what strings would work best for a 30" scale tuned piccolo BEAD?

[lomo]

Looking to mess around with a 30" scale bass and tune it BEAD. What strings would you suggest? Any real world experience particularly appreciated.
Thx TB hive mind.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Looking to mess around with a 30" scale bass and tune it BEAD. What strings would you suggest?

- The bottom four strings from the Ernie Ball 2839 ("6 String Baritone Slinky") set, gauges 72-56-44-30, will give you vaguely bass-like tensions.
[To get an idea, double the gauges, imagine playing them in standard-octave bass tuning (on a short-scale platform, where a 144 low B and 112 low E wouldn't be so preposterous as they look).]
- The bottom four from the D'Addario EXL158 set ("Baritone Light Gauge" i.e. 62-46-36-26w) will be lighter and more balanced, if a little top-light.
- The top four from the Ernie Ball 2837 set ("6 String Bass Guitar Slinky"), gauges 54-42-30-20w, will have tensions fully in electric-guitar territory.


Personally, I'm a fan of D'Addario Chromes guitar flatwounds on bass, and would recommend one of the following sets of singles:

  [B1]           [E2]           [A2]           [D3]

   75             56             40             30
   65          52/50/48       38  / 35       28/26w/24w
   56          42  / 40       32/30/28          22w
52/50/48       38  / 35       28 / 26w          20w
   48             35             24w            19p

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[Yes, they are long enough for the purpose (ca 38" winding, ball to end of wrap);
if the bass has four-in-line tuners you may have to wind the naked core of the treblemost string, or pair of strings, to the post.]


Finally, for any of the above options you'll probably need ball-end...enhancers of some kind: washers, large ball ends from old bass strings, or equivalent.

 

[lomo]

I definitely prefer tensions in the lighter range of the bass guitar universe.

 

[HelpImaRock]

I've played Ernie Ball and D'Addario on my 30" scale Dano baritone and been mostly underwhelmed by them. A couple of weeks ago I bought a set of LaBella Baritone Jazz Flats for B standard and they're very nice. If I wanted rounds, I'd probably get their 14-70 set.

One thing to keep in mind is whether the bass is a toploader or string thru. If it's string thru, I'm not certain the LaBellas will be long enough with their 32.5" taper. That said, if it's a toploader, and the instrument has guitar tuners (not bass tuners), you'll need to drill out the low string tuner for the Ernie Ball set, and maybe the 14-68 D'Addario set. They should be fine for string thru.

 

[lomo]

A couple of weeks ago I bought a set of LaBella Baritone Jazz Flats for B standard and they're very nice.

Thanks. My whole point is that I want it tuned BEAD an octave higher than my other basses, which are 34" scale 4 bangers tuned BEAD std. I have no interest in a shorty tuned BEAD unless it's piccolo.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Thanks. My whole point is that I want it tuned BEAD an octave higher than my other basses, which are 34" scale 4 bangers tuned BEAD std. I have no interest in a shorty tuned BEAD unless it's piccolo.

Yes, a baritone guitar tuned to B standard is the octave you're looking for.