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Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

#56,343
br1qbat said:
I use these, but play B-E-A-D. I just throw out the highest string. Even though the E is 'only' .105, it def is stiff [in a good way]. These strings are amazing and keep that fresh roundwound snap even after a year.
View attachment 4370503
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Thanks for the recommendation…

I probably should give some stainless steel strings a whirl at some point, and based on my experience with the Geezer Black Beauties I would DEFINITELY be willing to stick with DRs…

Thanks! \m/
 
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#56,344
For the thickest E-string you can get away with, it seems like a lot of it will depend on the bass and how much tension a string can handle before it snaps, right? A wooden instrument is more likely to bow and warp. With the tension @El_Charro is are talking about might necessitate a graphite (eg; Modulus) or aluminum (EGC). At the very least, lots of laminates to the wood.

@br1qbat's 5-string set is a good rec bc you can go heavier w/ all four stings, keeping a more uniform tension on the neck. Just having a big E-string seems like a recipe for a twisted neck.

The biggest string that I played was a 160 gauge low-A on a friend's bass. It was really big and quite taut. I can't imagine it being tuned much higher.
 
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#56,345
I clearly remember an NBD thread here on TB a few months ago, where someone had found a four string bass at Guitar Center with a badly bowed neck. Of course GC didn't try to do anything about it. The bassist (I don't remember who it was) then bought it very cheap on the off chance that he'd be able to cure that neck. At home, he realized the lowest string was strangely thick.... Turned out it was a B string, which had been put in the E string position and tuned to E, resulting in enormous string tension which had caused the neck to bow. He took that thick string off, and over the next few days the neck morphed itself back into a trouble free bass neck.

Such is the impact of tuning a thick string out of its comfort zone.
 
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#56,346
Flamingo21 said:
I clearly remember an NBD thread here on TB a few months ago, where someone had found a four string bass at Guitar Center with a badly bowed neck. Of course GC didn't try to do anything about it. The bassist (I don't remember who it was) then bought it very cheap on the off chance that he'd be able to cure that neck. At home, he realized the lowest string was strangely thick.... Turned out it was a B string, which had been put in the E string position and tuned to E, resulting in enormous string tension which had caused the neck to bow. He took that thick string off, and over the next few days the neck morphed itself back into a trouble free bass neck.

Such is the impact of tuning a thick string out of its comfort zone.
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Goodness, I'd be terrified of that thing snapping. What a blunder
 
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#56,347
YawningJorin said:
Goodness, I'd be terrified of that thing snapping. What a blunder
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I've been hit by a string that snapped, more startling than anything else but it did sting a bit too.

Flamingo21 said:
Lol. Sometimes you need a photo to actually see what's there, don't you. Have fun cleaning up.

By the way, I can't imagine doing a day job in a room with that much distraction, especially if the distraction consists of All The Things I Really Wanna Do. Kudos for that.
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Same here, when I use my home office I don't get nearly the amount of work done for the same reason. Oddly though when I get chugging away in the zone with music going, I punch out some damn good stuff pretty quick. Goes both ways I guess.

In the family doom band news, got my daughter her first kit. Her Bday is this week and figured it was a good surprise. She recently started sitting on my kit and trying to play along with me, so it felt like a no brainer. Awesome how the kiddos love the heavy stuff, pumped to see if they are into playing it too. But just playing with them is already fun, might start a noise project with em hahaha!
20210815_204211.jpg


The newest member got to test it out last night. The purple isn't as dark as I thought it would be.
 
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#56,349
Flamingo21 said:
Lol. Sometimes you need a photo to actually see what's there, don't you. Have fun cleaning up.

By the way, I can't imagine doing a day job in a room with that much distraction, especially if the distraction consists of All The Things I Really Wanna Do. Kudos for that.
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Hehe, I'm not saying I'm the most diligent worker. There are times when I'm walking in or out of the room, start noodling, and then don't realize how long I've been doing it until the screensaver pops up on my work machine. When that happens, it snaps me out of my trance and I rush back over to it. If I don't, I'll continue to fool around for even longer.

Novarocker said:
Same here, when I use my home office I don't get nearly the amount of work done for the same reason. Oddly though when I get chugging away in the zone with music going, I punch out some damn good stuff pretty quick. Goes both ways I guess.
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I haven't even had a choice to go in for work for more than a year. And similar to when I start noodling, when I actually am working and am engaged in trying to figure out a problem, I can get totally entranced. There will be at least a couple of times a week where I think "ok, just looking at this for a bit longer" when it's time to stop working, and the next thing I notice is I've been there for two hours. So, that probably is the explanation for why my mid-afternoon noodling excursions don't get me in trouble. :D
 
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#56,351
scabpicker said:
Heheh, I've been playing bass/guitar for going on four decades now. I didn't even hit BEAD tuning until recently. Really, what are you seeking with a thicker E? Just higher tension and resistance to your fingers, or a different sound? I ask because back when I was younger, it truly seemed that most bass strings were more rigid than the average one is today. As @lucas303 points out, you can get away with a thicker string w/lower tension with a shorter scaled bass. But really, I love my short scale basses because they kind of feel like guitars when you're playing them. It's ridiculously easy to bend and generally screw around on them compared to a 34" scale bass, even though there is a lot of variation even in the longer scale.

