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Tuning to C and C# standard

#2
Most of the strings on my 5er are lighter than that! My B is only .120!

Those strings are super heavy and might sound ok in C#. C may be too floppy, but you may like it. If your bass is a 35", it might be tighter.Weird gauges you have decided on though. Looks like part of a 5 string set.

I would personally go .065 .085 .105 .125 if I was playing super heavy strings and downtuned more than a step.

YMMV
 
#6
DR DDT (drop down tuning) are the best for C tuning.
I use the DDT-55 (115 low string).
They are perfect. I've always found 125 to be to heavy and the 110 to light. The 115 is perfect and the strings just plain rule.
I've been fighting with this C tuning for years and these strings have been the answer. Try em. You'll love em.
 
#9
MCS4 said:
I use 45-105 for Drop C. I tried up to 115's but found them to be too heavy, although I admit that I prefer lighter gauges/tension (I use 100s for standard tuning).
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THIS!!! The best way to figure it out is to try out different gauges and figure out what works for you. A standard .045 to .100 or .105 set tunes to D standard fine for me.
Any lower, clack, clack, clack.
 
#10
Grizzey said:
I had them tuned to Eb at first, but I could not bend my G# string or higher. Too much tension for me in that tuning with those strings.
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my set is custom though. started pretty much with a billy sheehan set but then i ended up at 115, 90, 65, 40. i tried the ghs set, i never understood the .50 for the G string though. felt totally unbalanced to me.
 
#14
I've used C standard on a 5 string and drop c# on a 4 in the past. For c standard I just used a light gauge 5 string set with a 120 on the bottom. I wouldn't go any higher than a .125 for C. It will require a full setup. For drop c# I used a relatively heavy 4 string set with a .110 on the bottom it was a little loose but at the time I only used it for a few songs.

All that said its perfectly ok to play in a different tuning than the rest of the band. My guitars players have been using c# standard and drop B for well over a decade and up until I got my 7 string I always used standard beadg 5 string to play with them for both those tunings. Ever heard of The band cold? The majority of their stuff has the guitars in drop C and the bass in drop A. On my 7 I tune to low g#beadgc and most of the songs where I really use those low notes the guitars are a actually playing a lot of 4ths in c# standard. So ill play a low g# when they play D#G#D# and so on.
 
#15
MrRoden96 said:
So im tuning my bass down to these tunings

This was my idea for string gauge .125 .095 .070 .050


WILL THIS WORK???
Click to expand...

Those should be pretty close. It all depends on your scale length, string choice, and what tension you like. If you want to use rounds then most will be similar to Circle K's rounds and from their string tension chart on a 34 inch scale and 40 pounds tension target you would want 0.130, 0.098, 0.073, 0.053 for C standard. Those will give you about 45 pounds in C# standard. You would want 0.124, 0.094, 0.067, 0.051 for 40 pounds in C# standard and they would give you about 36 pounds in C standard. So somewhere in that range would work for both tunings and your string gauges fit.

Ken
 
#16
onefallinghope said:
I use 45-105 for C# standard. Works for me. Switching brands to Ernie Ball Cobalts at next string change, hoping that they'll also work in 45-105.
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Same for me, 45-105 DR Hi Beams worked out for me, much better than expected, having used only fat gauges before (120 and more).

Good luck with the cobalts, they sound amazing but sadly didn't work for me, died way too quick and killed frets and fingers.
 

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