My Band is Going Eb - So I'm Changing Strings

[Rod Barchetta]

My band has started to play a few songs that require Eb tuning. Rather than carrying around two instruments each, we decided to just play everything in Eb. This has been a godsend for me. I sing all the harmonies for the band and lead on a few songs. It is so much easier on my throat, especially now that I'm getting older (62).

I've decided to try thicker strings on my Eb bass. I have all my bass guitars set up with really low action. I had to raise it just to eliminate fret buzz. The strings are also a little too floppy for my tastes. To that end, I've got a set of much thicker strings coming in to see how these two factors accommodate each. I play Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats almost exclusively, 45-65-80-100. The set I have coming in are 55-75-90-110. That's a big jump, but I play pretty aggressively. I've also been a little disappointed in the sound quality of my G string; it sounds a little thin.

I will report back on the results. I may order a 50-70-85-105 set and put them on a different bass to compare them.

 

[Spidey2112]

I've also been a little disappointed in the sound quality of my G string; it sounds a little thin.

 

[wvbass]

Yeah. My band is Eb. I understand, but I don’t like what it does to my bass. Different strings with more tension is the correct answer. Anything that gets closer to feeling like an E tuning.

(No, I can’t here a difference in tone. Yes, I absolutely notice that I either have to raise the action or tolerate more fret noise, or both.)

 

[AK Bass Guy]

My band has started to play a few songs that require Eb tuning. Rather than carrying around two instruments each, we decided to just play everything in Eb. This has been a godsend for me. I sing all the harmonies for the band and lead on a few songs. It is so much easier on my throat, especially now that I'm getting older (62).

I've decided to try thicker strings on my Eb bass. I have all my bass guitars set up with really low action. I had to raise it just to eliminate fret buzz. The strings are also a little too floppy for my tastes. To that end, I've got a set of much thicker strings coming in to see how these two factors accommodate each. I play Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats almost exclusively, 45-65-80-100. The set I have coming in are 55-75-90-110. That's a big jump, but I play pretty aggressively. I've also been a little disappointed in the sound quality of my G string; it sounds a little thin.

I will report back on the results. I may order a 50-70-85-105 set and put them on a different bass to compare them.

Quiet G, weird. I have a set of Cobalt Ernie’s 45 to 105, standard tuning and had to lower the split coil significantly to balance the g string to the rest of the strings. Maybe you have a bridge saddle screw not making full contact or poor break angle at the nut?

 

[Rod Barchetta]

Quiet G, weird. I have a set of Cobalt Ernie’s 45 to 105, standard tuning and had to lower the split coil significantly to balance the g string to the rest of the strings. Maybe you have a bridge saddle screw not making full contact or poor break angle at the nut?

It happens when I pop it and when I play with a pick. I'm sure my aggressive technique is a factor. I bend the G quite a bit. It gets a work out.

I'm OCD on setup. Everything is tight and the string angle is right on time, but good suggestions.


It is definitely more noticeable in Eb tuning.

 

[rooster]

ECB82 Chromes have worked the best for me in this scenario.....50.70.85.105

 

[Geri O]

I play with a country music artist who stipulates that we tune down 1/2 step.

I tried all sorts of string and action setup variations. Hated all of them. Hated the way it felt, hated the way it played, hated the way it sounded. No matter the bass.

I finally bought a Helix Stomp, made a 1/2-step transposition preset and that's worked out great. Yeah, $550 to transpose down a 1/2 step is expensive. But well with the trouble. Even the B string sound decent enough with the transposition kicked in.

First, I tried a Digitech Drop. Not happening. Everything below the A string sounded awful. Sweetwater was great enough to exchange the units.

Right after I bought the Stomp. I learned about the HX One, which is a less-powerful version of the Stomp, but had plenty of horsepower for a 1/2-step transposition. And for $399.00. Oh, well, live and learn.

 

[And I]

I know it's "just" Eb but I really like DR DDTs....

 

[2thAche]

We do E and Eb and I use 2 basses. The DDT 105 work and perhaps feel better but the 110s take lower action with less noise.

 

[Aussie Player]

I find a lot of basses sound better when detuned to Eb. Notes sound a little thicker so I don't mind either way.

You may need to check your intonation and do a mild set up to get those harmonics right. (If you use the full neck).

 

[burgerdj]

My band does the same thing. I also used Cobalt flats for a long time. Pressurewounds worked really well for me before I went over to DR DDT, which are much brighter, but the tension is superb.

 

[Shenron]

Sounds like you are handling it great! We only play one song in Eb ('Don't Believe a Word') so we just went with transposing it to E, everyone practiced it at home over the record with a pitch shifter, but together we play it with normally tuned strings. I'd love to play more Thin Lizzy eventually and if we do we will have to consider if transposing is always ok or if we should detune by default.

 

[DaveParker39]

I prefer Eb.

