Bronze strings for electric bass?

SukiSushi

New member
Hi everyone,

I'm a new member here ... And I need help regarding my strings on my bass.

I come from the background of playing a double bass and expanded into playing the electric bass.

From my understanding, (electric) bass uses either nickel or stainless steel strings (correct me if i'm wrong).
However, I'm searching for a tone and sound that is as close as a double bass.

In light of that, I am thinking about getting bronze strings (double bass uses them too) for my electric bass to have a different tone. I suppose musically wise, it isn't really a problem as it's just a different sound.

But on the technical side, my fren who's a guitarist is against this idea as he says the bronze strings (which are stronger and harder than the usual nickel/stainless steel ones) will snap the neck of my (electric) bass as the tension required to tighten the stronger and harder bronze strings is higher.

I, being a total blur block to guitar/electric bass stuff, am a lil discouraged and scared after hearing his advice. So I decided to seek more opinions, especially from the bassists themselves on their views.

PS. I know its kinda of weird for a bassists to be using bronze strings, but I wanna try so pls offer ur advices.

Thks evryone,
Sushi.
 
bass guitar uses magnetic pickups vs double bass with either piezo or mike - thus the tone no matter how will be different. not sure will bronze strings work with magnetic pickup.
 
Hi Sushi, welcome!

Interesting and I'm curious too..
but what kind of bronze string you referring to, as used in your double bass?

:)
 
what bronze string used in your db? my edb is strung with thomastik spirocore and belcanto. they are chrome.
 
Hey all,

thks for replying.

basically, i have never played a e-DB before. I play DB from a concert band, so its the classical one like a violin, no pickups wat so ever.

Err i dont recall the brand of the bronze strings, but I know its some german brand, made in germany too.

So is there any other complications with using bronze strings on a bass, apart from wat alan has mentioned bout the magnetism issue?

My fren mentioned bout the neck of the guitar not being able to take the tension of the strings and break, is that true/possible too??

Thks once again :)
Sushi
 
the breaking of the neck thing is impossible. but you need to adjust the truss rod of the neck assuming the tension is higher. if the tension is THAT much higher, there might be a problem because there is a limit as to how far the truss rod can be adjusted.

what that means is that when the strings will pull the neck forward, the truss rod in the neck pulls it back. you adjust the truss rod such that it is straight, and allow it to bow no more than what is necessary. on some basses such as the rickenbacker, the neck is meant to be set completely straight. on most other basses, a little bit of bow is needed for it to be playable.

the problem comes because there is a limit to how much tension the truss rod can exert on the neck. if the tension in the strings is greater than what the truss rod is able to compensate for, you will not be able to properly set up the bass.

however, i think necks are *pretty* sturdy, some necks have dual truss rods, or are graphite reinforced, or are... completely graphite. meaning to say they are extremely tough.

since pickups are magnetic, the IRON content of the strings determine the output. i'm not sure what kind of alloy bronze is lol. but it needs to have iron content.

IMO the difference in tone between the DB and the EB is not due to the strings, but rather the instrument itself. if there really is a difference in string tension, i doubt it will result in significant differences in tone. materials used in EB strings only determine how bright or mellow the tone is, rather than something as complex as EB vs DB tone.

i think you should go for flatwound strings, and if possible, on a fretless bass. all bass strings are wound, and with flatwounds the wire used in the winding is flat. this causes the string to oscillate differently from a 'normal', roundwound string. it may not be the same as a DB in terms of tone, but it probably is closer in terms of applications. a fretless bass is surely more similar to a classical instrument than a fretted bass.
 
off thread abit, i couldnt seem to locate double bass string based on bronze. they are usually chrome. and bronze is usually for acoustic bass guitar.
 
bronze is an alloy of tin and copper. no iron. doubt it will work with electric bass guitar with magnetic pups. unless the core is made of iron? i dont know.
 
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