the evil and dreaded drop-D...

[modelcitizen]

i play most of my basses with drop-D tuning...of course, Rics being a slightly smaller scale, i'm losing some tension and girth on the dropped string.

i've found that a 135 B string gives me some more grunt (instead of the usual 105 i run), but she's still a little flabby.

any suggestions? bass extender? not too keen on compression to achieve the impact. are there any strings out there that run a higher tension? i use Warwick s/steel red strings normally, 45-105.

[blueflamerick]

I use D'Addario XL220s (.095 low string) on all of my basses, including the one I tune D G C F, and have no problems with flabby strings.

[atomic_punk]

I use a .135 as my B string, can't imagine it being floppy tuned to D. Have you tried a higher tension string? I use D'Addario's.

[rickaddict]

I agree with these guys! Try different B strings until you find one you like. Juststrings.com sells singles.

I use Elixers on my 4003S/5 and the B string isn't floppy. I forgot if I've got a .125 or a .130 on it though.

[rickenbrother]

I use D'Addaio EXL .130 gauge for B strings on my 5 stringers. They don't seem floppy to me.

[Benjamin]

When I was frequently in drop D or playing live covers I used RotoSound Swing 66 LE, which had a 110 E string. Drop D was really nice. Mind you, that wasn't a Ric bass, but something else with 34" scale.