Yeah I think its a misunderstanding on string gauges and string tension. If you get a thick gauge and have the same tension as say you would have on E1, then its not putting any extra tension on the neck....well at least to my understanding of it.

I played a 4 string at BEAD for a few years but recently found I prefer the 5 string spacing. BEAD 4 string is definitely possible and not all that uncommon, especially in doom metal

That luthier is a loon, then. Lower strings typically have lower tension than the higher strings. Don't believe me? Which strings on your bass are easier to bend? The high ones or the low ones?

I turned on to BEAD 3 years ago and I’m hooked. I play Dub Reggae and i never used the G string anyway

@@rabidwallaby84 That isn't true. Heavier gauge strings will always have more tension than lighter gauge strings. Buy a heavier set of bass guitar strings and put them on, tune it, wait awhile and then check your relief. You will find that you probably have more than you did before. That is because the strings are putting more tension on the neck and pulling it forward. You will more than likely need to adjust your truss rod a bit after putting on thicker gauge strings.

Isn‘t it too light for a low a?

@@user-kn1ju6tz2l My .135 hold well all the way down to gG0 pretty well.

@@joaopedrobossle6931 ok interesting. Just beford i discovered this video i installed a 145 set for drop a. Works great so far

Yeah I really like the thinner neck on a 4 string. But still being able to go low with thicker string gauges

@@GaryHiebner 4 strings set in B Standard is fairly normal being in the music scene (specifically metal) for a few years. It's actually rare to see bassists in other genres to use that tuning on a normal bass but I've watched some on KZfaq do it. Very few, though it puts a smile on my face when someone does

I tune my 5 strings to A&B And my 4 strings to G&A. Sounds odd. Till you hear them.

Thanks for the feedback. I personally like tighter tension especially when going llwer. I find if the string is too loose it also looses note clarity. But also having some brighter strings also helps :)

Yes that's true. Scale length also plays a role. Because the longer scale helps the guitar or bass intonation better higher up the neck.

@@GaryHiebner I played a Fender P bass in a death core band years ago I believe it was a long 34" Drop B (can't remember what gauges I used) loved the way is sounded. I see what you're saying about the scale I just haven't fully experimented on it myself much. Definitely going to let my bass player know as I'm a guitar player these days and my scales are super short :)

I had a 35 inch bass and took it down to about G#1. When tried to go lower the sound got a bit flabby. Then got a 37 inch conversion neck for my bass. And now have that down to F1 with a 170 gauge and it works great. So yeah if you go too low for a scale and go too thick with the strings your tone can get a bit muddy. So its a balancing act between the scale length and string gauge.

Thanks, appreciate the comment

Thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoyed the video :)

Got it done on a 32 inch scale. Using a .165 gauge for that G#. Had to modify that string, though.

@@kutya_ember okay it's getting ridiculous now. .165?! But it probably doesn't sound that bright with that thick boy, right?

Yeah man. 4 string necks feel so good.

@@GaryHiebner just never knew how to get rid of that flubbery sound n feel on the low E

Bro thats so fucking cool. I think you should try (if u havent already) to get some reaally powerful subwoofers and try to feel the notes with the body. Sounds kinda silly but I think it woukd work.

254! That is crazy! On what scale length bass?

I've done 170 on a 37 inch. Can't even imagine a 254!

It's a 34" 1980 Ibanez Roadster--built like a tank and pretty heavy. It was the next-best thing to a five-stringer which I didn't have $1200+ for back then. I took it home with the heaviest Ken Smith set, put on the bottom four strings, and tuned it to A-D-G-C. By 2010, I found Circle-K and took a chance on making it a sub-bass. Half of the joy is seeing what other people do with it--it's a very different instrument. The Quake will have the same tuning and tension. The bottom string can be a .222 instead.

Here currently playing my 35 inch 5 string with .150 string tuned to G0

Thanks!

