no. at 7, overall scale length at 30, gauges for the lowest five as per the Ernie Ball 2629 set, ignore the highest two
Stringjoy Guitar String Tension Calculator )
basically agrees, with slightly higher tension values for each string:
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this works maybe better for tension, hard to say what is ideal tension for piccolo bass with 30" scale
In part, it depends on what you're planning to do with it.
- Have you decided to convert a 5-string because you want it to maintain some low end extension in a sparse group setting? or is it just because a fiver is what you play?
- Do you want it to actually mimic an electric guitar (while having a more bassist-friendly ergonomy), including bending strings? or would you like it to have a tone as distinct from a guitar as possible?
Having a clear idea (well, as clear an idea as possible considering this is the first time you try piccolo) of your goals may help you solve the tension dilemma. In general, an in-between tension range is a good idea.
The only problem with the 7-string sets above is that they're a little less balanced, in terms of tension, than the 8-string one. Later tonight I'll try and see if something more consistent is available in Europe.
@wimpy
Much learned wisdom in this, my experience is to try it an see if it works for you. . FWIW I use part of a "baritone" set on my 30" acoustic piccolo bass tuned ADGC and am quite happy with the results. On my newest experiment the Pixie bass in 25" scale I am using the top or highest pitched strings from a standard light guitar set tuned DGCF to get some higher voices and notes.
Plain strings work well on bass I am using a .020 p for a C string on my hi tuned Five string a Gibson EB14.
thank you for your answer, yes I'm fiver and don't want to change tuning but EADGC is also fine for me...I have some song for CD record where is some intervals (two tones) decreasing harmmony and on regular bass is too fat sounding. Also I like o have some different sound for music inspirations. I realy like that Bromberg's nylon sound but it looks like custom nylon string job (sorry my english)...I'll try these Ernie Ball's and will see ;-)
I finally changed the strings on my Ibanez MiKro fiver tuned to cello pitch CGDAE. This time I settled for roughly 25 and 30 lbs of tension per string for the plains and wounds, respectively. I have a screenshot of the gauges and tensions below.
The higher tension improved the low pickup volume and wonky intonation from my previous setup, and the tone is a little bit more like a piccolo bass (fruity) than an electric guitar (tinny). It feels a fair bit stiffer than the old setup, something that I'm still getting used to.
The higher tension improved the low pickup volume and wonky intonation from my previous setup, and the tone is a little bit more like a piccolo bass (fruity) than an electric guitar (tinny). It feels a fair bit stiffer than the old setup, something that I'm still getting used to.
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I've looked at several sets, and the middle five strings (16p-24-34-46-64) from the Ernie Ball 2628 9-string Slinky set appear to be nice and balanced:
Kytary.cz - ERNIE BALL 2628 Nickel Wound 9-String Slinky Struny pro devítistrunnou elektrickou kytaru
These would be my recommendation.
[You could use the lowest two strings (80, 105) in the future, if you go back to bass tuning: according to what I've read, they get thinner at 31 inches from the ball-end, which is possibly enough for the Ibanez if you allow them to stretch above the fretboard, for a week or so. In the sense that getting the set only to use the middle five strings wouldn't necessarily be a waste of money.]
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What's everyone's favorite genre to play piccolo bass in?
I play heavy metal and hard rock with mine in lieu of a guitar.
I play heavy metal and hard rock with mine in lieu of a guitar.
