I was wondering if anyone has ever used a Hipshot Bass Xtender with low tension strings, such as LaBella Low Tension Flats, particularly the double stop lever, and was wondering if they can drop to a B or C and still sound good, or does that work better with normal tension strings?
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Hipshot Bass Xtender & Double-Stop with low tension strings
- Thread starter bimple
- Start date
There's definitely a limit to how far you can detune any string and still have it work for you, but that's going to be different for every person and every bass setup. You're on the right track that you can detune farther if you start with higher tension.
If you have those strings on a bass already without the lever, just down tune with the regular tuner to see if it's too floppy. The tension will be the same regardless of how you get there.
On my Hammersmith I have the little HE6 Double Stop Xtender with Dunlop Super Bright Nickels 40-100, which are very low tension, and I can tune down to a B with it. I have to tune it a little bit flat to sound in tune, though, because as floppy as the string gets, it's easy to go out of tune due to too much finger pressure. Now does it sound good to go down to B? There's a slight volume hit and they definitely sound floppy. But it sounds good to me anyway...good enough not to bother with thicker strings for the 2 or 3 songs I use it. YMMV...and lz4005's idea to test it by downtuning your bass first is a solid one.