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Best strings for a 34" scale 5 string...


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Hey guys

I recently bought a 5 string from another user on here for £100 and it's turned out to be an absolute bargain but the only thing I'm not liking is the 34" scale instead of the usual 35" i've played on 5 stringers like Spectors and BC Richs.

Anyway, I stuck some new strings on it the other day, Kerly Kues 45-130 gauge then had it professionally set up/intonated with medium to low action (my usual set up) and I've gotta say... THEY SUCK!

The G, D and A string sound quite decent and have poor to reasonable tension but the E string sounds a little bit dead. Then we get to the low B... Urgh. It sounds floppy, feels really loose, has no "tone" to it what so ever and just sounds like a sub bass drop when you play it. The main thing is the lack of tension in it, it feels like a really old string that's been tuned far too low (imagine tuning a 105 E string down to C/B... that's the sort of tension I'm talking about).

What annoys me most is that these strings are £28! I normally use Rotosound RS66LE (50-110) Swing Bass strings or Rotosound BS66 (43-110) Billy Sheehan strings so I was even considering getting a Billy Sheehan set then buying a low B from Rotosound to go with them. Reason for this is with my endorsement discount, I get either 4 string sets for £12 each or 5 string sets for £15.

Sets I've currently whittled down to are:

Rotosound RS665LD 45-65-80-105-130 (stainless steel)
Rotosound BS66 Billy Sheehan 43-65-80-110 + 130 B (stainless steel)
SiT DE-5S Dave Ellefson 45-65-85-105-128 (nickel)
Dunlop Rob Trujillo 45-63-80-102-130 (Stainless steel taper core E-G with a nickel plated steel non taper B)

Any help would be appreciated. Please bare in mind that to me, Elixirs and DR strings are too expensive (and in my experience, DR strings are over-rated and I really didn't like them but it's just preference).

Cheers
Stevie

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  • 2 weeks later...

When I was still doing standard tuning I was using D'addario Prosteels 45-135. Light enough to slap etc on the G string with enough girth on the low E and B to retain some thump. I honestly haven't got on with E strings lighter than 100 or B strings lighter than 130.

With your discount I would probably get the 45-130 Rotos. They are decent strings.

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