string mixing

[Hiroi Kikuri]

so i have a 5 string bass and kinda want to go flat wound on the 5 with the rest being wound just for the time being would there be tension issues as i think flats are lower tension?

or go crazy with 5 flat 4th round 3 flat 2 round 1 flat lmaooo or would that murder my neck ( its a cheapo china neck i'll replace anyway down the line

 

[michael_t]

so i have a 5 string bass and kinda want to go flat wound on the 5 with the rest being wound just for the time being would there be tension issues as i think flats are lower tension?

As a general rule, flats are actually stiffer than rounds. So, in terms of playing feel a flatwound low B can balance better with roundwound E-G.

That said, the problem is the potential tonal imbalance. The low B tends to be darker in tone than the other four, so having a flatwound B with roundwound E-G would accentuate it. I've experimented with mix-and-matching the low B on my Yamaha and found the best way to go about it is to use something a step or two brighter for the low B than the rest. For example, flatwound E-G with a roundwound B. Or, nickel E-G with a stainless B, etc.

 

[Ritter667]

so i have a 5 string bass and kinda want to go flat wound on the 5 with the rest being wound just for the time being would there be tension issues as i think flats are lower tension?

or go crazy with 5 flat 4th round 3 flat 2 round 1 flat lmaooo or would that murder my neck ( its a cheapo china neck i'll replace anyway down the line

May I ask what your reasoning behind this unconventional idea is?

That is, what are you hoping to achieve with this?

But to answer your question, as mentioned above, flats have relatively higher tension than rounwounds, meaning that a flatwound string of similar gauge to a given roundwound string will have higher tension, so to retain relative string tension balance you would have to go with a lower gauge flatwound string than you would usually use if it had been a roundwound string.

This string tension caculator might be able to help you: Guitar String Tension Calculator | String Tension Pro | D'Addario

 

[HaphAsSard]

so i have a 5 string bass and kinda want to go flat wound on the 5 with the rest being wound just for the time being would there be tension issues as i think flats are lower tension?

or go crazy with 5 flat 4th round 3 flat 2 round 1 flat lmaooo or would that murder my neck ( its a cheapo china neck i'll replace anyway down the line

First off, what do you mean by "fifth"? Convention would dictate it being the fifth highest (that is to say the lowest, in our case), i.e. the low B.
Just wanted to make sure you also meant that.

 

[michael_t]

go crazy with 5 flat 4th round 3 flat 2 round 1 flat lmaooo or would that murder my neck...

Flats are generally "stiffer" than rounds of similar gauges, but not necessarily "higher in tension" (as in pulling weight). So, no worries about murdering the neck.

 

[Hiroi Kikuri]

yeah B E A D G strings but every other being flat and the rest being round yeah


but okay cool just a cool passing thought for cool tonal options for dist/ OD/ filter effects etc

 

[michael_t]

yeah B E A D G strings but every other being flat and the rest being round yeah

I didn't realize you were talking about having flatwound B, A and G with roundwound E and D in between.

I don't see any practical value in that whatsoever.