# Drop A with 50-135 on a 35" bass - Possible?



## RND (Sep 30, 2013)

I recently got a basically new, used Schecter Stiletto Studio-5 bass, which I freakin' love so far. The strings that came with it are all fine, except for the low B, which feels similar to a spaghetti noodle when I play it. To solve the spaghetti noodle string, I bought a pack of Ernie Ball Power Slinkies, which are 50-70-85-105-135. Today, as I take out the pack to restring my bass, I get curious, and measure my scale length, and realize that I might not be able to tune these strings to Drop A, which is AEADG .-. 
Do any of you know whether I can do this, or should I just return the strings?


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## Frankb7stringer (Sep 30, 2013)

The strings will be pretty tight but it's possible. Just make sure you adjust the neck intonation and action accordingly. Personally I would suggest the .130s but that's just out of personal preference.


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## RND (Sep 30, 2013)

Frankb7stringer said:


> The strings will be pretty tight but it's possible. Just make sure you adjust the neck intonation and action accordingly. Personally I would suggest the .130s but that's just out of personal preference.



I was just thinking I could take just the 135 out of the set, and replace my B on my bass. I don't want to have to adjust my truss rod too much, and I can give the other 4 strings to a buddy or something.


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## angus (Oct 1, 2013)

I don't understand what the problem is- those are just medium-heavy gauge strings. Seems perfect.

You will almost surely have to adjust the truss, but get used to it because you will throughout the year anyway.


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## ixlramp (Oct 1, 2013)

The top 2 strings will be super-tight, not dangeroously so though. The .135 will still be loose at A, you need .145 minimum for A, and that can still be tuned back to B safely. Are you always in drop A or using other tunings too? If always drop A use a .145 tapered single plus your favourite 4 string set.


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## Winspear (Oct 1, 2013)

ixlramp said:


> The top 2 strings will be super-tight, not dangeroously so though. The .135 will still be loose at A, you need .145 minimum for A, and that can still be tuned back to B safely. Are you always in drop A or using other tunings too? If always drop A use a .145 tapered single plus your favourite 4 string set.





OP, The spaghetti noodle low B though is likely a 130 and is going to be even looser as a 135 A. Get that 145 for sure (in fact, that's still pretty loose but you wont find more without buying special strings). I'd get a 100-45 4 string set and a single 145 tapered. The part number from D'addario is XB145TSL

If you find that still loose which is not unlikely (it equates to roughly an 88 E string or something..) then I suggest picking up a 158 drop tune set from Circle k. Sounds extreme but it's not!


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## Jessy (Oct 1, 2013)

EtherealEntity said:


> Get that 145 for sure (in fact, that's still pretty loose but you wont find more without buying special strings)


I actually think .145 is perfect for low A, but I use tensions that are in-between what most people use for electric guitar and bass. My scale is 35.25", so I get marginally more tension, but it's probably not a big enough difference that I'd want a .150 if I had to move down to an even 35".

50-70-85-105-135 Sounds crazy to me; use Circkle K's balanced string sets to help you figure out what will actually feel good. I don't have the money for their strings yet - I just get bulk stainless steel sets from juststrings.com, along with single .145s because they don't come in a pack. Their gauges are helpful guides even if you don't use their strings. This is what I use:
Bb - 30
F - 45
C - 60
G - 80
D - 110
A - 145

If you liked 105 for E, they'd recommend .155 for A. All you need to do is find the string that you like best, at tension, and they'll fill in the blanks for you:

The two sets that surround .105 are
.150 .102 .076 .057 .041
.158 .106 .079 .059 .043

Round those numbers to bulk strings if you want to go the route I do, but you'll still need a custom .155,


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## RND (Oct 1, 2013)

ixlramp said:


> The top 2 strings will be super-tight, not dangeroously so though. The .135 will still be loose at A, you need .145 minimum for A, and that can still be tuned back to B safely. Are you always in drop A or using other tunings too? If always drop A use a .145 tapered single plus your favourite 4 string set.



Just for now, I'd be playing in standard in a band that switches tunings a bit, nothing lower than Drop C, so standard would be fine, I just would like to be able to switch to A. Though, that's nothing urgent, so keeping the 5th a B for now is fine.



EtherealEntity said:


> OP, The spaghetti noodle low B though is likely a 130 and is going to be even looser as a 135 A. Get that 145 for sure (in fact, that's still pretty loose but you wont find more without buying special strings). I'd get a 100-45 4 string set and a single 145 tapered. The part number from D'addario is XB145TSL
> 
> If you find that still loose which is not unlikely (it equates to roughly an 88 E string or something..) then I suggest picking up a 158 drop tune set from Circle k. Sounds extreme but it's not!



Yeah, I've checked out the D'addario .145 in their singles section, and Circle K before for their custom sets which seem promising. For right now though, I just need a better low B. Drop A was something I was hoping I could do, but it's nothing urgent, since the band I am playing in right now uses nothing lower than Drop C. Eventually, I'd want to get a string that could comfortably play in A, but also safely go up to B if I need it to, and I can see the .145 along with the long scale 45-100 D'addario set as my future set once I get some money/get my seven string.



Jessy said:


> I actually think .145 is perfect for low A, but I use tensions that are in-between what most people use for electric guitar and bass. My scale is 35.25", so I get marginally more tension, but it's probably not a big enough difference that I'd want a .150 if I had to move down to an even 35".
> 
> 50-70-85-105-135 Sounds crazy to me; use Circkle K's balanced string sets to help you figure out what will actually feel good. I don't have the money for their strings yet - I just get bulk stainless steel sets from juststrings.com, along with single .145s because they don't come in a pack. Their gauges are helpful guides even if you don't use their strings. This is what I use:
> Bb - 30
> ...



Thanks for the insight, I'll check out juststrings if I need anything special, but for now, I've just used Amazon for strings, because of super saver shipping... xD

Alright, thanks to you all for the insight, I think for now I'm just going to use the .135 for a B, and leave the rest of the old strings alone, since I just have to play live for now. I haven't heard great things about Ernie Ball bass strings, specifically about them not lasting that long, so the .135 will just be temporary until I can get a new 45-100 set plus a .145, all from D'addario, once I get some more money to spend on strings/need to record.


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## iron blast (Oct 1, 2013)

Frankb7stringer said:


> The strings will be pretty tight but it's possible. Just make sure you adjust the neck intonation and action accordingly. Personally I would suggest the .130s but that's just out of personal preference.


 you must dig super loose strings mine was way too flubby at 132


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## angus (Oct 1, 2013)

I use .118s or .120s, usually. I keep one bass with a .130 or .135, but that's it. 

Guitarists seems to like wildly heavier strings than full-time bassists do.


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## facepalm66 (Oct 2, 2013)

^ kinda true to that, lol  

I also like a bit more loose strings on bass... except for the B, 5th or whatever you call it. That strings loses it's tone a lot depending on the right tension, as far as my experience goes.

Hence, I can even get great sound on drop C with only .100 - .110 strings. Hard time having good (not great) tone on A with 135..


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