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Alright, so I'm building a Bass VI. Really only have two things on my mind now.

Warmoth forces a 10" radius neck. The Staytrem bridges are built for 9.5". Staytrem still hasn't gotten back to me so I ask you, will this difference fuck anything up?

How heavy strings should I get? I'm doing probably drop d and maybe c if I'm feeling it, so I'm guessing in the .100 range?

.102 was perfect tension for E standard for me. Not floppy, plenty of tension and zing.

Maybe go .106 if you're tuning down.

Strange Tales wrote:Alright, so I'm building a Bass VI. Really only have two things on my mind now.

Warmoth forces a 10" radius neck. The Staytrem bridges are built for 9.5". Staytrem still hasn't gotten back to me so I ask you, will this difference fuck anything up?

How heavy strings should I get? I'm doing probably drop d and maybe c if I'm feeling it, so I'm guessing in the .100 range?

1) 0.5" won't make any difference.

2) Kalium .106 is floppy tuned to D, about as floppy as a LaBella .95. I suppose a LaBella .105 would be perfect.

Bon Hoga wrote:

Strange Tales wrote:Alright, so I'm building a Bass VI. Really only have two things on my mind now.

Warmoth forces a 10" radius neck. The Staytrem bridges are built for 9.5". Staytrem still hasn't gotten back to me so I ask you, will this difference fuck anything up?

How heavy strings should I get? I'm doing probably drop d and maybe c if I'm feeling it, so I'm guessing in the .100 range?

1) 0.5" won't make any difference.

2) Kalium .106 is floppy tuned to D, about as floppy as a LaBella .95. I suppose a LaBella .105 would be perfect.

Roger on the second point. I'll go for those then.

A dude I play with often told me that .5" will make it so the action on my 3rd and 4th strings will be subtly different and just a tiny bit off. I'm not sure how off it will be though and if I'm just worrying over nothing.

A friend of mine has a 12" bridge on a 9.5" Jazzmaster, and it's one of the most comfortable and playable guitars I've ever picked up in my life. You'll be fine with a 9.5" bridge. As for the strings, if you're ordering a custom set consider going with lighter top strings. My set is .20, .30, .45, .60, .80, .105. I'm pretty happy with how they feel and sound, except the .105 is a bit too floppy for my taste. I'll be going with LaBellas next time, though Kaliums are very good indeed, just not for drop D I suppose.

That's definitely very comforting to know.

I was planning to go for lighter strings on the higher up as well. Was thinking of something in that range. Thanks!

I use a kalium .110 low string with an.106 set for the rest. It's pretty solid in drop C#

BoatRich wrote:I use a kalium .110 low string with an.106 set for the rest. It's pretty solid in drop C#

I was thinking of upping the low D to .110, but a .30 difference between two adjacent strings is a bit too much, and I don't want to up the fifth string because.80 is perfect for A. Why couldn't I just play harmonica or Jew's harp

Bon Hoga wrote:

BoatRich wrote:I use a kalium .110 low string with an.106 set for the rest. It's pretty solid in drop C#

I was thinking of upping the low D to .110, but a .30 difference between two adjacent strings is a bit too much, and I don't want to up the fifth string because.80 is perfect for A. Why couldn't I just play harmonica or Jew's harp

I think it'll be a little easier on yours because of the hardtail? For whatever reason I feel like the offset bridge makes stability a little harder with light gauge strings. A .106 is fine when the strings are new/the guitar is in Eb standard but I like a lot of tension on my low strings.

Don't think so, all that enters into it is the speaking length of the string, the bit from the saddle to the nut; the type of the bridge shouldn't make any difference.

Makes sense. I haven't tried flats because I don't like the tone/feel but I can imagine that's your best bet.

Has anyone tried the Eastwood Sidejack VI? I'm considering saving for a cream one or building my next one. The body shape is great and I like P90's

Ok people, I've been unwittingly spreading misinformation in this thread. The Kalium .105 is perfectly fine for drop D, not floppy at all. I realised today at band practice that I was tuned to drop C the entire time (no idea how that happened), and for that tuning it is indeed floppy. When I tuned up to drop D it was fine. Sorry.

So I'm recording a black metal album this December with the bass VI being the focal point of the instrumentation. Lots of harsh distortion/fuzz and tremolo picking. I've found that it sounds really great through a twin reverb! Do you think splitting it out into a bass amp for extra girth would be cool, or would it just be a muddy mess?

Nah that would probably be best. I find that the twin has trouble with the low E.