String Tension Super Thread (Got a string question? Post it here!)

[Veldar]

It better sound like sludge.

 

[Seybsnilksz]

Personally I wouldn't say it sucks to play with 45lbs - I played in B with a .166 that I set up for G# once and it was awesome but 39-41lbs is plenty sufficient imo.
I import Kaliums and I do think its worth it but they are expensive to ship. I'd probably get away with D'addarios up to 145. Kaliums are more important to me because of heavier gauges where they are far superior (and available!)
You say you want to downtune - I would set up for the lower tunings minimum tension. I'd say that's 35lbs, I really don't like to go much below 40lbs if tuning A or below. If you want to have possibility of down tuning that's the way I like to go. I'd rather have very tight strings in the higher tuning than floppy ones in the lower tuning.
What's the tunings you want to reach?
Personally, the set you listed is great for B standard if a little bit tight. Tighest on the lowest strings, which is a good thing. It could tune to A standard and still be tight enough, but I wouldn't want to tune it lower.
That said - remember most people don't strive for perfection in every gauge, don't care if their string set isn't balanced when they fancy dropping the bottom string a tone, and still get great results!
If you do pick up D'addario make sure that bottom string is the longest option and tapered if they still do that.

The lowest note I would tune to is Ab, but that is mainly for one or two songs I've written that I probably will never play live.

Honestly I would rather go with something like a 135, but D'addario doesn't make that gauge long enough. They do however make a tapered super long 145 (that's still 33 lbs, just below yor limit). I guess the only thing I'm afraid of is it being too tight in B.

 

[Simic]

Quick question; I'm a fairly new 7 string player and I have a 27' guitar on which I currently use a 0.09-0.60 daddario nyxl set, tuned to drop A (it's actually 0.09-0.80 for an 8 string guitar, but I use it as a 7 string set and ditch the 0.80).

Here's the thing though - I'm used to playing a 9-42 elixir set on a 25.5' 6 string guitar so the top 3 strings on my 27' 7 string feel stiff to me (harder to bend, but not that noticable). My other problem is that the 0.60 for the low A just feels too loose.

So my question is: Which string set would you recommend? Ideally I'd be searching for an 0.08-0.62 or 0.64 but I'm not sure such a set even exists. I can live with a bit more tensions on the unwound strings so a 0.09-0.62 or 0.64 set is something I'd consider as well...Any suggestions ?

Here are a few sets I've found myself but I've never tried any of those strings in my life (I've used elixir exclusively since I started playing guitar) so could you let me know if I should stay away from any of them? All 8 string sets, I'd just ditch the 8th string in the EBMM set / the '7th' string in the other two and use the 8th as the 7th ^^,

http://www.thomann.de/gb/ernie_ball_2624_skinny_top_heavy_bottom.htm
http://www.thomann.de/gb/daddario_exl120_8_8_string_set.htm
http://www.thomann.de/gb/pyramid_8_string_steel_set.htm

Cheers!

 

[Seybsnilksz]

So the price for my dream set of bass strings from Kalium would be about 63 dollars including shipping. Will there be any additional import taxes or stuff like that? If not, I think it's worth it.

 

[pastanator]

I'm sure it's been asked, but what's a good set for Bb F Bb Eb Ab on a 34" bass?

Standard sets you could get like, on Sweetwater. I'm not really in the boat where I can spend 60 dollars on a set of Kaliums lol

 

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

honestly a D'addario Balanced Tension set starting at 40, and get a single 135 for that low Bb

 

[KoldStatic]

My first seven string is coming in the mail. My question is, can I straight up tune down to Drop G? It's a baritone 7 string, and I want to play Whitechapel's newer stuff. The strings are .10-.59. Would I have to adjust the truss rod at all to get drop G or if i don't, will it sound good?

 

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

It depends on the scale, and the tuning it comes set up for. I would assume it's a 27" scale length, and it comes tuned to standard. So I'd say no, you wouldn't be able to go straight to Drop G with no issues. You'd have to adjust the truss rod to add relief to the neck, and then you'd have to intonate the guitar, otherwise everything but the open strings will be out of tune.

As for sounding good and feeling good, that's subjective. I'd say arguably, yes, you could get 10-59 to work on a 27" guitar in Drop G, but I'd prefer an 11-64 set for that, myself. PM me, I can help you out a lot more, without cluttering up the thread

 

[KoldStatic]

It depends on the scale, and the tuning it comes set up for. I would assume it's a 27" scale length, and it comes tuned to standard. So I'd say no, you wouldn't be able to go straight to Drop G with no issues. You'd have to adjust the truss rod to add relief to the neck, and then you'd have to intonate the guitar, otherwise everything but the open strings will be out of tune.

As for sounding good and feeling good, that's subjective. I'd say arguably, yes, you could get 10-59 to work on a 27" guitar in Drop G, but I'd prefer an 11-64 set for that, myself. PM me, I can help you out a lot more, without cluttering up the thread

Alright, thanks. I'm thinking a good compromise would be to buy a Digitech Drop pedal because I feel like switching every other day.

 

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

From what to what? Pitch shifters sound okay for a step or two difference, but for huge tuning changes, you're really better off with separate guitars.

 

[KoldStatic]

From what to what? Pitch shifters sound okay for a step or two difference, but for huge tuning changes, you're really better off with separate guitars.

