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So I saw a thread on "Floppy B strings".....
- Thread starter 4string4ever
- Start date
Had a Spector Q5 for a little while. The B string wasnt floppy, but for some reason sounded a little quieter than the other strings. Ive heard this could be due to the pickup height, etc, or sometimes it just, happens. The tension was good though.
I have owned several Korean Spectors. I never found the B to be floppy on any of them. I even tuned down a couple times, and it still sounded solid.
-Mike
-Mike
Figjam said:
I have a 34" spector euro and the B isnt floppy and i am usually tuned down a half step. But I noticed my B isnt as loud as the other strings and doesnt sustain as well. *shrug*
My fretless Rebop 5 is tight & even across all 5 strings- if it was a bit wider, I'd never look at another fretless.
I remember posting about this subject, and I haven't bothered to look it up. If a bass is a 34'' scale, shouldn't the string tension be at least "x" amount? 34" is 34" (or 34.5 is 34.5), right? Strings can have different tensions, but is there anyway possible for string tension to be different on different basses with the same scale length and the same strings?
I played a Spector custom-shop 5 at a Sam Ash some time ago, and the B was as tight as one could hope for. This particular Spector was one of a very limited production run with a single Villex pickup and some special mid-blend-pan knob in it... was very, very nice. Does anyone have any additional information on these? Apparently, not many were made, but man was it nice.
Scale isn't the only thing that affects tension. The angle over the nut, distance from the nut, string gauge, and (suposivly) string through bodies alter the tension on strings.
Ray
Ray
I own a Spectorcore 5 (35" scale) and have no problem with B string tension. I have also tuned it down and still been tight. The clarity is also good down to low B. It's sometimes a tad muddy when just used with the EMG (without the Peizo pup), but that could also be due to my old-as-dirt Peavey TNT 100 amp! Through my church PA, tone clarity is good.
Stinsok said:
Probably the biggest factor in the overall "tightness" of a B string is the stiffness of the bass itself. A stiff neck will resist deflecting as the string vibrates; a less stiff neck will deflect and vibrate more, which basically sucks the vibrating energy out of the string.
So although the basic tension of the resting string may be the same, once you put that string into motion, there are MANY possible ways for different basses of the same scale length to have different feel - variation from one piece of maple to the next can be pretty drastic. Factor in everything - neck woods, body woods, bolt-on vs neck-through, hardware, construction methods - and you see how you end up with some very good and some very crappy basses.
Bad_Habit_Bassist said:
Actually, yes it is. I think what you might mean is tension isn't the only thing that affects the overall impression of tightness.
Bad_Habit_Bassist said:
Of these, only string gauge alters the tension of the string at pitch. And you'll usually find that going from a .120 to a .130 B string doesn't make a whole lot of difference - that's because the strings tension is carried by the core wire of the string, and the .120 and .130 probably use the same core wire. The increase in overall guage is usually gained by thicker wrap wire. Bump it up to a .145 or so and you'll get a thicker core wire and a significant change in overall tightness - IF your bass is up to handling the increased tension.
The other things may affect the overall feel somewhat, but the most significant factors in having a tight B string are overall stiffness of the instrument, scale length, and string gauge.
A poorly built 35" bass will have a weak B string; a well built 34" bass will have a good B string. Longer scale length is not a guarantee of a good B string, but it does make it more likely to be good.
Trip's custom Alembic 8:
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The web site says it's 34" scale, but actually, it's a 32" scale, as Trip says here:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1840784&postcount=9
I heard him play this thing a while back at a NAMM Summersession when he first got it, and the B string sounded EXCELLENT.
The bottom line is, you don't need a 35" or even a 34" scale to have a great B string if the bass is made and setup right (which I think is the crux of this entire thread).
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
The web site says it's 34" scale, but actually, it's a 32" scale, as Trip says here:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1840784&postcount=9
I heard him play this thing a while back at a NAMM Summersession when he first got it, and the B string sounded EXCELLENT.
The bottom line is, you don't need a 35" or even a 34" scale to have a great B string if the bass is made and setup right (which I think is the crux of this entire thread).
Stinsok said:
also haow many times the string is wrapped aroung the tuning peg will affect tension. if its wrapped as many times as possible it will be tighter than if it is wrapped around only once.
HollowMan227 said:
Those basses were designed by Michael Oughton, manager of Sam Ash in Richmond, VA. I work at Sam Ash in Charlotte. He told me about those basses. They had a humbucking Villex pickup. I don't think there were many, like 12 or so. The electronics used Villex's mid control and an Aguilar OBP-1. Aguilar's controls on that unit are passive boost (with an active circuit) only, and combined with the Villex passive mid pot that made a sweet sounding 3-band EQ. I believe more info is on the Spector site.
