# Drop F on a Fender P-Bass



## owlexifry (Jun 5, 2012)

i've got a heap of stuff recorded in F-C-F-Bb-Eb-G-C and have been trying to get my bass setup to cater for this tuning. I do not want to 'tune up', already decided on 'tuning down'.

clearly anything available through D'addario or Ernie ball wasn't big enough, so I ordered a set of Rotosounds 4-string pack, w/ the 175.

And yeah the 175 still isn't tight enough for the low F  sounds pretty floppy & just lame.
I don't understand how folks have been getting away with 175 for the suggested 'F#' (as per The Rotosound packaging) unless they're using longer scale basses. 

so I'm thinking Circle-K is the go, and get a set w/ 210.
my mate reckons I should get 230, but i think that's gonna be over the top.

would love to hear your comments and suggestions


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## Murmel (Jun 5, 2012)

Would sure be interesting to see if still has that P-bass tone


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## ixlramp (Jun 6, 2012)

.210 will be medium-heavy tension (45 pounds) which is fine, .232 is dangerously overtight.
Check out the CKS tension chart: http://circlekstrings.com/CKSIMAGES/CircleKtensionChart.pdf. Look at the 'F' column and keep in mind 30 pounds is the recommended minimum at extra light tension, 40 pounds is medium tension, 50 pounds is heavy, i wouldn't exceed this. So anything between .174 and .222. Remember that such fat strings need the saddle moved back a long way to intonate, so depending on how much saddle travel you have it may be a good idea to avoid a super fat gauge. The .190 has 3 layers of wrap wire making it more flexy than the .200 which has 4 layers. This will also improve the chances of intonating it. But then, apparently CKs are loose-feeling for their gauge so a .190 may not feel much tighter than the Roto .175.
Keep in mind these strings only work with top-load bridges.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jun 6, 2012)

When going that low, amplification and EQ is going to play a BIG part in getting the note to be full, articulate, and simply audible. 

What's your bass rig looking like?


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## owlexifry (Jun 8, 2012)

cheers guys. yeah im thinking 210 will be the go.

yeah I'm aware the super heavy gauges is gonna make things difficult. Already having issues with trying to get articulate, full, balanced notes, but hopefully with more tension, shouldn't it get better?

My mate does the recording, and we just plug the bass into a digidesign 003 (DI) and then that goes into an imac via firewire, and then use modelling software, I cant remember exactly what he uses, probably podfarm with other stuff.
We had an idea of plugging the bass into a vtb1 preamp (my brother has one) and then into the DI.
Any thoughts on that idea?


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## wrongnote85 (Jun 8, 2012)

i think only elephants can hear notes that low.


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## ixlramp (Jun 9, 2012)

If you used the Roto set in drop F the F will have been much looser than the higher strings. The CK 'drop tune' sets will have equal tension strings in drop F. Use the CK tension chart to discover your preferred string tension and choose a set using that value. A .210 F is roughly equivalent to a .110 E, you want it that tight? I suggest a .200 is enough at 40 pounds.


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## owlexifry (Jun 12, 2012)

fair enough, yeah i get what you mean, because it's dropped, the other strings are gonna have way more tension.... guess ill just have to size up the right gauges for my 34" 4-string and my bass player's 35" 5-string


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## ZEBOV (Jun 12, 2012)

.182 is good enough for me for low F on a 34" scale.


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