Experimenting,

Darkstrike wrote:

EricHaven wrote:

Hold on there, Yvarg. You said that your action gets worse with lighter strings?

Not that I am doubting you, but again, this is one of those things that doesn't make any sense to my tiny brain (remember, I'm the first to admit that I don't know everything). With the decrease in tension that lighter strings afford, the neck should want to bend backwards more, and your action should lower. Can you clarify?

With lighter strings you need higher action to play without buzz, and espcially with trems, because the dives will buzz of the frets quickly otherwise.

What he said.

Ah! Got it.

I was thinking in terms of how lighter guitar strings behave, but now it makes sense that you would have action issues using lighter bass strings at that scale.

More learning for me!

However, on basses like my Charvel where the neck is rock-solid, when you put lighter strings on it, the neck has about the same relief as when it's strung up with heavier strings.

Chowderboots wrote:

However, on basses like my Charvel where the neck is rock-solid, when you put lighter strings on it, the neck has about the same relief as when it's strung up with heavier strings.

Its not so much about the neck, as it is about lower tension strings need more room to vibrate.

You can actually get high tension light strings, if you want the feel of 100's, without the flop, Optima are a prime example!

Hmm good to know, dude. What's the deal with Optimas costing as much as a Squier on some sites and as much as a pack of DRs elsewhere?

Made in Europe, I believe, same way Fenders, and DR's can cost a bomb here.

I had a custom madesix string set of Roto Jazz Flats made, for not much different than a pack of D'Addarios costs here, where as they ain't cheap in the US, IIRC.

Yeah DRs normally wind up costing about $20 a pack...but Rotos can range from $15 (nickel) to more like $30 (5 string set).

What do DRs cost over there?

At first, I wasn't sure what to think of RotoSound's revamping of their look and everything, but theymade some price changes (Billy Sheehan strings are cheaper, for example) and they added a couple more custom gauge string sets (Funkmaster--extra light stainless rounds and Drop Zone, which are a set of stainless rounds that are 65-130, to tune a 4 string to B standard) and they're brilliant! I'm excited to get some more Rotos!

Depends on the different types of DR, they're impossible to get locally. 40+ in Germany, IIRC.

Oh and Roto brought out a "Drop Zone +" F#BEA.........

Do you know when they'll start selling them? I'm kinda excited, because before, the only company that made strings like that was Warwick, and theirs cost about $60, IIRC. I'm interested in them because I've always wanted a bass tuned an octave below standard. I might not go through with the project, because MXR released a new octave down pedal where the transposed signal sounds like it could (GASP!) stand on its own:



I probably won't get one for a while, though. I've been spending a lot of money on gear lately.

Darkstrike wrote:

Depends on the different types of DR, they're impossible to get locally. 40+ in Germany, IIRC.

Oh and Roto brought out a "Drop Zone +" F#BEA.........

Oh wow...

RotoSound's on top of it, man!


And that pedal looks crazy...MXR makes some pretty neat stuff. I'm impressed with their DI/Distortion box, the M-80. Wouldn't really rely on it, but it's fun.

Try your local dealer Kugelspot, they should be available to order.

Chowderboots wrote:

Getting a longer arm will help you a lot. Hit up fretsonthenet--you can get extra long Kahler bars there. It'll make things smoother and grant you greater range with greater ease. What you can do in addition to that is bend the arm itself at the joint where it veers towards the strings upwards (away from the body when it's screwed in), like a vintage Strat trem bar. I got the idea from Hans here and it's awesome! Makes using the trem easier--it gives you more leverage and greater drop range. If you bent a longer arm up, it would be a vast improvement over what you currently have.

Thanks I am going to order one and give it a try

I got my arm and it appears to be the same as the original arm. works great. Thanks

You mean it's the same as the older, longer arms or the same as the newer, shorter ones?

The original arm is long, the same as the new replacement arm. Somewhere they made them shorter

Yeah, I've noticed that, too. The longer arms make all the difference in the world.

Longer IS better!