Will a low F# string fit my bass without modifications?

[GrindcoreHank]

Hey everyone,

last year I bought my first six string fretless bass. At this moment it's tuned BEADGc. Being inspired by Jeroen Paul Thesseling and his seven string fretless basses, I'm thinking of tuning even lower. The new tuning would be F#BEADg. Of course I'll need thicker strings for such a low tuning. However, before spending a lot of money on new strings, I'd like to know if I can use these strings without needing to modify the instrument. My bass is a Warwick SSI6FL, made in 2003.

Cheers,

GH

 

[thefitz]

Going from B to F# is a significant jump in gauge, so I'd imagine you'd have to modify your nut.

HOWEVER

It is possible that the jump is so significant that all of the strings won't fit in their respective nut grooves evenly, so all you have to do is lower the whole thing. I don't think the strings not being completely seated will make much of a difference, assuming the gap between the nut and the string is consistent for all strings.

However, if some of the strings fit in the grooves, and some don't, that's not good. In my experience, a D string will fit in a G groove, and it's possible that a G string will fit in the C groove.

 

[GrindcoreHank]

@thefitz, thanks for the response. I was afraid the nut would be the problem. If I need to do this, what am I supposed to do? There are two options that I can think of:

- I could use a file to widen the grooves in the nut that I have.
- I could buy a new nut and replace the old one.

Modifying the nut I currently have would mean there's no way back to the old tuning, since the grooves would be too wide. Buying a new nut will cost me more money. I have no idea what these things cost, though. Also, I'm not sure if it's hard to replace it.

Is there any chance I will damage the nut by doing all this?

 

[thefitz]

To be perfectly honest, I think you should just remove the Just-a-nut, and get a luthier to install a new one, a bone or graphite nut. That way, if you want to restore the bass to normal, simply switch nuts. A luthier should be able to whip one out a nut for $60-$100, and it'll be made to your specs.