Ideas please?

trujo777

trujo777

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I am looking at a thumb 4 string bolt on I want to buy from a friend of mine :evil: . If I get rid of my G string :shock: :idea: and bump all my strings down one and at the 4th position I add the B string (which is usually on a 5 string bass). Will my pick ups work as well? :D Am I going to have any issues with the tone, intonation and sound just because this is a thicker gauge string on the 4th position? :shock:

I can not afford to trade this 4 string for a new 5 string and I really do not use the 1st tring that much. will this work?
:?:
 
it will probably work fine, but the pickups and their position is made for the 4 strings so it might not sound as good as it possibly could.

and all other things can be adjusted.
 
SO do you think that the sound from this B string will not be the same as for this same string if it was on the same bass but on the 5 string version?
Is this what you mean?

I know you can file the bridge to make this wider string fit there but I am mostly worried if there will be any issues with the pickups not responding to these extra low frequencies. I am not an expert. I am just guessing.

what do you guys think?
 
You will likely have to adjust action and intonation, but otherwise, BEAD is a perfectly valid tuning that "normal" 4 string pickups are perfectly capable of handling...

"normal" pickups are usually also capable of handling a low F# string, like the bottom string of the Vampyre Dark Lord...
 
Hey Trujo, welcome to the forum man :-) Please not open the same topic twice, we are all checking the whole forum :-)
Your bass will work BEAD very well, you'll have to modify the nut, and the bridge saddles, to fit the 130-135 string. With the saddles is simple, you modify just the G string saddle, and you move the rest of them one string down :-)
Good luck!
 
trujo777 said:
SO do you think that the sound from this B string will not be the same as for this same string if it was on the same bass but on the 5 string version?
Is this what you mean?
Click to expand...

im sure it will work and sound fine, the bass and its pickups are just set to be tuned to EADG, this is what im trying to express.
 
With the afore mentioned mods to the nut and saddles I think it'll work fine. I don't think the pickups will have any effect on the sound. They'll be just a happy a string lower.
 
trujo777 said:
I am looking at a thumb 4 string bolt on I want to buy from a friend of mine :evil: . If I get rid of my G string :shock: :idea: and bump all my strings down one and at the 4th position I add the B string (which is usually on a 5 string bass). Will my pick ups work as well? :D Am I going to have any issues with the tone, intonation and sound just because this is a thicker gauge string on the 4th position? :shock:

I can not afford to trade this 4 string for a new 5 string and I really do not use the 1st tring that much. will this work?
:?:
Click to expand...

Hey a guy here on the forum named malk has a custom shop corvette $$ that arrived tuned EADG, but he did like you want to do and now tune it ADGC, one full step below you're goal of BEAD. So yeah it will work very good. You can ask him more questions about how he did it via PM.
 
thank you all for the help. this support does help me. appreciate the comments and suggestions. I will give it a try.

on the other hand there is a guy at Guitar Center that is willing to take my RB 4 and let me pay $100 USD to get a brand new RB 5 string. am wondering if this will eventually be better since it would have a brand new guarantee and also be able to get the tools and all the stuff that comes with it sonce the one I have right now was bought through Ebay.

any suggestions?
 
thanks for the welcoming to Warwickl forums. i have gone through Fender Squire, Alvarez, Morgan monroe, Ibanez, OLP's, and Deans. Finally a friend started bragging about Warwicks and to tell you all the truth I did not like the way they looked at first :oops: . But I repented after a guy oferred his Fortress One German 5 string to be traded by 2 of my basses and after he plugged in the Fortress and I heard "the Growl" I was hypnotized by this sound. Now I have the Fortress and my sound guy hates (well no...dislikes be extensively) because he can not tame the growl and he likes many voices (like cantatas and choirs and stuff like that with a lot of highs and mids) bt again he is not pro nor plays any instrument which makes him not like the low end.

On my side I started as a drummer and then bass part time but now our bass guy is in Irak (soldier) and I have been playing full time for the last 3 years (I am now forgetting hw to play drums). To tell you all the truth I like bass (but has to have the growl) now.

Man I like these Warwicks' sound so much. it is unbelievable. I was going to go with a Music man but I admit has low end but nothing as untamed as Warwicks.

(on my prior comment before this one I am writing Italked about a guy at GC selling me a 5 string for extra $100 but that is for another RB and not for a Thumb. sorry fior the confusion).

I guess now with all these comments I will keep on working Overtime and save to get my Thumb and then modify the nut and bridge and have it BEAD.

thanks again and sorry for the long speech.

Did I mention I am addicted to "the growl"?
 
