Quick oddball string question......

[BassAndCigars]

I swear I searched for this first but maybe I just phrased the query wrong. Either way I got nothing but I did try.
Let's say you're at a gig or something and your G breaks hypothetically and you have no spare strings but for whatever reason you can get hold of a guitar low E string.
You with me? A guitar low E is usually about a 46 gauge at least on my guitars and so is a bass G string. Any reason that wouldn't work? In a pinch? Just an odd question that popped into my mind.

 

[Xad]

Generally, it'll be too short. Guitar scale length is usually in the range 24.5-25.5 inches, compared to an ordinary bass guitar at 34 inches for the speaking length of the string.

 

[BassAndCigars]

Generally, it'll be too short. Guitar scale length is usually in the range 24.5-25.5 inches, compared to an ordinary bass guitar at 34 inches for the speaking length of the string.

OK I wondered about that. You cut off quite a bit of the guitar string when you restring but even so it might be still too short then. I'd have to take one out of the package I guess and just hold it up to my bass and see but you may be right. I just wondered though *if* it were long enough if it would sound "ok" or if they really are totally different.

 

[BassAndCigars]

And by the way I really was just wondering aloud on this it's not like I'm "asking for a friend" haha or anything.

 

[Jon Moody]

It should work, depending on the bass headstock. Typical guitar winding length is anywhere from 37"-39" winding length, so if the G strung tuner is the closest to the nut, it would work.

 

[Xad]

OP, @Jon Moody is someone who knows what he talking about. Ignore my response!

 

[ctmullins]

The balls on guitar strings are considerably smaller than on bass strings (snicker).

You could snip off the bass ball-end and use it as a washer for the guitar ball-end.

 

[BassAndCigars]

Yeah I realize it's kind of an off the wall question.
So, one wonders further, even if it would fit and you snipped the bass string ball end off and used it like a washer............you would then be tuning an E string up four more notes to G pitch. I wonder if that would work and be ok and stable or what. Might be prone to breakage? Might not.

 

[Manticore]

So let's say, hypothetically, your G string breaks at a gig in the middle of a song. The very best thing to do would be to finish the song adapting to the broken string. Now hang with me here, this is the awesome part, then, at the end of the song you set the bass with a broken string down and pick up your spare bass that's on a stand ready to go and finish the set. Then, during your break, you change the broken set on your main bass with a fresh, spare set, because, you know, you take gigs seriously and come prepared.

All kidding aside. If you're at a gig you should have spares for everything you use at the gig, including strings and bass. Many on this site will come back with "over XX years of gigging I've never needed a spare." No one ever needs a spare...until they do. And? Sorry don't cut it at a gig. Finishing the gig on a bass with one less string kinda sucks.

 

[BassAndCigars]

So let's say, hypothetically, your G string breaks at a gig in the middle of a song. The very best thing to do would be to finish the song adapting to the broken string. Now hang with me here, this is the awesome part, then, at the end of the song you set the bass with a broken string down and pick up your spare bass that's on a stand ready to go and finish the set. Then, during your break, you change the broken set on your main bass with a fresh, spare set, because, you know, you take gigs seriously and come prepared.

All kidding aside. If you're at a gig you should have spares for everything you use at the gig, including strings and bass. Many on this site will come back with "over XX years of gigging I've never needed a spare." No one ever needs a spare...until they do. And? Sorry don't cut it at a gig. Finishing the gig on a bass with one less string kinda sucks.

I totally agree. It was a semi-rhetorical query. I just wondered if there were any reason a guitar low E string would not work for a bass G in a rhetorical pinch.

 

[Killing Floor]

The .063 B on my baritone doesn't feel anything like my D on bass.

But…

This is just one more reason to get another bass!

 

[el murdoque]

When your G String breaks during a gig, just re-tune the bass and carry on like nothing has happened.
No one will notice ;-)

 

[Jon Moody]

Yeah I realize it's kind of an off the wall question.
So, one wonders further, even if it would fit and you snipped the bass string ball end off and used it like a washer............you would then be tuning an E string up four more notes to G pitch. I wonder if that would work and be ok and stable or what. Might be prone to breakage? Might not.

It's not an E string; it's a .046 (typically) guitar string. The construction is pretty close to the .045 bass string that you use for a G string so tuning to pitch shouldn't be an issue. It might feel a bit different (looser, tighter), but it would be stable enough to get you through the gig.

 

[sxaxsx]

When I played rounds and changed strings more often, I didn't like when you changed one string and that one string was brighter than the others. So I always carried a complete old set of strings with me that I could pull from if one broke. Now that I play flats I never change them so I don't have a spare old set, but I do have a new pack in my case.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

My bet is the tension would be insane and pretty much unplayable at pitch.
Your nut/bridge won't like it either.

Then again, you could do your own experiment and give it a try.

An easier solution is just always carry a spare set of used or new strings just in case.

 

[GreyBeard]

Will it work? Maybe. Will it work well? Probably not. Better off to limp through the night on 3 strings. The worse string to break (imho) is the A string. It happened to me once and I just about lost my mind trying to get through the set. I've always carried extra strings so the most I've ever had to limp through is a set.

 

[Jon Moody]

My bet is the tension would be insane and pretty much unplayable at pitch.

It will be fine, provided the string fits on the bass (as already mentioned).

As an example (using a 10-46 guitar set and 45-105 bass set):

NPS Guitar .046 string at 34" scale tuned to G - 43.74lb
NPS Bass .045 string at 34" scale tuned to G - 44.8lb

Your nut/bridge won't like it either.

Your nut/bridge will have no idea of the difference between a .046 guitar string and a .045 bass string.

An easier solution is just always carry a spare set of used or new strings just in case.

I keep the previous set in the gigbag for this exact reason. Easier than bringing a spare bass, and easy enough to string up/tune in a pinch.

 

[4stringfarley]

I actually had a G string break on me. Faulty winding going into the peg came unraveled. I eventually bought a new set 3 months later to put on it when the band finally noticed.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

@Jon Moody, Ah now I see, my reading comprehension was way off.

I had thought we were talking about replacing a bass G string with an E bass string. LOL

Never mind my previous comments, other than holding onto the last installed set of strings.

 

[iiipopes]

I have tried all the above. I actually measured a D'Addario XL bass 45 and a guitar 46. The core of the guitar 46 was a thou or two lesser diameter than the core of the bass 45. So the guitar string will be brighter, but will get a person through a gig, if long enough to span the distance. As Jon said, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

But as also set forth above, the best thing to do is to keep spares at all times. I also keep the set I took off immediately before the set currently on the bass, because a new string will stick out of the mix with its new string zing artificial brightness, but nobody will notice a string that is less bright in the mix. Voice of experience.