Thanks Cos Man

Tapered both sides makes a lot of sense

Awesome! Glad you enjoy the videos

Good point. Yeah I went with the Long Scales XLs. And most recently I had to go with the Super Long Scale XLs for my BTB 37inch bass conversion neck.

I get strings that I can't find in SA from Amazon. You the Brandon from Crossing Point? I recognize your profile picture. I used to be in Jimmy 12 Inch. Good ole 2000s Durbs Music days.

@@GaryHiebner No way! I thought I recognised you! I've been doing @stragenoise since 2012. Instrumental sludge. Went on hiatus when I moved to CT a few years back but now getting things back together. I went down a rabbit hole of all your videos this morning. Really nice work!

Awesome. Checking out some of your stuff now. I spot an MMM1! What you tuning down to? I used to have an MMM1 and took it down to F1. Great guitar. I also moved down to the Western Cape from Durbs.

@@GaryHiebner I tune to drop A. The MMM1 is great but I actually prefer the feel of an old pawn shop standard length guitar I have in that tuning. But the MMM1 is more reliable. I also still have the SZ2020 prestige I used to use in Crossingpoint and a Peavey T60 which is also amazing in A

Thats awesome! Those SZ2020's are amazing. I know a guy that has chucked on a set of 20-90s and has tuned his SZ2020 to Drop E. And it works.

Thanks so much. Will check out those strings. Don't know if you've seen my latest video but I got a bass conversion neck so its now a 35-37 inch and is tuned down to F0. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rdailqiiqdrFgHU.html

Thanks for the setup on the bass guitar Artur. Feels way better than those rusty old strings that were on it before, haha!

@@GaryHiebner the old ones lost the privilege of being called strings some time in a last century 🤣🤣

🤣🤣🤣

Worried it will put too much tension on the neck?

I'm down with that. Hit me up.

I have the tone all the way up. And then with the pickup blend selector its all the way to the bridge. So I javent blended it with the neck pickup. So pretty straight forward.

@@GaryHiebner Great. Thanks for the fast reply. Keep jammin bro.

Yeah exactly. Perfectly fine with the right string gauges.

Wow! 200 on a 34 inch!

@GaryHiebner yep!!!!! I was inspired by my favorite band, Admiral Angry. They did the same thing on the bass end for their albums Albania and Grindcore Terrorists, expect they used a 180 gauge low D0 string. I wanted it a bit tighter so I went with a 200 :)

Yeah I should try GHS sometime. Heard good things about their strings

Unfortunately not. Definitely will be too much tension

You could try the RedSub Colesium Fanned Frets basses from Gear4Music. They are 36.5 on the long scale.

Yeah I think your biggest challenge is the scale length. Thicker strings will sound darker. Where thinner strings will sound brighter. Thats why the 100 will sound brighter and only playable if you play very soft. If you start playing hard the string will be too floppy. So you sort of need to find a common ground between string tension and how dark or bright the string sounds. Also different string brands can give different results. So maybe also try some other strings. I was very happy with the D'Addario XL strings.

@@GaryHiebner Thank you! I was already using D'Addario XLs. Your reply gave me an idea, I did some calculations: The scale to gauge ratio on your setup: 35/.145 = 241 On a 32 to have a similar ratio (about 246) the nearest match would be a .130 gauge string. But that was too lose already, too. I came up with what I call the "tension factor" to describe the tightness of the string (a sort of tension calculation, can be used for comparison when all else assumed equal). Your setup: .145^2 x 35 x 27.5hz = 20.23 To have the same "tension factor" my .130 on a 32 scale would have to go up to 37.42hz. That is a bit over 5 semitones higher than that 27.5Hz A0. So a D1. Conclusion: if my assumptions are correct, then either I have to get the same scale length that you have with the same gauge strings, as having any different will give me either floppiness or a too dark sound or both, or I will have to tune up to drop D. I tested the .130 on this 32" scale in D. It was pretty nice. It's a consolation I can take. I hope fellow bassists will learn from this.

