What's gauge is a 'heavy' low B string?

rob_thebassman

rob_thebassman

Jul 26, 2010
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playing bass since 2005
#1
Hey guys, not been on here for awhile. Only just getting back into my bass stuff. Had other priorities, being a daddy :) getting back into the swing of things again. I'm wanting a 'heavy' gauge for my 5 string music man sub, preferably flat wounds. I once made a custom set of chromes 50 - 110 which is heavy to me, and looking for a B string which will match the gauge I'm used to. I also tuned my basses to E standard. Heavy might be a completely different gauge to others but hey.

Any help would be good, I'm used to 4 strings
 
#5
rob_thebassman said:
I once made a custom set of chromes 50 - 110 which is heavy to me, and looking for a B string which will match the gauge I'm used to.
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RoadRanger said:
140 or 145 if you want similar tension to the "E"
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.050 Chrome has a tension of 55.0 lbs. when tuned to G.
.110 Chrome has a tension of 51.8 lbs. when tuned to E.
.132 Chrome, which is the largest flatwound D'A offers, has a tension of 35.9 lbs. when tuned to B.

It won't be easy to find a flatwound B string that would match in tension with the 50-110 set.
 
#7
rob_thebassman said:
Hey guys, not been on here for awhile. Only just getting back into my bass stuff. Had other priorities, being a daddy :) getting back into the swing of things again. I'm wanting a 'heavy' gauge for my 5 string music man sub, preferably flat wounds. I once made a custom set of chromes 50 - 110 which is heavy to me, and looking for a B string which will match the gauge I'm used to. I also tuned my basses to E standard. Heavy might be a completely different gauge to others but hey.

Any help would be good, I'm used to 4 strings
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Check this old post of mine (and links therein):
HaphAsSard said:
Check out this mono-post thread by @ixlramp:
.140 to .188+ flatwounds by Octave 4 Plus (with video)

Sub Contra Flatwounds

(Ouch. Well, it's custom stuff after all.)
A balanced set built from the .140 would be the good ol' 105-080-060-045; one starting from the .160 would need something like a .115 or a .120 E*, and then an .085/090 A, .065 D and .050 G.


(*if I'm not mistaken it's an extra 25 bucks up front for a string they don't already make)
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In your case a .150 would have the same tension of a .110, but if they don't make one it would be another 25 greens' development fee.

In other words, try the .132 Chrome first. If you don't like it you could get a Rotosound Jazz 77 .130 (they're regularly first in lists as far as tension/stiffness/both, so it should feel above its weight); in the bright flat camp all that's left is Fender (a mere .125); Ernie Ball, both regular and Slinky (cobalt), and it's .130 again for both types*; and Thomastik-Infeld (.136, but supple and lighter in tension than the D'Addario).

If you absolutely need heavier it's Octave4Plus or nothing, and they cost, as shown.


*and the cobalts are unavailable as singles, as are Fenders.
 
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#8
HaphAsSard said:
Check this old post of mine (and links therein):

In your case a .150 would have the same tension of a .110, but if they don't make one it would be another 25 greens' development fee.

In other words, try the .132 Chrome first. If you don't like it you could get a Rotosound Jazz 77 .130 (they're regularly first in lists as far as tension/stiffness/both, so it should feel above its weight); in the bright flat camp all that's left is Fender (a mere .125); Ernie Ball, both regular and Slinky (cobalt), and it's .130 again for both types*; and Thomastik-Infeld (.136, but supple and lighter in tension than the D'Addario).

If you absolutely need heavier it's Octave4Plus or nothing, and they cost, as shown.


*and the cobalts are unavailable as singles, as are Fenders.
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Ok, will give that a go. I don't know if it's my imagination but I think heavy gauges make a difference to the tone
 
#9
rob_thebassman said:
Ok, will give that a go. I don't know if it's my imagination but I think heavy gauges make a difference to the tone
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If you find the time please report back as to your choice and findings: as you could see from the thread I originally posted on, the same or a similar question does pop up from time to time, so it would be nice to add your impressions to the collective database.
 
#10
To match the tension of a .110 E you'll need a .147 B (approximately).

Perhaps Pyramid strings of Germany might be able to make a custom flatwound for you, they make roundwounds up to .175 and advertise that they are happy to make custom roundwound strings up to .200.
O4P are the only company i know of selling big flats.
 
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#11
ixlramp said:
To match the tension of a .110 E you'll need a .147 B (approximately).

Perhaps Pyramid strings of Germany might be able to make a custom flatwound for you, they make roundwounds up to .175 and advertise that they are happy to make custom roundwound strings up to .200.
O4P are the only company i know of selling big flats.
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True - as in, Pyramid might be another possibility. However, unless they're open to tweaking the spicing in their magic sauce according to the tonal goals of the customer, a one-off Pyramid Gold flatwound in the 145 or .150 ballpark would be at least as mellow-sounding as the gauges they offer normally, and not a terribly good match with Chromes. Just something to think about.
 
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