I use 45-65-85-105 low riders. They’re on the slightly higher tension side which I prefer since that’s a fairly light gauge for down tuning.

I’d like to try a set with a .107 sometime.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

I play with a country music artist who stipulates that we tune down 1/2 step.

I tried all sorts of string and action setup variations. Hated all of them. Hated the way it felt, hated the way it played, hated the way it sounded. No matter the bass.

I finally bought a Helix Stomp, made a 1/2-step transposition preset and that's worked out great. Yeah, $550 to transpose down a 1/2 step is expensive. But well with the trouble. Even the B string sound decent enough with the transposition kicked in.

First, I tried a Digitech Drop. Not happening. Everything below the A string sounded awful. Sweetwater was great enough to exchange the units.

Right after I bought the Stomp. I learned about the HX One, which is a less-powerful version of the Stomp, but had plenty of horsepower for a 1/2-step transposition. And for $399.00. Oh, well, live and learn.

I tried the Digitech Drop. I had the same assessment, not happening. Plus the delay was noticeable to me. But the HX One sounds intriguing.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

Sounds like you are handling it great! We only play one song in Eb ('Don't Believe a Word') so we just went with transposing it to E, everyone practiced it at home over the record with a pitch shifter, but together we play it with normally tuned strings. I'd love to play more Thin Lizzy eventually and if we do we will have to consider if transposing is always ok or if we should detune by default.

We just added The Boys Are Back In Town. That was one of the songs that convinced us to go to Eb. Also, Basketcase. Lots of great songs in Eb.

 

[Geogio]

I went to Eb once... for about 2 weeks. I was working with a keyboardist who played in a lot of flatted keys. It worked out great until a selection in C was played, then I was kind of lost. Plus the set-up changes were not to my liking.

So, I tuned back up to standard and gutted out all the flatted key arrangements. In the long run it made me a better bassist, the other takeaway was that play alongs with old jazz recordings became a breeze.

 

[Clark Westfield]

My band just recently went to Eb to save the voice of our singer. All songs.

At practice I use my Zoom B3 pedal with a downtune option, but it really sucks.

Very wonky and artificial sounding.

For gigs, I just have a bass set up in Eb with DR DDT .105’s and it works for me.

I won’t bring that bass to the rehearsal space due to all the extra crap stored within the studio.

It’s just a massive headstock hazard, so I bring my beater.

 

[thump54]

I've been playing in bands tuned to Eb for many years now. I usually do the bulk of the singing and that little bitty half step makes a big difference by the time the third set rolls around. After much trial and error, I settled on Fender 9050M flat wounds for my long scale basses in Eb. After a little tweaking of the truss rod and string height, they do the job for me. For my short scale basses, I like Ernie Ball Group 1 Flats 50-110 as well as Labella 760FL-S. I also really like the GHS Balanced Nickel mediums for round wounds. A few months ago I picked up an HX Stomp and have used the Simple Pitch to tune down a half step on my basses that are standard pitch and IMHO it sounds really good on all notes with no latency that I can notice.

 

[bdplaid]

My band has started to play a few songs that require Eb tuning. Rather than carrying around two instruments each, we decided to just play everything in Eb. This has been a godsend for me. I sing all the harmonies for the band and lead on a few songs. It is so much easier on my throat, especially now that I'm getting older (62).

I've decided to try thicker strings on my Eb bass. I have all my bass guitars set up with really low action. I had to raise it just to eliminate fret buzz. The strings are also a little too floppy for my tastes. To that end, I've got a set of much thicker strings coming in to see how these two factors accommodate each. I play Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats almost exclusively, 45-65-80-100. The set I have coming in are 55-75-90-110. That's a big jump, but I play pretty aggressively. I've also been a little disappointed in the sound quality of my G string; it sounds a little thin.

I will report back on the results. I may order a 50-70-85-105 set and put them on a different bass to compare them.

I've found that simply going up one gauge works fine. On most of my Eb tuned basses, I use 50-110. It can get complicated, though, as not all strings sound the same in different gauges. And there are different types of strings that downtune better than others, especially if you tune to Eb, then do songs that are in drop D (drop C#) as well. I think you may end up playing with the weight and brand of string, but the final solution for me was simply going up a gauge.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

I've found that simply going up one gauge works fine. On most of my Eb tuned basses, I use 50-110. It can get complicated, though, as not all strings sound the same in different gauges. And there are different types of strings that downtune better than others, especially if you tune to Eb, then do songs that are in drop D (drop C#) as well. I think you may end up playing with the weight and brand of string, but the final solution for me was simply going up a gauge.

We play Higher by Creed. So I have drop down to C#, just like you said. This is why I decided to see if the heavier gauge works well first.

I will probably end up buying a set at 50-70-85-105, just to compare the two.

I typically find when I change strings types, a full setup is necessary.