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Strings for tuning down...

Hi everybody!
So I've been playing in a band with this dude, a guitarplayer, who likes to tune his whole guitar down 1 tone.... So it's E flat, A flat, D flat and so on...

When I do it my strings become to flappy and loose. Do I buy thick or thin strings to compensate for the looseness?

THanks!
 
Yeah, okay
got any advice on thickness, brand or stuff like that?
I playing 25 gigs with this dude on a 72' fender jazz and a Stringray 5
Mostly rock/pop cover tunes....
And on the lookout for a new bass which can do both of the two basses...
 
Thicker strings for tuning down :)

I think I read somewhere on this forum that you add 0.005" to your gauge for each semi-tone that you want to tune down. So you could use this as a rule of thumb:

.105 E
.110 D#
.115 D
.120 C#
.125 C
.130 B

For tuning down a ½ step I would recommend DR Hi-beams or DR Lo-riders heavy sets (.050"-.110"). It depends on what kind of string sound you are looking for really. But since you are from Denmark, your choice is a bit limited :)

Held og lykke med strengene og koncerterne!
 
you know, i've been trying a lot of different strings for bead tuning on my sterling. i kept making them bigger and bigger and it just sounded worse. finally i just put on a set with .110 for the b, adjusted the relief in the neck a little, and it plays and sounds great. there is less tension, but the notes sound better imo compared to the thicker strings i was using. the action is a little bit higher but it's really not an issue. i think even the low b sounds better with the smaller string. weird huh?
 
you know, i've been trying a lot of different strings for bead tuning on my sterling. i kept making them bigger and bigger and it just sounded worse. finally i just put on a set with .110 for the b, adjusted the relief in the neck a little, and it plays and sounds great. there is less tension, but the notes sound better imo compared to the thicker strings i was using. the action is a little bit higher but it's really not an issue. i think even the low b sounds better with the smaller string. weird huh?

a .110 for low B !? all I can say is wow