Strings for a SS Squier Mikey Way Mustang Bass (Eb)

[ComesATime]

Hey guys,

I really enjoy playing my MW Mustang bass, but this new band I'm playing with tunes in Eb, and the strings on the Mustang bass have too much slack resulting in that undesirable floppy kind of tone. The MW Squier is also my first Short Scale, so I'm kind of going through a trial-by-fire thing here.

I've been poking around the forum looking for other suggestions, and the La Bella flats look like a nice option, but is a 111 gauge suitable? The bass is also a string-through, so would I need strings that are a bit longer to accommodate that?

 

[Gorn]

The labella flats made specifically for the Mustang are 43 60 82 104. I'm sure they'd be fine downtuned a half step.

 

[adamsmatthewj]

And do update on how that sounds/feels! Big fan of the idea of the MW, I used to have a musicmaster but the humbucker in the MW just looks like it would sound fat!
Have you thought about tape wounds? That's prob what I'd put on one, get some real bass throb goin. Shake those subs! (And tape wounds are usually heavier gauge, might be good for tuning down a half)

 

[sigmafloyd]

bump on this. I have one of these coming and also tune down to Eb. Curious what luck the OP has had?

 

[winegamd]

I second the tape wounds. They sound fantastic on the short scale. Just dubby, thumpy, and huge!

 

[iiipopes]

As a Mustang bass, if you go the stock string-through-body, you will need "medium" scale, strings to make sure they clear the nut. The Mustang set of La Bella flatwounds are specifically made for this.

Another option is the D'Addario nickel balanced set in '50's gauge, medium scale, to retain the clarity as you down tune. Remember that any given make and model of string, assuming it is constructed in the same gauge and core/wrap details as a regular string, will have @22% less tension (30^2 / 34^2) than the same string at a standard 34 inch scale, and an additional 12% less tension for tuning down the half step. This makes a regular string really loose and floppy, so that if a string has about 45 pounds of tension at standard gauge, pitch and scale length, that same string will only have 31 pounds of tension, right at limit of how loose a string can be and still be stable, on a Mustang tuned down a half-step.

And if you go up in diameter to make up for it to get the tension back, because a thicker string on a shorter scale does not want to vibrate as easily in its overtones, it will be really thumpy.

Frankly, if you want to play downtuned, I would get another full-scale bass.