If you just like the feel of a thicker string, find a 5-string 30" scale set, throw it on an appropriate scaled machine after taking your rat tailed files to the nut to widen it appropriately, and go to town. That's basically what I did with my BEAD bass, but I tuned it to the lower tuning, because that was my goal (and yeah E on the 34" would be very high tension). If you mess up widening the nut, then you're out a nut replacement. That sucks, but it's not horrible.

If you just like the feel of more rigid strings, or you like the sound of strings under higher tension, then yeah, that is a different question.


Heh, I have nothing to add other than (I think again) to note that your cat and the cat I have that fixates on me looks suspiciously like yours.
View attachment 4370171

But, to make it relevant, the room she sleeps in all day is filled with stuff to rock with (and yeah, it's where I do my day job, too).
View attachment 4370174

Edited to add: Jeebus, that is a large amalgamation of crap. You should see the other side of the room, or even the other desk in the corner you don't see in the pic, or the mixing board - they're both obscured by the hat. I really need to clean this place up.
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(Notes lack of actual bed, and plethora of gear. Nods slowly.)
 
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#56,352
I personally wouldn't go any higher than 105 for a low E. I used to use really heavy strings, but I eventually realized that I could get a better sound by playing with a lighter touch on lighter strings.

I'd like to know what Al Cisneros uses for his 5-string Ricks, especially when he tunes down to Bb. There's a lot of information about his setup, but I haven't seen anything about what strings he prefers.
 
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#56,354
Kaa said:
(Notes lack of actual bed, and plethora of gear. Nods slowly.)
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Hey! The kitty is sitting on a Japanese style futon. But yeah, outside of Japan a grass filled mat covered with two other mats is not considered "furniture" very often.

There's an actual "bed" somewhere in this house. I make it there every few weeks or so. :D
 
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#56,355
Novarocker said:
I've been hit by a string that snapped, more startling than anything else but it did sting a bit too.



Same here, when I use my home office I don't get nearly the amount of work done for the same reason. Oddly though when I get chugging away in the zone with music going, I punch out some damn good stuff pretty quick. Goes both ways I guess.

In the family doom band news, got my daughter her first kit. Her Bday is this week and figured it was a good surprise. She recently started sitting on my kit and trying to play along with me, so it felt like a no brainer. Awesome how the kiddos love the heavy stuff, pumped to see if they are into playing it too. But just playing with them is already fun, might start a noise project with em hahaha!View attachment 4371263

The newest member got to test it out last night. The purple isn't as dark as I thought it would be.
Click to expand...
My son has the same kit - but in green!
 
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#56,357
hardtop said:
I'm most impressed by her 3rd hand.
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Right? Threw me off for a sec.

@kleinenenten not a bad kit for the cash, wasn't bad to put together. Spent a little time tuning the heads. Probably find her a high hat and give her my ozone crash. She keeps asking me to play with her. Just noise but she can somewhat keep a beat on the full kit. Stoked that she's into it!

br1qbat said:
Best rounds I've ever used and my go-to string
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Been on the fence for ages about trying those or super brights. Love my slinkies, but they do die semi quick. Good to know they're highly recommended and last a bit.
 
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#56,359
5BBC2679-F541-4425-A29A-2AD46E5BF550.png


Super random question, but can anyone please recommend some good Doom/Stoner Metal bands to fall asleep to???…

Realized recently that a lot of my insomnia issues are most likely being caused by work stress so I’ve started listening to music on noise canceling headphones to fall asleep to distract me like I used to do in high school and college (kinda how I got into Type O Negative in high school-I would put on October Rust and try to relax and block things out of my brain)…

Not really sure how I got out of the habit of listening to music to fall asleep, but I did and I need to bring that habit back…

I realize a lot of the genre sounds good at ear crushing volumes, but there are only so many hours in the day to listen to loud music :-( and I feel like I need to listen to something more structured at work bc I find my mind wandering if I listen to Stoner Metal when I’m working…

I was listening to Warp Riders by The Sword the other night-The end the album had some borderline redundant riffs which really helped my mind relax some…

This list was helpful, but not very long and I know there’s gotta be more options than what’s on this list: 11 Great Space Rock + Metal Albums You Need To Know

Along the lines of that album-I have Googled “Space Metal Bands” so I have gone looking for other suggestions, but I would be curious if anyone else had suggestions for similar music to that album bc people on this thread have a lot better taste in music than most places I’ve found…

Dopes To Infinity by Monster Magnet is has a similar idea to that album, but beyond that I could use some guidance for other albums that sound similar (Hopefully the Space Rock/Metal description makes sense)…Just trying to find something that makes my mind wanna not focus on this planet as I’m trying to rest…

I plan on listening to Windhand bc I LOVE that chick’s voice and most of their stuff is pretty slow paced…Does anyone know of any other bands that sound similar to them???

No wrong answers here-Just looking for something somewhat hypnotic to listen to at the end of the day…

Thanks! \m/
 
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