Low C sounds horrible in a Drop C tuning

DimaLancaster

DimaLancaster

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Feb 11, 2017
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#1
Hey everyone~

I hardly ever ask for advice on forums, but this is an exceptional situation, as I'm completely clueless about what to do next. Here's the deal.

I'm a studio musician and I've been recording stuff for years and years, but one problem has always persisted. The low C string on my bass has always sounded very strange. The tone is very shaky and dull, especially above the 5th fret. First I blamed it on my instrument (which, to be fair, was crap - I had a $150 Yamaha bass that my friend gave me).
Now I've purchased the Epiphone Thunderbird Classic Pro IV and I've had it for half a year. I've adjusted the truss rod, the intonation and the string height.
Everything sounds perfect except for the low C strings and I have no idea what to do with it. So please, if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to throw 'em at me.

Some info about my setup:
- I'm recording the bass through a SansAmp Bass Driver DI right into Pro Tools;
- I play in standard drop C tuning, C-G-C-F;
- I use Daddario EXL160BT Balanced Tension strings, .50 - .67 - .90 - .120 (change them every 2-3 months).

Hope you'll be able to shed some light on the issue! Thanks in advance!
 
#6
Well I've changed the strings three times already and it never changed anything. My suspicion is that something is wrong with the actual string position cuz even non-amplified it sounds a bit duller than the rest
 
#8
You think so? This set was supposed to be 'optimized for drop tunings', but I'm not that sure anymore cuz I've literally tried everything except for that. So what gauge we're talking then? .130?
 
#10
You're only dropping the 3 higher strings one step (2 frets), but you're dropping the E string TWO steps (4 frets). It's bound to be floppier. I'd go with a light gauge B string from a 5 string set and leave the upper 3 strings as is.
 
#13
no offense to your choice of instruments, but if I was recording stuff, I would be using slightly better stuff than a $150 bass.
IME, cheaper instruments have difficulty sometimes reproducing the really low frequencies. its more miss than hit.
also, with a 34 scale instrument, going past the fifth fret can sound the way you are describing it-thus the argument for longer scale basses. on my 5 string (as good as the B string is), I wouldn't bother going past the first few frets; that's where the clearest tone is.
a 120 is too thin for a low C IME as well.
 
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#15
I did a C droptune on a Mikro a few days back. (From EADG).

These were guitar strings because I was going "piccolo".

However:-

(a) I was going to droptune to B. Couldn't do it. The strings were just, by that time, too floppy and loose, and every string, while playable, sounded like crap.

C was as far as I could get way with and still sound o.k.......but it was just borderline o.k.

(b) I then decided to take the upper 4 strings from the guitar set and use those instead of the bottom four because they would all be thinner and more bendable/playable.

I would leave these tuned to EADG.

The upper strings would now be downtuned by default but still be EADG.

I did this and it worked BUT:- even at this tuning it was borderline in "sound". Very bendable for sure but no way could I go lower than that in tuning and still sound good.

As some have said, downtuning works better with thicker strings it seems.

But there's the tension factor too. A downtuned string that was quite low tension to begin with is, IMO, not going down the ladder very far before it sounds like crap.

Downtuning changes the tone and timbre. (At least it does on mine).
 
#17
joebar said:
no offense to your choice of instruments, but if I was recording stuff, I would be using slightly better stuff than a $150 bass.
IME, cheaper instruments have difficulty sometimes reproducing the really low frequencies. its more miss than hit.
also, with a 34 scale instrument, going past the fifth fret can sound the way you are describing it-thus the argument for longer scale basses. on my 5 string (as good as the B string is), I wouldn't bother going past the first few frets; that's where the clearest tone is.
a 120 is too thin for a low C IME as well.
Click to expand...
yeah I agree the $150 was crap, but I picked up the bass in question, the Epiphone Thunderbird, for around $450. And tbh, it sounds amazing and gives enough bass, it's just how unstable the sound is when you go up the fret on the low C. But yeah, I guess it might be the strings then.
 
#18
I'm using .115 .090 .070 .050 for drop C on even cheaper epiphone thunderbirds, 2006 MIK goth, 2015 Thunderbird IV china. No problems there. Perhaps you are twisting your low string when installing it?

When they go dead I soak them in denatured alcohol. No way could I get 2-3 months out of a set though, I tend to soak them after a week or 2, but I have string killer pH and like a snappy tone.
 
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