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Who makes the lightest gauge/skinniest B string? Stainless preferred
- Thread starter cornfarmer
- Start date
Any gauge can be used for low B as long as it can be ordered as a single (vs. factory 5-string set). It's a question of how well it would work as a low B.
You can always do what I did and go with a heavy gauge set for E standard and drop it. I’m running 50-110 Rotos on two basses and I think 50?-115 round core Boomers on another. Once you get past the adjustment to your attack, you’ll be shocked how good the B sounds.
Sweetwater has a filter on their Strings for "Bottom String Gauge." I believe other sites may as well.
I had to do some experimenting with pitches to find out the limits of a rubbish trussrod, and found myself playing a 50-110 set of Roto Bass in C standard, and yeah, they still felt and sounded perfectly playable.
Newtone (UK) will let you customize each string if you like. I have ordered from them for many years.
newtonestrings.com
Welcome To Newtone Strings
Based in the heart of Derbyshire, on the edge of the Peak District. We hand make guitar strings, priding ourselves on the attention to detail we put into our work. This means that every single string made by our small team of skilled craftsmen, is made with care and assessed before being packed...
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My .105 can be tuned to B. So can the .040 I currently tune to G.
I'm curious - what's the purpose of the lightest gauge B string?
I'm curious - what's the purpose of the lightest gauge B string?
Flexibility. The larger the gauge relative to tuning, the less freely a string is going to vibrate, and you get closer to being an inflexible metal rod. Free vibration equals more clarity especially as you go up the neck. I’ve also found a lower gauge string (again, relative to tuning) seems to last longer before going dead, but that’s nothing I can really prove in a quantifiable way
It's going to be a very personal discovery process: What is the thickest B string you can tolerate, versus what is the most flabby string response you will tolerate. In the end, you could probably use ANY string to reach a low B, but what about it's balance of tone, tuning stability and feel? That's a very personal choice. It would be interesting to see what you end up with and why.
Basvarken
Commercial User
- Dec 3, 2010
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- Hobby Luthier / Gibson Bass Book
You can buy any gauge you want and call it a B.
Wether you think it works is up to you.
Depends on the scale length I guess.
Wether you think it works is up to you.
Depends on the scale length I guess.
.118 "B string" is pretty much the 'light/ultra-light' gauge from most brands
Dogal Hellborg Rounds .108 (but the price will keep you looking)
CircleK/Kalium, D'addario, Mangan Strings let you 'pick your gauge' (but the lighter you go, the lower the tension)
Dogal Hellborg Rounds .108 (but the price will keep you looking)
CircleK/Kalium, D'addario, Mangan Strings let you 'pick your gauge' (but the lighter you go, the lower the tension)
I got the RX-S6A for my 6, for light gauge overall and largely to try that 0.118 B. It is the cleanest, clearest B that I have had, out of several up to about 0.135.
Similar, for my "jazz style" 5, I use the light gauge GHS Compression Wound. Great sound, except for the larger B. Got a "generic store brand" single SS round 0.115 from Just Strings as an experiment. It is settling in to sound very clear, too. (Seems they closed, so will have to find the next option.)
If you want to go lighter than .115 I would either get a single e string with the rest in piccolo bass gauge or get a regular set with a high c string and use that in whatever tuning you want. I've used a 105 and 110 e string in a bead tune and it sounds pretty cool. Really clanky if you dig in. GHS has a special gauge custom set that Evan Marien endorses and that's a pretty light gauged 5 string set.
