Double Bass three wheels on my wagon.....

[Thomas Stone]

for some reason I removed my E string this morning and I couldn't believe what an effect it had on the bass:

The A string went sharp by a semi tone, the D only a tad sharp and the G was hardly effected

The resonance, response and volume of the bass had increased a great deal. arco seemed richer with doublestops having more definition and yet merging into one coherent sound more.

The D and A strings had raised by nearly 2mm, more so the A (although thats a drop in the ocean compared with my normal string height)

the whole bass just seemed "better" apart from noticing that a rather annoying affliction of my E string (stopped notes lose all fundamental and sound choked) had now transfered to my A string. This seemed to go away when tuning the A string up a semi tone (that was never the case with the E)

I've read before that some peoples basses have an improved sound when strung up with only 3 strings. I've never noticed this when playing without my G though.

what are the implications of this?

Is this an indication that my bass likes much lower tension?

Does this mean my sound post should be moved when strung up with 4 strings?

Should I transpose all my bands music up a fourth?

comments, tips and discussion welcome.

Thomas

 

[Thomas Stone]

For reference the strings used are:
Jargar medium G and D and Superflexible A and E.

 

[Silversorcerer]

You could try some low tension string sets or a raised saddle to lower the tension.