Best Guage for a low B ?

Davyo

Davyo

Davyo
Nov 26, 2008
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#1
I do all my 4 string bass’s as BEAD and always use bright round wound low B strings of various brands to get a bright clean non-muddy sound.
I try 125, 130 and 135 gauges but was wondering if one of those gauge sizes would give me more of the bright defined sound I’m always wanting,,,,, or does gauge size make a difference ?

My apologies if that’s a dumb question
Thanks in advance for for any opinions and feedback.

Cheers, Davyo
 
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#2
Not a dumb question at all. I used to automatically go with a 130 or 135. Lately I’ve been using a 125. My experience has lead me to believe it boils down to how rigid the neck of the bass is, your technique and the construction of the string set you’re using. I can play light or heavy and find that a hex core string on a stable neck will allow me to use even a 120. With round core strings I prefer to start at 125.

The shorter answer is you may have to experiment to find what works for you. I like to have the B string match the rest of the set tonally and not sound overly thuddy.

I have a real world bass playing friend whose experience is a bit different than mine and needs something different than what I need. We both sound good and play some similar basses. So back to technique and experimenting. It’ll be fun, a bit pricey and completely worth it.
 
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#3
It sort of makes a difference, with lighter gauges being a tad brighter, but a much bigger factor is the bass you're playing. The ability of a given bass to reproduce 31hz varies greatly, and it's not even a brand thing. Sometimes a $5000 bass just can't handle it. And I have a 30 yr old Ibanez EX (paid $145) with a basswood body that I tune BEAD, 60-80-100-125, and it does a very good job. I suspect you know all you need to know about what strings you like; you may have to do a bit of horsetrading to find more basses that suit your subsonic needs.
 
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#4
IME, you need two things for a bright, piano string roundwound tone on the B string. A lighter gauge B with a tapered bridge end is more likely to deliver that tone than other choices. I’ve been using D’Addario .128 tapered nickels for quite some time now, and they’re just glorious, even on a 34” scale bass. They sound like new acoustic guitar strings .125 is nice too, but a little light for my touch.

I’m leaving considerations of scale length and build/materials quality of the bass itself out here and just commenting on the string itself. Of course, a better built instrument with excellent materials will allow the B string to perform better than a comparative bass of lesser overall quality in almost all cases.

Installation is important too - you want solid connection to to the bass, which means a good number of wraps on the tuning machine going down to the face of the headstock to create break angle over the nut. Applying downward pressure on the nut and bridge saddle during installation to insure proper contact between the string and these node points helps too.

String manufacturers have come a long way in the last 20 years or so with B strings. The few manufacturers that offered them back in the day weren’t impressive, but the materials and technology used to make them have improved. Of course, there’s more of a demand for low B strings now then there was in the past.
 
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#6
Davyo said:
I guess I should have mentioned in my original post that I always use a pick.
As far as my bass’s I have short, med and regular scale bass’s, all setup as BEAD.
Click to expand...
I also always use a pick. You should consider a fanned fret bass - longer B string, which means lighter gauge at pitch tension, and might be just what you're after.

A short scale BEAD bass? Pretty heavy string gauges I trust?
 
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#8
fretlessman71 said:
I also always use a pick. You should consider a fanned fret bass - longer B string, which means lighter gauge at pitch tension, and might be just what you're after.

A short scale BEAD bass? Pretty heavy string gauges I trust?
Click to expand...

A fanned fret bass, I have too many bass’s already (lol)

My 4 string short scale BEAD bass’s are three SBMM and two Ibanez Mikro’s, I also have a med scale Squire Jaguar H.
Currently on all my short scale bass’s I have Dunlop super bright’s 125 for the low B, 5 string short scale sets are a limited selection.
On my Jaguar I just use regular scale strings.
I always buy 5 string sets and throw the G string in the garbage.
 
#9
Generally, tension yields brightness. So the longest, skinniest string you can get is going to sound the clearest. Obviously you can't change the scale length on the shorties, so heavier gauge strings would get you better tension, but then short heavy gauge strings can generate some really weird overtones. Physics is simply against you here I suspect.
 
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#11
Moving Pictures said:
Not a dumb question at all. I used to automatically go with a 130 or 135. Lately I’ve been using a 125. My experience has lead me to believe it boils down to how rigid the neck of the bass is, your technique and the construction of the string set you’re using. I can play light or heavy and find that a hex core string on a stable neck will allow me to use even a 120. With round core strings I prefer to start at 125.

The shorter answer is you may have to experiment to find what works for you. I like to have the B string match the rest of the set tonally and not sound overly thuddy.

I have a real world bass playing friend whose experience is a bit different than mine and needs something different than what I need. We both sound good and play some similar basses. So back to technique and experimenting. It’ll be fun, a bit pricey and completely worth it.
Click to expand...
2nd the hex core, sounds great. But the g string can die fast even if you crimp the end before cutting.
 
#14
I don't think there is a definitive answer to your question. There are so many variables in play including, of course, bass construction. With respect to just the string, in addition to the gauge a lot of what you hear (or don't hear) is dependent on the construction and materials (core shape and size, wrap materials and style- steel, nickel plate, all nickel, etc)

Sorry for what may seem to be a run around. In my case, with my bass, for my ears I almost always find the most satisfaction at 0.125.
 
#15
For me personally, I use a 130 gauge on my low B’s, I’ve tried 135, didn’t like it, & it seemed to lack clarity.. 125’s have worked great too, but 45-130 DR pure blues are my go- to strings on my Modulus Quantum 5, & Tobias 5.
Also, I’ve never liked tapered strings, low B’s included, they have always seemed really weak sounding to me, compared to regular strings. I’ve had a couple of Ken smiths with tapered low B’s & changed them for regular strings & noticed an immediate improvement. Keith Roscoe doesn’t recommend tapered strings on his basses. We all have different opinions & experiences tho.
 
#19
I play very light gauges strings (a 95 E, for example). To get comparable tension, you need a 130 B with that. If you use a 105 E. you need a 140 B so it isn't floppy. Past that, it's a crapshoot as to who winds a B string that you like. I use Kaliums where the 130 matches well, and GHS Boomers where it doesn't, but.....GHS makes a 130 in their Bassics line that does match the Boomer set better than the Boomer 130. Don't be afraid to use a B from a "brighter" set than the rest of your strings. Buying a 4 string set and a single B gives you two advantages:

1) You can get the right gauge to match the rest of your set - I've never seen a 5 string set where the B and E strings have comparable tension, which is a big issue in my mind.

2) You can shop different kinds of B strings to find one that fits sonically with the rest of the set if need be. You might need a Pressurewound B to match your flats, a round wound B to match your Pressurewound set, or a stainless B to match your nickel set - if the string that's supposed to be for that set isn't bright enough, there are options for brighter string constructions that you can try.
 
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#20
fretlessman71 said:
Generally, tension yields brightness. So the longest, skinniest string you can get is going to sound the clearest.
Click to expand...

A longer string needs more tension - I agree with that. But s skinnier string need less tension for a given pitch - you're going the wrong way with that. I also disagree that tension yields brightness - my experiments say otherwise.
 
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