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Why are b-strings so hard to get right?
- Thread starter BadJazz
- Start date
I may make a trip to the post office to see how much it weighs. I haven't owned it long, but, it feels like it weighs 7.5#.
Maybe it's just balanced well?
I thought my MIM was light & it feels 2#'s heavier than the 5.
I currently own 6 basses (with a 7th on the way). Each one has a B string. 2 are 35" scale and 4 are 34" scale. The B on each sounds great. Do keep in mind though I'm mainly using the B between the 0 and 10th frets. Any note higher than an A is probably best played on the E string.
Bones
Bones
My Pedulla Thunderbolt 5 was 8.5#. A full 1.5#s less than my Tribby L2k. I haven't weighed my Tribby L25K yet.
Sorry, but I'm going to have to dismiss your claim fifteen times, as you own basses made from rotten (and probably carcinogenic) woods that look way more expensive than mine do.
I tune down a half step. I play 34" scale I use the b string 0-9 there is little need use to me in higher registers because there are 4 other strings that can achieve higher notes in lower frets. Although my Dolphin has 26 frets I also find limited use of strings other than g or d....I also seldom use and actively avoid using open strings..
"Never play an open string unless you mean it." ~ Dave Pomeroy (I think)
I think these factors are important and can be used together to have a good B string. I have a 4 string, 34" scale Warwick Rockbass Streamer LX that is tuned to BEAD with a .120 B string and the B is tremendous, thunderous, and clear even slightly above the octave.
The neck on the bass is very stiff. It's a 3-piece maple multi-laminated neck (not including fretboard), with two support rods as well as a truss rod. I only adjust the truss rod when I change strings, if that, and in Toronto, we have huge climate swings - very hot and humid summers, and very cold and dry winters and the neck doesn't change at all. I believe a stiff neck will allow less resonance into it from the vibrating string(s), allowing the string(s) to ring more clearly.
The 34" scale .120 B string (DR Fat Beams) is, in my opinion, long enough, heavy enough, and loose. Yes, .120 B string is not balanced with the rest of the strings, it is definitely looser, but I pluck lighter on it to balance the output and feel. Also, being a thinner gauge, it allows me to play higher on the neck without becoming as "wooly" sounding, in my opinion of course.
Also, my bass does have a bridge pickup in the 70's bridge location, which helps enhance the upper mids which produces more harmonic overtones that are easier to hear. I also believe that heavier gauged/tensioned strings produce more overtones and less fundamental which is partly why heavier gauged/tensioned strings are usually prefered for B strings. This bridge pickup helps replicate that with a lower gauged, looser string.
(My apologies Joce for cutting out much of your post in my quote. I believed most of your post surrounded around that sentence and I wanted it to stick out when people read my post).
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Very good point. To me, the thicker/lower strings sound very middy and muddy the further up the neck I play them. I don't play 5's all that often but I rarely even get up as high as the tenth fret on my b.
I think this is about it. I used to play short scale and the E string was RIGHT at the limit of working. Even with a 34" scale take that down to a B string and problems start to crop up. One answer is to give the B string more mass. Make it fatter. But that then makes it stiffer and less ideal. And because it's a wound string and fat and heavy it's already pretty far off from ideal. So the only answer is to make the string longer.
Well, in my experience 35" scales aren't enough change to actually solve the problem. Upright length scales do solve it, which is why the Dingwall gets high marks here. So that reduces the whole B string problem to tweaking on all the minor variables like setup and neck stiffness etc. to try to get a bad situation as good as you can. And of course my Modulus 35" scale has hands down THE best B string of any bass I ever played (with a 35" scale). And for that matter the B strings on my Alembic, Ken Smith, G&L L2500 are just fine. My Carvin AC50 and my Fender deluxe V are OK but not superb. (only the Modulus is 35" scale).
The bottom line is that if the B string is just teetering on the edge of "OK", then great bass construction can push it to be fine and not so great attention to B string detail can result in a Meh B string. And that is pretty much reflected in the conversations here about "floppy" B strings and the rest.
it gotta be PU's-
the cheap peavey millennium in my avatar is a passive jazz 70's position. the B is so clear and deep and equal to the rest of the bass that I cannot believe it. sounds so good that It's the only passive bass I have that I don't run thru my sadowsky outboard preamp-sounds better without it.
