# String suggestions for Drop Ab tuning



## TravisMontgomery (Jan 12, 2009)

Hey guys! I'm a guitarist and I recently bought a bass.....so I don't know what string gauges to use haha. I'm going to be tuning to Drop Ab. What size strings would you guys recommend? I have a Schecter Stiletto 5 string.


----------



## ixlramp (Feb 12, 2009)

Aw, no one's replied yet. The Stiletto is 35 inches yeah?

I have been using Ab .145 and Eb .095 on my 35" Ibanez BTB very successfully for the last few years: D'Addario prosteels with a tapered .145, excellent strings.

So for a tension balanced 'ultra light' set:

Gb .035
Db .050
Ab .070
Eb .095
Ab .145

Or if you rather, .145 plus a .095 to .035 set.
Some bassists will say this is too light a set, but you may like it as a guitarist.

For a 'light' set: .145 plus a .100 to .040 set.

For a standard 'medium' set (way too tight in my opinion): .145 plus a .105 to .045 set


----------



## EliNoPants (Feb 13, 2009)

i'm a native bassist, masquerading as a beginner guitarist here...and dude, i LOVE light strings (guitarists aren't the only people with sissy fingers), but then again, i really like getting my strings to flap enough to get some fret buzz when i hit super hard, so my sound goes like 
POW!KLANG!!! riiiiiiiing....
but then again, i'm kind of an asshole
right now i'm tuned to BEAD occasionally to BF#BE with i THINK (it's been a while since i restrung, and i was in a rush, so i just picked a set off the wall that looked like it'd work) it's a .115 .95 .75 .55 set, and i love it, but the B could be a little tighter, mebe up to a .120 or .125

but like i said, getting my strings to fret buzz for a split second and give me a clangy sound is my thing, if you don't want that sound, definitely go way heavier than i have, basically what i have right now is the smallest you can go and still get an actual sound out of the damn thing

ignore that last post, i was a lil drunk (read: wasted) last night and somehow read the lower case b intended to be a flat as an actual B...thereby making any of my advice useless, listen to somebody sober

i'll try not to get hammered and give string advice tonight


----------

