SWAP G STRING FOR A D STRING

[steve alcock]

I WAS KINDA WONDERING IF IT WAS PHEASABLE TO REMOVE THE G STRING AND REPLACE IT WITH ANOTHER D STRING AND THEN TUNE IT TO G.
I KNOW THIS SOUNDS TRUELY MAD, BUT JUST WONDERED IF IT WOULD GIVE SOFTER TONES ON THE TOP STRING RATHER THAN THE HIGH PITCH TONES WITHOUT HAVING TO ALTER MY SETTINGS.
WOULD THIS BE A TOTAL MISFIT (like a woman wearing white stilletto`s with black tights...sick ) OR EVEN WORSE DARE I SAY.....SACRALIDGE !
I AM NEW TO THIS GAME SO PLEASE BE GENTLE.

THANKS

 

[dlloyd]

It would not be a clever thing to do.

The tension on a .040 string tuned to G is about 33 lbs. It's fairly similar with the other strings tuned to the correct pitch. Bass necks are designed to cope with that by counteracting that tension with the truss rod.

If you tuned a .060 string to G it would exert 76 lbs of tension to the neck. You don't really want to have unequal tension across the neck as it might damage it, the truss rod is not designed to cope with that.

Edited to correct tensions (they were calculated for guitar scale)

 

[Ten Four One]

What dlloyd said, you don't want to do this. You may want to put a heaver set of strings on your bass, though, or flatwound strings.

 

[vindy500]

SNAP

 

[steve alcock]

Thank guys.

more or less what i expected.
Whats the difference between flat and steel wound in sound and playability ?

 

[dlloyd]

Flats, on the whole, have a less trebley, more mellow tone. You don't get the "squawk" noise from the strings when you change positions. But they're not great for slapping.

They tend to have more tension than round wounds strings, and you'll need to set up the bass.

They'll feel odd for a while when you first use them.

 

[Bassman62]

I WAS KINDA WONDERING IF IT WAS PHEASABLE TO REMOVE THE G STRING AND REPLACE IT WITH ANOTHER D STRING AND THEN TUNE IT TO G.
I KNOW THIS SOUNDS TRUELY MAD, BUT JUST WONDERED IF IT WOULD GIVE SOFTER TONES ON THE TOP STRING RATHER THAN THE HIGH PITCH TONES WITHOUT HAVING TO ALTER MY SETTINGS.
WOULD THIS BE A TOTAL MISFIT (like a woman wearing white stilletto`s with black tights...sick ) OR EVEN WORSE DARE I SAY.....SACRALIDGE ! I AM NEW TO THIS GAME SO PLEASE BE GENTLE.THANKS

It is normal/accepted practice to put a heavier gauge string than the standard G string supplied with the set.
I find that the 0.45 G strings are thin and weak so I always fit a 0.55 which I find gives more punch; luckily for me my local music store in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK will change gauges at your request.
This method is better than overtuning a D string.

 

[steve alcock]

What dlloyd said, you don't want to do this. You may want to put a heaver set of strings on your bass, though, or flatwound strings.

Thanks for reply.
Whats the difference in sound and playability between flat and steel wound strings ?

 

[steve alcock]

Flats, on the whole, have a less trebley, more mellow tone. You don't get the "squawk" noise from the strings when you change positions. But they're not great for slapping.

They tend to have more tension than round wounds strings, and you'll need to set up the bass.

They'll feel odd for a while when you first use them.

mellower is the sound i am looking for, so if i put on a heavier gauge G string and use flatwounds it should deliver what i want but still hit the punch notes aswell.

 

[dlloyd]

A heavier gauge won't do anything to tame the treble, it'll just make the overall sound louder.

 

[Bassman62]

Thanks for reply.
Whats the difference in sound and playability between flat and steel wound strings ?

Both flat and round wound strings are usualy steel although some flat wounds can be tape or nylon,
Round wounds are usualy brighter with more tone; flatwounds are more often associated with the earlier sounds, ie 60s or fretless basses.

 

[steve alcock]

Thanks for the info.
I`ll pop down to my local music shop , see what he has to offer.

thanks again all of you

 

[dlloyd]

Thanks for the info.
I`ll pop down to my local music shop , see what he has to offer.

thanks again all of you

There's a good chance a local music shop won't stock too many options. I've had to explain what a flatwound string is to music shop assistants in the past.

Here are a couple of online retailers I've used in the past. I've been pretty impressed with both of them...

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/

Invalid Link Removed

 

[ProfGumby]

SNAP

True, true....but I bet it would sound funny.......as long as it was not one of my guitars....

I second the flatwound string idea...that should take the twang out of the G string..but it may alter the tone of the other strings...

But there's this...and I'm just thinkin now..... what if you put a flat on the G and left the others alone?

 

[Osprey]

If you mix flats and rounds any phrase played across both strings would be very odd! Mostly we aim to get a consistent sound across the scale..you'd get ping thump ping.

 

[Bassman62]

There's a good chance a local music shop won't stock too many options. I've had to explain what a flatwound string is to music shop assistants in the past.

Here are a couple of online retailers I've used in the past. I've been pretty impressed with both of them...

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/

Invalid Link Removed

One thing that I did find on the strings direct site was half rounds I favoured them some years ago but most people stopped stocking them.

 

[ProfGumby]

If you mix flats and rounds any phrase played across both strings would be very odd! Mostly we aim to get a consistent sound across the scale..you'd get ping thump ping.

Interesting...like I said, I was just thinkin....I still wonder what a ping thump ping would sound like....

 

[ProfGumby]

One thing that I did find on the strings direct site was half rounds I favoured them some years ago but most people stopped stocking them.

Never thought of that! This might be the best of both worlds...and an answer to the OP's dilemma....

 

[steve alcock]

Could be the start of a new revolutionary trend known as the ping thump sound...........i am sorely tempted to try this but
will
have to wait until next week as we`re giggin on sat night.

 

[joelb79]

Yeah.. you could in a pinch, but really, keep an old set of strings around if you are concerned that your playing ability includes broken strings.