Bass strings on a sevenstringer

[allstar990]

Has anyone tried putting a bass guitar string as the 7th string? will it work?

 

[Metal Ken]

Works fine, i do it all the time.

 

[allstar990]

Works fine, i do it all the time.

how do you exactly do it?

 

[AeonSolus]

i do it aswell, There's this utility store that sells d'ddarios single strings, so i just get a .065 bass D String from a 4 string set and a 10-46 set and i'm ready to tune up to Drop G#

 

[allstar990]

i do it aswell, There's this utility store that sells d'ddarios single strings, so i just get a .065 bass D String from a 4 string set and a 10-46 set and i'm ready to tune up to Drop G#

Do i have to make any truss rod adjustments?

 

[vampiregenocide]

You can, providing you set it up for whatever gauge you're using. But as some people will say, bass strings are made differently and as a result you may not get a tone you like out of them. There are some manufacturers that make very heavy gauge strings specifically for guitars/ERGs which could be what you're looking for.

 

[AeonSolus]

Do i have to make any truss rod adjustments?

What gauge are you using?

 

[sethmetal]

Well, it has been established that it is certainly do-able, but I must say I swear by it!

I use a set of D'Addario Light Top/Heavy Bottom and then a .70 D'Addario single bass string for the low. I did have to make minor set-up adjustments, but then I can be a little crazy about that stuff sometimes. It might not make a difference to you personally.

I tune down a half-step usually, btw.

 

[scorch15]

Have any of you guys done this with a floyd rose on your guitar? I'm thinking about tryin this but I don't know if the actual string would fit in the saddles on a Floyd.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

Have any of you guys done this with a floyd rose on your guitar? I'm thinking about tryin this but I don't know if the actual string would fit in the saddles on a Floyd.

The first time I put a .60 in my Loomis, I had a hard time making it stay in the saddle when I was putting strings on. It stays just fine, but I don't know how much thicker one can go with a Floyd. You also have to consider how it will sit in the locking nut, whether the lock things will actually clamp both the B and E string.

While I'm on it, when I made the move to the .60 (I know that's really skinny for a lot of you guys, but it suits me perfectly ), I tried to get a single string, and the Guitar Center dude got a bass string out before pointing out that GHS made a six string set that goes .60 .52 .36 .17 .13 .10. I put a .30 in there for the D string, and had my whole set for what that single .60 bass string would have cost.

 

[Metal Ken]

Have any of you guys done this with a floyd rose on your guitar? I'm thinking about tryin this but I don't know if the actual string would fit in the saddles on a Floyd.

I used to do it on a Universe i had, on a regular basis.

 

[signalgrey]

i think i remember Huf and Apophis saying its a bad idea. for various reasons.

 

[scorch15]

Alright thanks alot to you, I shall go try this out now

 

[MaKo´s Tethan]

i think i remember Huf and Apophis saying its a bad idea. for various reasons.

yes? for what I know (I say for what I know) strings are strings, and they only difference in gauge, and well, in bass, the ball end.

but if you have a .60 guitar string and a .60 bass string...they are not the same?? for me works...but maybe in high ends instruments the sound will be a little different...don`t know.

In the past, KoRn uses a bass strings on the low A...just for note.

 

[allstar990]

What gauge are you using?

i have no idea...right now i am using the strings that came from the factory on my schecter c-7 std.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

i have no idea...right now i am using the strings that came from the factory on my schecter c-7 std.

I think they're .10-.46 with a .52 for the B.

 

[dpm]

Construction depends on the brand, but there's no fundamental difference between guitar and bass strings. In a certain range of gauges there might be a difference, eg. a D'Addario 64 guitar string has a single winding but a D'Addario 65 bass string is double wound. IME the double winding feels smoother and gets less string squeak, and also intonates better, with maaybe a touch less brightness that the single wound string. Once you get a bit bigger in gauge both the guitar and bass D'Addarios are have double windings. The rest comes down to alloys and the construction process that a particular string maker uses, which may or may not effect things negatively, it depends on what you want to hear.

If you have a guitar that tends to lose clarity on the low B (like my Universe) a good trick is to run a brighter sounding (stainless wound for example) bass string in combination with a standard 6 string set. The end result is a better balanced tone from string to string.

 

[cerwinthedoc]

Hmmm. I may end up going a higher gauge on all my strings.
Right now I play 10-52 (if I remember correctly, may have been 10-56) on my 7 string. However, I would like to have that extra chunky 7th string. I really enjoy the lows Uneven Structure achieves, if that puts it into perspective.

I play ADGCFAD, and I don't plan on changing that anytime soon, since it's worked out very well for me. However, I do have worries that the higher gauge string won't fit in my Floyd...

 

[rew]

I use a DR set of tite-fits .010-.050. I add a .065 dr sunbeam (bass string) for the low b, since they are both nickel on round core. The bass string is different, as the core wire is thicker. also, the ball at the end is much larger. I have a fixed bridge that is string through, and the ball doesn't fit in the hole so it sits on top of it! lol

It plays awesome and i cant hear any difference i sound. That said, I plan on using d'addario 10-59 in the future, its too much of a hassle, not to mention expensive, ordering a custom dr set.

 

[Evil7]

order a custom set of guitar strings from Juststrings.com ....
they have guitar strings that thick.. no need for bass strings..