This post comes a bit late but last week,I strung my Thumb high C(Thanks for the strings Dominant) & all I had to do was change the strings.No adjustments needed whatsoever.
 
Bear in mind that you 'may' need to alter the truss rod, as there could be extra tension on the neck, depending on the gauge of string that you use etc.
 
Just this weekend I set up my $$ for B/E/A/D tuning. I put on 120/100/80/60 guage strings (lite 5-string) and raised the nut just a tiny bit. Works great...
 
It will sound fine, the only thing is that you might need to take care of setting it up again.
 
warwickhunt said:
Bear in mind that you 'may' need to alter the truss rod, as there could be extra tension on the neck, depending on the gauge of string that you use etc.
Click to expand...

Yes and no :wink:

Yes because the different string will alter overall tension.
No because the G string has a higher tension than the low B string, so the trussrod should be loosened, not tightened.

Of course overall tension will be shifted toward the thin strings end of the neck.
This could possibly cause a neck warping, but only on very poor quality basses.
I wouldn't fear any damage on a Warwick bass.
 
Mr Rabble said:
warwickhunt said:
Bear in mind that you 'may' need to alter the truss rod, as there could be extra tension on the neck, depending on the gauge of string that you use etc.
Click to expand...

Yes and no :wink:

Yes because the different string will alter overall tension.
No because the G string has a higher tension than the low B string, so the trussrod should be loosened, not tightened.

Of course overall tension will be shifted toward the thin strings end of the neck.
This could possibly cause a neck warping, but only on very poor quality basses.
I wouldn't fear any damage on a Warwick bass.
Click to expand...

Yeh I thought that's what I said, "you 'may' need to alter it" "depending on the string gauge"

Just because a string (G) is tighter it doesn't mean it is exerting more pressure on the neck than a string that appears to have less tension (B). A set of strings tuned BEAD will exert more tension on the neck than a 'similar gauge' set strung EADG. As you rightly say the use of certain wood types and more importantly their cut mean that a Warwick neck is quite strong. It was recently pointed out to me that a SSII that I owned had a neck construction that didn't really need a truss rod it was so strong.
 
A high G normally tuned to G will usually put more tension on the neck than a low B normally tuned to B.

Take this as a reference (D'Addario EXL170-5 - Regular Light):

Note inches mm lbs kg
G 0.045 1.14 42.8 19.41
D 0.065 1.65 51.3 23.27
A 0.080 2.03 32.9 14.92
E 0.100 2.54 36.5 16.55
B 0.130 3.30 34.5 15.65

As you may see a 45 G has way more tension than a 130 B
 
Mr Rabble said:
A high G normally tuned to G will usually put more tension on the neck than a low B normally tuned to B.

Take this as a reference (D'Addario EXL170-5 - Regular Light):

Note inches mm lbs kg
G 0.045 1.14 42.8 19.41
D 0.065 1.65 51.3 23.27
A 0.080 2.03 32.9 14.92
E 0.100 2.54 36.5 16.55
B 0.130 3.30 34.5 15.65

As you may see a 45 G has way more tension than a 130 B
Click to expand...

The facts are there to be seen as you say but I've had two experiences with BEAD basses and both acted the opposite to what the figures say they should. I bought a bass strung BEAD that had a lot of neck relief until I restrung EADG and without me doing anything else it went back to a normal action with a touch of relief. Conversely someone asked me to string their Jazz bass up from EADG to BEAD and the neck went like a banana and needed a fair bit of truss rod action :shock:
 
flipper_gv said:
trujo777 said:
I am looking at a thumb 4 string bolt on I want to buy from a friend of mine :evil: . If I get rid of my G string :shock: :idea: and bump all my strings down one and at the 4th position I add the B string (which is usually on a 5 string bass). Will my pick ups work as well? :D Am I going to have any issues with the tone, intonation and sound just because this is a thicker gauge string on the 4th position? :shock:

I can not afford to trade this 4 string for a new 5 string and I really do not use the 1st tring that much. will this work?
:?:
Click to expand...

Hey a guy here on the forum named malk has a custom shop corvette $$ that arrived tuned EADG, but he did like you want to do and now tune it ADGC, one full step below you're goal of BEAD. So yeah it will work very good. You can ask him more questions about how he did it via PM.
Click to expand...

sorry mate i read this thread just now :wink:

yeah i keep my $$ tuned to ADGC with .135s and i just had to setup the bass, a quick tweak at the bridge and nut and you're good to go :)

...then again, a 35" scale neck would be better, but you can compensate the lower tension of the string by playing closer to the bridge :wink:
 
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