odysseus Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 Hi, I'm looking to restring my Yamaha JM6 so that I can tune it from E to E, the reason being that I want to bring some classical guitar-ish playing to my band's music, and use the same shapes as I would on a guitar, but in the lower register of the bass guitar. I usually have 105 gauge low E string, but I don't mind going bigger if it helps get me the right spread of gauges to make this happen. So... I thought I'd ask the Basschat hivemind if anyone had done similar, or to ask what gauges people think would be appropriate for this sort of E to E tuning? Any advice gratefully received! Rob 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 (edited) https://www.ibanez.com/eu/products/detail/src6_1p_04.html Ibby SRC6 strung E to E with .024/.034/.044/.056/.072/.084 Bloke on here had one FS a while back... Edited September 15, 2020 by PaulThePlug 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odysseus Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 1 minute ago, PaulThePlug said: https://www.ibanez.com/eu/products/detail/src6_1p_04.html Ibby SRC6 .024 /.034/.044/.056/.072/.084 Might Help... Ooh... that's interesting.... surprised by the quite thin gauges down the low end.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 (edited) That's ^^ a short scale, more like a baritone guitar; those gauges will not suit a long-scale bass, I think. Why not use a 'normal' 'E' string on the 6th, then string up as any bass, but add a 'B' and 'E' at the top end..? Edited September 15, 2020 by Dad3353 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 (edited) My Bad... and thin for the high end... would expect more ya 30 or 40s to 100s ish then for normal 34" Bass Scale... Edited September 15, 2020 by PaulThePlug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBus Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 If you want to play the same shapes as on a guitar I'd go for as narrow a string spacing as possible. The Ibanez mentioned here would be good. As for strings, you could do worse than contacting Newtone strings who can advise on guages and make you up custom sets. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBus Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 (edited) The Ibanez Gerald Veasley model has a very narrow spacing for a sixer. They don't make it anymore but it might be available used. Edited September 15, 2020 by BassBus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 Get in touch with Newtone and get them to make set with the same characteristics as their Axiom Bass VI set but for 34" scale. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odysseus Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 2 hours ago, Dad3353 said: Why not use a 'normal' 'E' string on the 6th, then string up as any bass, but add a 'B' and 'E' at the top end..? Yes, it was the B and top E that concerned me... what gauges can I get away with? Status do custom sets - I could get 105, 85, 65, 45 as normal... then maybe 30 and 20 for B and top E? That was my thinking, but I was unsure if I was about to step into 'rookie error' territory..... 😶 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 Hi Rob - I had exactly the same thoughts as you, a while back, about stringing a normal 6 string bass E to E with "guitar" tuning in order to play both chords and classical but in an octave-below register. Key learning points for me that I can share with you are as follows: 1. It sounds fantastic - there is a richness to the sound of both chords and classical played an octave down. 2. If you add something like a Digitech Mosaic pedal for chords, you end up with a 12 string bass, which can sound ridiculously good! 3. I kicked off my project with an Ibanez SR1206, on the grounds that the Ibanez have narrow string spacing and fast playable necks, but I still found it quite a stretch to shape chords, and there is no doubt that a Bass VI would be a lot easier for that - I did briefly flirt with a Squier Bass VI - but the string spacing near the headstock was too narrow to comfortably play classical and the Squier was also at the top end of comfortable weight for me. 4. I ended up with a very happy compromise by getting an Ibanez GVB 36 which has 'fixed' 14mm string spacing for the whole length of the fretboard and is a signature design by Gerald Veasley, who uses his for jazz playing including a lot chords. Sadly they are no longer in production (I managed to source the very last new one from Germany as discounted end of line stock - which was kinda amusing as I would have paid extra to get my hands on it!). They do come up used from time to time. I've really enjoyed re-learning some of my old classical guitar pieces on this during lock-down. 5. In terms of string gauge - normal E to C bass strings are fine (and just de-tune the C one semi tone to a B). I then added a 25 gauge for the top E which has worked fine. Hope that's helpful. It's a fun and rewarding project - let us know how you get on. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr4stringz Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 17 hours ago, BigRedX said: Get in touch with Newtone and get them to make set with the same characteristics as their Axiom Bass VI set but for 34" scale. This. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 My seven string is strung BEADGBE for the same reasons the OP proposed. Works well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odysseus Posted September 16, 2020 Author Share Posted September 16, 2020 Thankyou very much, chaps! Plenty for me to think about here! 😎 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odysseus Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 I've ordered 105, 85, 65, 45, 35 and 25 from Status. I'm now preparing to channel my inner Paco de Lucia.... my stagename will be Paco de Lunacy... 😬 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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