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Pro/Con Piccolo String Gauges?

R

Rockstar

Feb 19, 2008
8
0
#1
I have a Fender Mexi-Jazz 5, 22 frets (which I'm pretty sure is 34", right?). I want to make it exactly one octave up, including the B, so to tune it B-E-A-D-G.

I will most likely be ordering D'Addarios from JustStrings.

__A__|__B__
.025 or .028 for the high G. Will .028 be able to do this?

.032 or .035 for the high D

.042 or .045 for the high A

.055 or .060 for the high E

.075 or .080 for the high B

I'm inclined to go with the heavier for each of these options because of the long scale (so basically column B there). I think overall I will be more comfortable with thicker strings, but more importantly I want to keep a bass feel, tension, and tone as much as possible.

Pros/Cons of the small differences in gauge?


For reference, D'Addario does offer a packaged 4 string set that is [.020 .032 .042 .052] but I'm pretty sure that .020 is just plain steel, and the .025 and .028 are actually nickel wound.

Thank you.
 
#2
Yeah the D'Addario piccolo .020 is a plain indeed. The .025 and .028 are wound, I use them myself.

Working through the string physics the rough result is to half the gauge for an equal tension octave up.

So for example 130 100 80 60 40 -> 65 50 40 30 20, hence the D'Addario piccolo gauges.

So just half the gauges you like for standard BEADG, if the result is between 2 gauges choose the lower gauge. You may find the strings feel tighter even though they are at equal tension. So you could use a gauge just a little under a half.

The problem is with the octave up G, small roundwounds have thin cores, the .025 may have a .013 or .011 core. No roundwound can get to that pitch.

Many bassists dislike plain strings, and some they are too loud, too bright. The solution I find is to reduce the gauge, reducing tension, softening their tone. I recommend trying .018 .017 .016. I find plain .020s too stiff for good tone. Some guitar plains are just long enough (D'Aquisto Rotosound) just thread a bass ball-end onto the string.

Otherwise Link Removed.
 
#3
ixlramp said:
The problem is with the octave up G, small roundwounds have thin cores, the .025 may have a .013 or .011 core. No roundwound can get to that pitch.

Many bassists dislike plain strings, and say they are too loud, too bright. The solution I find is to reduce the tension to soften and quieten their tone. I recommend trying .018 .017 .016. I find plain .020s too stiff for good tone. Some guitar plains are just long enough (D'Aquisto Rotosound) just thread a bass ball-end onto the string.
Click to expand...

Wait, so are you saying that the .025 couldn't be a high G string at all? That I will have to get a plain?

Thanks for the info! This is exactly what I needed to know.
 
#6
ixlramp said:
Working through the string physics the rough result is to half the gauge for an equal tension octave up.

So for example 130 100 80 60 40 -> 65 50 40 30 20, hence the D'Addario piccolo gauges.

So just half the gauges you like for standard BEADG, if the result is between 2 gauges choose the lower gauge. You may find the strings feel tighter even though they are at equal tension. So you could use a gauge just a little under a half.
Click to expand...

Looking at the daddario tension chart pdf, halving the gauge for octave-up often results in a slightly higher tension. So I recommend using a gauge slightly lower than half. Because thinner strings at the same tension have a tighter feel I think it's better to be a little looser than a littlle tighter ;)
 
#8
ixlramp said:
Yep :) The thin core can't take the tension. I think you might like a .018p, should be fairly tight.
Click to expand...

So you're recommending D'Acquisto or Rotosound .018 steel plains? Thank you.

bassbrad said:
I use the D'Addario XL piccolo set and the gauges are
.020
.032
.042
.052
Click to expand...

Can you tell me how you like each string? .052 seems pretty thin for that E string when most D strings only a whole step below in pitch are .060 or .065. And how is the .020 G string?
 
#9
Rockstar said:
So you're recommending D'Acquisto or Rotosound .018 steel plains?
Click to expand...

Yep they'll probably reach the tuner post but there's more chance if the post is close to the nut as on a 4+1 headstock and you have a top-loading bridge. It's worth a try because they're so cheap. I asked to unwind one in a shop and measured it against a bass, to the bemusement of the staff :D

Standard EADG sets for example 105 85 65 45 have the E string looser than the other strings. The D'Addario piccolo set matches these tensions so the octave-up E is looser than the others, and therefore looser than a standard 65 D.
 
#10
Oh and i forgot to say, the gauge-halving rough rule doesn't work going from wounds to plains. Plains have more mass for the same gauge, therefore more tension. Plains of .018 to .026 have the tension of a wound that is .002 larger. So the rough rule becomes, halve the gauge and lower by .002 ;) Hence .045 -> .022 -> .020p and .040 -> .020 -> .018p.
 
#11
Get a D'Addario Piccolo set and use the A string from a regular set just tune it to B One step wont make a difference. I use to do it all the time. If you don't like the plain steel 18 gauge string. Ken Smith makes a 20 wound that will work It's meant to be tuned to F but as I said, one step aint gonna make that big a difference.
 
#12
I just found that GHS makes a piccolo set of [.018 .030 .040 .050], so I've ordered that along with a .065 GHS. Thanks for all the information everyone, I'll let you know how these strings are.

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