Drop A to Drop G. Sounds like from what you're saying it'll sound fine. The Digitech Drop gets good reviews, and I heard demos of them dropping and it sounds good. This is better than the alternatives, such as buying more guitars (lol like i got a lot of cash) or yanno, adjusting the truss rod everytime I want to change tuning. I have a 6 and soon a 7 string, so I'll be tuning/detuning those for a long while, sacrificing tone for convenience.

 

[cmorris975]

I am trying to figure out how a bass player would fit in with such a low guitar tuning. I think the Drop A note on a seven string would be around 55 hz, so an octave lower is 27 hz or so.

What do bands do in this kind of situation, bass player plays in unison on the lowest guitar notes?

And I know this is probably a really broad question, but what kind of bass might be good for this, five string with 35" scale?

Thanks for any help.

Chris

 

[Winspear]

I am trying to figure out how a bass player would fit in with such a low guitar tuning. I think the Drop A note on a seven string would be around 55 hz, so an octave lower is 27 hz or so.

What do bands do in this kind of situation, bass player plays in unison on the lowest guitar notes?

And I know this is probably a really broad question, but what kind of bass might be good for this, five string with 35" scale?

Thanks for any help.

Chris

Drop A on a bass isn't unusual at all, quite easy to achieve.
Yes the fundamental frequency is low but both guitar and bass get a huge amount of volume from the higher overtones.
It's easy to achieve that A on any 34 or 35" bass - the inch doesn't make all that much difference.
Try to go for only top-loading bridges.
At least 145 gauge, anywhere up to 160. I recommend Kalium

 

[cmorris975]

Drop A on a bass isn't unusual at all, quite easy to achieve.
Yes the fundamental frequency is low but both guitar and bass get a huge amount of volume from the higher overtones.
It's easy to achieve that A on any 34 or 35" bass - the inch doesn't make all that much difference.
Try to go for only top-loading bridges.
At least 145 gauge, anywhere up to 160. I recommend Kalium

Great info, thanks so much. There's an Ibanez SR 255 on sale right now for $228 that I might just pick up for recording tunes in drop A. Either that or there' a Dean 5 string 35" scale bass with EMG 40s for $550 that may be worth the extra money for a better tone. I have a SD 500 already but it is four string and I am not sure I want to try to set it up for only low stuff.

Thanks again.

 

[Winspear]

I've played those Deans, they are solid.
Can't go wrong with an Ibby SR either!

 

[Timmy-Scandi]

Hello, I've been a ninja visitor of this forum for quite a few years. After starting my 7 string experience by impulsively buying an S7320 Ibanez 4 years ago and immediately regretting it (I never enjoyed that guitar even after putting a LiquiFire CrunchLab set in it) I started to think that I need a baritone scale length because the 25.5 makes the low B pretty floppy, even if I tune standard, so my question is: is it very hard to solo on a 28 inches 8 string guitar? I mean, of course hard is a subjective matter, but is there anybody that actually use a standard tuning on a long baritone (28 inches 8 string or 27 inches 7 string) for both solo and rythm?

 

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

It could be done, pretty easily, with the right string gauge - I used to tune my 27" 8 string up to Drop F, so everything but the low strings was raised a half step from standard, which would have slightly more tension than a 28" guitar in Standard, with the same gauge. I'd suggest 9-12-15-24-32-44-59-80 - pretty balanced tension

 

[HoneyNut]

Ibz RGD 26.5 inch incoming (6-string). I'd really appreciate some input here. The guitar would be tuned to D-Standard.

What string set would have the same tension as a 10-46 set on a 25.5" scale in E-Standard?

What about C-Standard?

 

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

Here's what I'd suggest for D standard, compared to E on a 25.5

Len 25.5

E4 .010" dapl == 16.21#
B3 .013" dapl == 15.38#
G3 .017" dapl == 16.57#
D3 .026" danw == 18.41#
A2 .036" danw == 19.54#
E2 .046" danw == 17.48#

Len 26.5

D4 .011" dapl == 16.82#
A3 .014" dapl == 15.29#
F3 .019" dapl == 17.74#
C3 .028" danw == 18.26#
G2 .038" danw == 18.5#
D2 .052" danw == 18.87#

Tho you could stand to bump up the G2 string a teeny bit, I just like having even tension across the board on the low strings. As for C standard, this could work

Len 26.5

C4 .012" dapl == 15.89#
G3 .016" dapl == 15.85#
E3b .024" danw == 19.12#
B2b .032" danw == 19.12#
F2 .044" danw == 19.51#
C2 .059" danw == 19.98#

 

[Winspear]

Hello, I've been a ninja visitor of this forum for quite a few years. After starting my 7 string experience by impulsively buying an S7320 Ibanez 4 years ago and immediately regretting it (I never enjoyed that guitar even after putting a LiquiFire CrunchLab set in it) I started to think that I need a baritone scale length because the 25.5 makes the low B pretty floppy, even if I tune standard, so my question is: is it very hard to solo on a 28 inches 8 string guitar? I mean, of course hard is a subjective matter, but is there anybody that actually use a standard tuning on a long baritone (28 inches 8 string or 27 inches 7 string) for both solo and rythm?

Absolutely fine. Presuming you like 10's, you can go all the way to even 30" with the 008 gauges that are available (and that'll actually be even looser, still)