What is the thickest string gauge I could find for 5string at music stores???

The thickest gauge 5 string set I ever see is the Ernie Ball 5 string slinky set. It has a .130 B, while most other string sets have a .125 or a .128 B. They are pretty cheap, I think about $20. But John Turner knows how to get .150 gauge strings. He uses a low F#, which is a fourth lower than low B. PM him and ask him where he gets them from.

 

Before you consider using a .150 B (and probably a really heavy E, A, D, and G) you might want to tell us what kind of bass you have, what it's neck is made out of, and what kind of reinforcements it has. Strings that heavy will put so much tension on the neck that a mere 1 piece maple neck will be severely screwed up, unless of course you need strings that heavy so that you can tune down to GCFBE, or something ridiculous like that. I wouldn't think of putting strings that heavy unless I had a REALLY good neck, like maybe a 13 piece Wenge/Purpleheart neck with 2 truss rods and carbon fiber reinforcements with a phenolic fingerboard... Either that or a graphite neck...

 

I'm thinking of getting one of those myself, how's it sound? I never hear a description of it's tone, just stuff like "balanced sounding B" and "tight, punchy B string".
I think a .130 would be good, and that's the heaviest I've ever seen on a set that wasn't custom or just really expensive, but if you need any heavier a .135 would probably be safe to use.

 

John Turner is one of the members here at talkbass. just look around the forums a little and you're bound to run into one of his posts, he has like 5500 of them for God's sake. Then click the little "private message" button for him and type away. If you need to know where the PM button is, just ask me.

 

You can get a .150 here. They're $14 a pop.