I have owned 3 dingwalls, warwicks, pedullas, musicmans...one dingwall and one warwick were equal to this peavey. the dingwall however, had a better feel
the cheap peavey millennium in my avatar is a passive jazz 70's position. the B is so clear and deep and equal to the rest of the bass that I cannot believe it. sounds so good that It's the only passive bass I have that I don't run thru my sadowsky outboard preamp-sounds better without it.
I have owned 3 dingwalls, warwicks, pedullas, musicmans...one dingwall and one warwick were equal to this peavey. the dingwall however, had a better feel
To "B" or not to "B". That is the question. - William "Thunder Thumbs" Shakespeare
Here's how they do it on a DB:
The name "double bass" is because it was designed to double the cello line one octave lower. Since the lowest note on a cello is C, the E string of the DB is a problem. Fingerboard extensions were the solution, as you can see it just increases the scale length. The levers allow you to stop the string so when played open it's E, D#, D, C# or C. You need special longer E strings to use an extension. The normal scale is at least 40" (varies from bass to bass) this extends it at least 6".
The name "double bass" is because it was designed to double the cello line one octave lower. Since the lowest note on a cello is C, the E string of the DB is a problem. Fingerboard extensions were the solution, as you can see it just increases the scale length. The levers allow you to stop the string so when played open it's E, D#, D, C# or C. You need special longer E strings to use an extension. The normal scale is at least 40" (varies from bass to bass) this extends it at least 6".
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I think a lot of basses have decent B string potential they're not living up to because of setup issues. I'm not a math or physics wiz but it seems to me that even though the interval between the B and E strings and D and G strings is the same the "distance" apart is not...and I'm not sure if that made any sense. Anyway, the B string is really low and it can be more challenging to dial in.
There's no mystery at all: it's the scale length. It's not weight of the bass, or rigidity, or the kind of wood: it's the scale length. Try a fanned feet bass and you'll see this right away. I have a dingwall, and the advantage of fanned frets is that the low strings feel and play the same as the high strings, because the low B is 37 inches long. a 34 inch scale length means the B will be significantLy lower in tension. It can work, but you need to adjust your playing style.
Beyond that, the low b is...very low. It starts to get into area some people don't even hear very well, and it puts increased demand on gear. Most cabs actually can't produce the fundamental of the low b
Beyond that, the low b is...very low. It starts to get into area some people don't even hear very well, and it puts increased demand on gear. Most cabs actually can't produce the fundamental of the low b
.145 works good enough for me. I saw a video on youtube of a guy playing a .158 low b string from Circle K, tuned down to A. It sounds alright, but not the sound I would go for..
They officially go by 'Kalium Strings' now, btw. I agree on all counts, to check them out. Their strings are my favorite.
To me, it is the player not the string, not the scale of the bass, not the instrument that wasn't design for it nor the cab that can't handle it.
Ok sure the cab and amp need to have enough power but outside of that, I found that the B string need a different approach to make it works. Like plucking it less agressively closer to the bridge than the other strings. No on ever tried this exercice :
Play the B string closest to the bridge
Play the E string a little further, maybe over the bridge pickup
Play the A string in between your pickup
Play the D string over the neck pickup
Play the G string just in front of the neck
Play the C string over the 24th fret
This is a way to even out the sound of each string. try this, then play all your string right between your pickup. Listen very carfully how each string sound with the other.
Ok sure the cab and amp need to have enough power but outside of that, I found that the B string need a different approach to make it works. Like plucking it less agressively closer to the bridge than the other strings. No on ever tried this exercice :
Play the B string closest to the bridge
Play the E string a little further, maybe over the bridge pickup
Play the A string in between your pickup
Play the D string over the neck pickup
Play the G string just in front of the neck
Play the C string over the 24th fret
This is a way to even out the sound of each string. try this, then play all your string right between your pickup. Listen very carfully how each string sound with the other.
