What’s it take to get good B string performance?

[BGroovy]

I play short scales and currently a 32” medium scale 5er.

The B strings I’ve been happiest with have always been at least 35”. I still get by and my should appreciates shorter scales, but they’re always a bit floppy for me on the low B.

Most musical low B I’ve had was a Cirrus V. Love what I’m heard from Dingwall multi scale on the Low B.

 

[GrooveDaddy]

Setup, sure -- but finding the right set of strings is the most important after that.

 

[Wasnex]

The first step is finding a bass with a good B-string. Part of it is subjective...what do you think is a good B-string? The objective parts related to various design element in the bass that must be used to create the desired performance.

There are also factors that come after the bass that determine the quality of the B-string. but if your source signal is not what you want, your dealing with a garbage-in-garbage-out situation.

 

[AngelCrusher]

I play short scales and currently a 32” medium scale 5er.

The B strings I’ve been happiest with have always been at least 35”. I still get by and my should appreciates shorter scales, but they’re always a bit floppy for me on the low B.

Most musical low B I’ve had was a Cirrus V. Love what I’m heard from Dingwall multi scale on the Low B.

What short scale 5er do you have?

 

[Highs&Lows]

It seems to be many factors coming together here. I have had great B Strings on shorter scaled basses and some crappy ones with weird ovetones on famous boutique basses with 35 inch scales.
My measuring stick now is a good set up along with my favourite roundwounds; 120-40 Fodera Nickels. If I cannot get a good B string with those I know I am screwed. Finding a good string really matters.

 

[Root 5]

I use a .145” B string on my fivers and they have the voice of God.

 

[Root 5]

I play short scales and currently a 32” medium scale 5er.

The B strings I’ve been happiest with have always been at least 35”. I still get by and my should appreciates shorter scales, but they’re always a bit floppy for me on the low B.

Most musical low B I’ve had was a Cirrus V. Love what I’m heard from Dingwall multi scale on the Low B.

Use a larger gauge string. Flop gone.

 

[Jeff Scott]

These both have great sounding B strings.

 

[gg22]

When you go to purchase a 5 string bass, try it out NOT PLUGGED IN first.

Any effort to make a crappy bass sound good by changing pups, pedals etc is just to massage a workable tone out of a POS instrument.

Some basses are good. Some are crappy. You dont have to buy a crappy bass and then struggle to figure out how to make it sound passable.

Sadly, many basses are simply a misallocation of otherwise good lumber.

Life is too short to play basses that were meant to be firewood.

Go figure, in my experience unplugged bass sound never translates to how a bass sounds amplified.

 

[Lardass5000]

Go figure, in my experience unplugged bass sound never translates to how a bass sounds amplified.

So why do you think that is?

 

[eddybuzzard]

Democratic opinion = poking the hive?
Start a poll, then go for a stroll

 

[BGroovy]

Use a larger gauge string. Flop gone.

Wasn’t just flop, it was fundamentals to me. I loved my Stingray 5 and it was my main for a few years but none of my 34s or shorter scale lengths have ever had a low B that performed like the 35s I’ve owned.

Comfort for me has become more important after a shoulder injury so I no longer have a long scale 5, but I do miss the B string on them.

 

[BGroovy]

What short scale 5er do you have?

Currently playing a medium scale 32” Spector Bantam 5

 

[Lance Bunyon]

I generally avoid introverted B strings. I also encourage my strings to socialize and interact with each other.
I wouldn't want my B strings to get swollen heads.

 

[FRoss6788]

Use a larger gauge string. Flop gone.

Some folks don't dig the funky overtones that come with thicker strings.

 

[Nightsprinter]

A bass which is set up properly with the correct gauge strings that have the right tension values and good equalization. For me, that's all there is to it.

 

[Nightsprinter]

Just my opinion and ears, but I subscribe to the Michael Tobias frame of mind. An electric bass at its core is an acoustic instrument and if it doesn't sound good unplugged, it's not gonna sound good plugged in. If strings are buzzing and clacking and have no resonance but the amp covers it up to some degree, the bass isn't going to be as good as it *could* be. I judge almost 90% of what a bass is by assessing and completing a setup and aural observations unplugged. I'm the pickiest person I know. Different strokes.

*edit- this was in response to the chatter above about unplugged sound not transferring to amplified sound.

 

[XLunacy]

I voted string gauge. I use a 120, which some think feels floppy, but I think it makes it sound a lot better than the telephone cables most people use.

Which brand/model are you using?
Since gauge is only one of the ingredients ruling how the string will feel tension-wise, your 120 could very well have more tension than another brand's 130.

 

[micguy]

You need a decent amount of tension for the string not to be floppy. If you understand the Physics of how string instruments work (I studied precisely this stuff in college), the formula for string gauges with the same tension across the strings falls out of the Physics. Unfortunately, most folks seem to like an arithmetic progression for string diameters - 40,60, 80, 100, 120. That sounds like a nice progression, but it doesn't work in practice. The notes of a musical scale are a geometric progression, where the change between notes is a ratio, an instrument tuned in 4ths also follows this rule - for constant tension, the frequency ratio is 3/4 as you go down, the diameters of the strings should go up by a ratio of 4/3. on the previously cited set, the G and E strings are about the same tension, the A has more tension, and the D has a bunch more tension - we're not starting in a great place, but it gets worse as you add a B string. If you like the tension of your 100 gauge E, the B should have a diameter of 133 (call it 135 as the closest multiple of 5). For a 105 E, you should have a 140 B. Now, take a look at 5 string sets - do they follow this progression? Nope. The B is much thinner - why? Good question. The answer to that aside, It's too skinny. Why is the B string on many 5's floppy? The string is too small. This isn't rocket science (it is Acoustical Physics)

Bass makers (you can ask around) tried to get string makers to make string sets with rational tension, but when that didn't happen, they made the scale longer - they figured that would at least help the worst string. That does help a bit (not enough actually), but it also raises the tension of the other 4 strings. Your D string, which already had too much tension, just became more of a problem. Not much progress has been made.

A longer neck also makes it floppier - if you want a stiff neck, you don't want to make it longer. All you need to so to understand this is walk out on a diving board - the further out you go, the floppier it gets. The bass (as a solid platform for the string to vibrate on) isn't getting better as it gets longer, it's getting worse. A 34 with the right gauge string is actually better than a 35 - that's the Physics of the situation.

So, applying the science to the situation, it's a string problem. The best place to fix a a problem is at the source of the problem - the right strings (that's my Engineer side talking).

 

[micguy]

Which brand/model are you using?
Since gauge is only one of the ingredients ruling how the string will feel tension-wise, your 120 could very well have more tension than another brand's 130.

As the strings we all use are all made of various metals of pretty much the same density, if both strings are round wounds, I would be surprised to see an example where this is actually true. There just isn't enough variation in how round wound strings are made to make that much difference.