JoshJ Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 (edited) I've just got a set of Slaphappy weedwackers (thanks again, bob pickard!) and replaced the steel strings that came on my cheapo bass. I've left the steel E string on for now, though, as I've heard the 'wacker E can sound really dead. The A isn't very impressive when I play it normally but for slapping it sounds perfect. I am planning on trying out the E string soon anyway because it's a bit weird having an A string much thicker than my E, but for now it's pretty useful to keep the steel one as I have something to tune the stretchy plastic strings to every time they go flat. What I'm wondering though, is since the steel E is at a higher tension than the other 3 strings, could this bend my neck out of shape if I leave it too long? edit: Something I find quite interesting since I'm into physics, is when I play the 3rd fret on the weedwacker G, the steel E string vibrates like crazy. It's obviously hitting the resonance frequency of the E string. If you don't know what I mean (and most people probably do because I'm nowhere near as clever as I think I am) look up Barton's pendulum. In the right song this might create quite a nice effect, but for me it's just annoying having to dampen the E with my thumb. Like I said I'm going to swap the E soon anyway so it won't be a problem for long. Edited October 1, 2010 by JoshJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulKing Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 It's not a stupid question. Very uneven tension is not ideal, and makes it hard to play too. Try swapping the E for an A 'bumped' (down-tuned) to E. Surprisingly it works pretty well, though better the stretchier the strings are. A very stiff string sounds rubbish slackened that far, but stretchy strings don't. To match tension with whackers and guts I play 'bumped' Innovation strings on the A and/or E. Brilliant match. In fact I recommend you do this anyway. No whacker E sounds really good. Neither do plain gut E. And most whacker As are pretty poor too. You'll want to start thinking about substitutes for the E at least: Velvet Garbo, Innovation Silver- or PsychoSlap, Pirastro Oliv (flat-wrapped gut), Presto... there are several options. Steel is not a good match in most people's opinions.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshJ Posted October 2, 2010 Author Share Posted October 2, 2010 [quote name='PaulKing' post='975066' date='Oct 2 2010, 03:22 PM']You'll want to start thinking about substitutes for the E at least: Velvet Garbo, Innovation Silver- or PsychoSlap, Pirastro Oliv (flat-wrapped gut), Presto... there are several options. Steel is not a good match in most people's opinions..[/quote] Thanks for the advice, I might try the steel A for now then, if the wacker really is no good. Ideally, I want to try a set of Innovation Silvers or Psychoslaps. It's just a matter of waiting until I have £75 spare! I hadn't actually thought of only replacing the E string though, which obviously would be a lot cheaper. I've just had a look, and if I only got a "bumped" Psychoslap A string, it would be thinner than the weedwacker A, so I'm thinking I'd want to get Psychoslap A and D strings for my E and A. Then the gauges would go .126, .115, .105, .095. Does that sound sensible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulKing Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 [quote name='JoshJ' post='975208' date='Oct 2 2010, 05:36 PM']Does that sound sensible?[/quote] Aye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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