No, you will need to go thicker. Short scale lengths need thicker strings for better tension. So if I'm using a 145 for A on a 35 inch. You'll probably need like a 155 for a similar A on your 32 inch. Thats just a very quick rough guess. But try some of the string online tension calculators to figure it out.

@@GaryHiebner You are right, that's how the tension would be there, but I wonder how dark it would sound. The .165 was really very dark, but possibly inbetween at around .155 or .160 it might just work. Also it might be just the strings themselves, these big ones are not really fresh. Update: I put on the 165 A, swapped the 105 for a 120, now it's all equally dark sounding, put the EQ aside, put an overdrive on with no gain and full tone, it ended up surprisingly good. About as clanky as I wanted it. You kind of lead me there! Thanks! Update 6 months on: The tension is dangerous to the neck of this ancient trussrodless thing. Had to go in the other direction, a lot smaller gauges, lower tension, and a lot of adjustment to my technique to cope with the floppiness.

Yeah that will work. Maybe try a slightly lighter 5th string, like a 128.

Oh awesome, thanks for your help@@GaryHiebner

If the neck is too bowed you might need to adjust the trusses. Check the action and see if you need to do a trusted adjustment. I got my bass uswd and the neck was pretty straight. And even after putting on the thicker strings it didn't put too much tension on the neck so didn't cause any extra bowing.

What scale length is your bass. Unfortunately if you wanna go to a low F you really need a longer scale. I got a 170 on a 37 inch bass in F. And that seems like the best having the longer scale and thick gauge. I don't a 145 on a shorter bass will handle F. You could maybe get down to G with a 165 or so.

@@GaryHiebner Scale length is 34. Surprisingly it can hit the low G with no issue with the 130. But anything after that may seem a bit to floppy. Not much, but I definitely want to minimize that as much as possible

No the loudness of the strings didn't change. Just the thicker strings have a slightly darker tone to the thinner strings

Thanks @@GaryHiebner!

I like a little bit of extra tension so it feels good to me. Bit it could of been 100.

@@GaryHiebner By the way how does the 145 compare in tension to the 107? Because I wrote to D'addario and they recommended a 160 for A#, wich seems a bit too thick I think.

Hectic. Sorry man

Thats weird with the bridge. Cos I've put some even thicker strings on the guitar and it handles. Stay tuned for a new video showing going even lower on this bass

Ibanez suck at all i had a 5 strings 9 years ago and it broke some tuners

You could try 145,105,80,60. If you want more tension then maybe beef it up. Like 155, 110,90 70. And also check what type of bridge you have. You might need to get a tapered low string

You could use tapered strings by the bridge so they fit in the bridges saddles. And you might need to file down the nut to fit the thicker strings. But this is quite an easy modification.

@@GaryHiebner Thanks for the quick reply!

Yeah I'd say you need a thicker string on the low string. So maybe get a 5 string Bass set and chuck the 4th string. So 130-85-65-45. Something similiar to that.

What's the scale length?

Its still a work in progress. When its finally finished will mention where to grab it.

Yip it can with the right string gauge tension

Haha!

In this video I tuned down to A#-F-A#-D#.

Oh wow I did not expect a reply 😊. Thanks a lot for clarifying mate, I've been feeling like a crazy person because every bass forum I asked for clarification on bass drop tuning everybody says I am a lunatic and I should just stick to BEAD haha but for me as a guitar player is easier to tune like the guitar. Great content mate, thank you for inspiring us!

I tune differently on bass all the time. I'm exactly like you. I tune my guitars differently. And then I tune the bass to match my guitars but an octave lower. Or whatever is easier to play the bass parts. There's no rules. As long as the bass and guitars are in tune. Hahah!

Yes please. Send me your soul ;)

_hands_ @GaryHiebner _his soul_