I have tried a lot of instruments and never fell in love with any of them till I (very recently) picked up a bass. I have an Ibanez Mikro that is great. I have a Ibanez GAX 70 six string (24.75 scale) that I want to convert to a bass. Any thoughts on string gauge for something that short? It is a bolt-on, so I think tension will not be an issue. Should I go with nylon wrapped? Thank you in advance for any information you can share and thank you for having this website!
Also, I want to move up and try a 32 or 34 inch bass. I have no idea what the converted guitar will sound like (maybe not worth the effort), but it seems like an increase in scale length will create enough of a change in sound from the Ibanez Mikro to be worth trying. Any thoughts on what should be the second Bass in the collection? Budget around $500.
Thanks Again!
A) There are essentially two problems with guitar scale bass strings.
1- Gauges, for which there are two approaches
--- increase gauges up to those typically used for the lowest four of standard 5-string basses. In practice, their low B becomes your low E. This gives you normal bass tension. On the other hand, the lowest string(s) will have less clarity and more of a chorusy component in the tone, especially up the neck;
--- use normal gauges, for less tension, and often keeping to the lighter side of the spectrum (say, 40-95 max). This restores clarity but yields a different playing experience, with a lot less tension. It's not just a matter of it meeting one's preference: the plucking hand touch needs to be controlled in order for the strings not to smash on the frets, and also for the pitch envelope upon the attack - which normally goes sharp, then flat, then Goldi - to be reined in.
Most guitar-scale acoustic basses go a step further and use nylon-core strings, which are more flexible and pitch-stable: they still require a light touch not to flop around, though. These are non-magnetic (nylon on silver-plated copper) and strictly for piezo pickups; however, there are now nylon-core flatwounds that work with magnetic pickups thanks to their metal winding (Galli, Pyramid), or strings with very thin cores (Dogal), or others with extra-flexible braided/stranded/rope-cores (also Dogal).
2- Fitment. Past a certain gauge (080 in my experience), strings can break when directly wound upon the tuning post, because the stiffer they are, the less they like sharp bends. The risk is somewhat reduced the more inherently flexible a string is (roundwound, thin core), the larger the tuning post is, and the lesser the tension (ensured by lower gauge, shorter scale or both), but it's there. Ideally, to avoid the above you need at least the low E (and A, if it's fat) to taper between nut and post. However, since guitar-scale basses aren't common (except parlor-size acoustics, as mentioned above, but most of them use nylon-core strings, as also mentioned), there aren't many sets that fit them correctly.
Two that do are the Fernandes BSZ-2000 (roundwound, 65-125), and the La Bella / Gold Tone MBLS (aka MBSLS on the eBay; flatwound, 49-109).
Alternatives are
--- manually unwinding them to length (better if secured with solder or heat-shrink tubing so that they don't get unwound further);
--- with the thin-gauge approach, as outlined above (a max 095 low E), one could get away with having the unmodified string wound at full gauge on to the post;
--- ordering custom-length strings from manufacturing companies that offer such a service: Stringjoy in the US, Newtone Strings in the UK, Pyramid in Germany (the only one that makes custom flats and nylon tapewounds, besides rounds). As far as I know, all ship worldwide;
--- modifying the instrument to accept standard-length bass strings. In your case, I'd place a bass 4-string stopbar of the Ibanez GAX 70 to the very edge of the body, and be careful to either use the existing 2nd tuner as my new low-E tuner, or anyway place the new tuner in that vicinity (as opposed to an area too close to the nut).
This will allow you to use commonly-available short-scale strings, 32" from ball-end to start of taper. From that point on, you'll be able to decide if you prefer light, heavy or somewhere in between.
You could also combine the far-stopbar trick with string-through-body ferrules, so that medium-scale (34 to 35.5" ball-to-taper) strings also become an option. You could even do stopbar, ferrules AND a pool route in the back of the body (à-la strat vibrato spring compartment, but shallower) with a small stopbar at the end (roughly under the bridge) so that you can chose between short-, medium- and long-scale (37" ball to taper) bass strings!
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B) I'll let others chime in with regard to your next bass. Maybe a five-string. In your shoes, I'd hit a physical store, and noodle around until something speaks to me.
