Question:
I’m going to buy new strings this weekend from guitar center and I was wondering what the "guage" has to do with anything? Do I also have to worry about length? Can I pay less than 20 bucks for a descent set? I like to play heavy metal i.e. metallica, pantera etc. Any suggestions or help would be awesome. THANKS!
Response:
> I’m going to buy new strings this weekend from guitar center and I was > wondering what the "guage" has to do with anything? Do I also have to > worry about length? Can I pay less than 20 bucks for a descent set? I > like to play heavy metal i.e. metallica, pantera etc. Any suggestions > or help would be awesome. > THANKS!
Hi Laura, Guage is the thickness of the strings. The higher the guage, the more tension will be required to tune the strings up to the standard tuning. Conversely, the smaller the guage, the looser the strings will be. It’s a balance of how much pressure you want to put on the string to make it contact the fret when you’re playing and whether looser strings will hit the frets too much and buzz. Also, the tension makes a difference in the tone. Being (I assume) female and just starting out (I mean no insult, but the muscle structure for most females is somewhat less than for most males), you probably don’t have those "crush walnuts with your fingers" muscles yet :>. I would go for the medium lights or perhaps even the lights to make it a bit easier to handle. The trade off will be a slight increase in the buzziness of the bass. This tends not to matter a great deal with much metal music. I’m assuming you have a long scale bass when I make this recommendation. Lights on a short scale bass would not do well at all. Another thing to consider is that if you increase or decrease the guage on a full set of strings, you may have to reset the neck truss rod tension, the bridge height, and the intonation on the bass. You shouldn’t have to worry about length. I’ve never seen a problem with it unless you have a very strange neck length. Standard lengths from nut to bridge are 30 (short scale), 32 (medium scale), and 34 (long scale) give or take a 1/2 inch or so. With short scale, you would likely end up with a lot of string wrapped around the tuner post, so you may have to trim them a bit. Decent strings for under $20 bucks? Depends on what you define as "decent". My own initial answer would be no, but that may be different for you. — Eric Handler "But the pension fund was just sitting there!"
Response:
>> I’m going to buy new strings this weekend from guitar center and I was > wondering what the "guage" has to do with anything? Do I also have to > worry about length? Can I pay less than 20 bucks for a descent set? I > like to play heavy metal i.e. metallica, pantera etc. Any suggestions > or help would be awesome. > THANKS! -snip- >Decent strings for under $20 bucks? Depends on what you define as >"decent". My own initial answer would be no, but that may be different >for you.
I recently bought some new basses and have been on a quest for a few months to find ‘the right’ strings for each of them. I recently tried Charlie Stringer’s "Snarlin Dog" (for the Jazz V) and "Billy Sheehan Signature" (for the Palaedium) strings and I am -VERY- happy with them. I’ve found my strings. And they’re cheap to boot! A lot cheaper than the DR’s and Spectors I tried (and HATED). -Phil Hamm
Response:
I’d try a set of Rotosound nickel plated Roundwound RL66ND is the model #., I think. 45-105 is the guage I use they run $19.95 at guitar center in Denver. Hope it helps Rod