C tuning on a shortscale

[hwaorang]

I have been playing guitar for two years and I would like to get a bass. There is this '70 Fender Musicmaster I have my eye on. I really like the looks and I'm a bit of a sucker for 70's stuff. It's a 30" short scale bass.

 

I just have a question about the string gauge on a short scale bass. I would like to use a C tuning (C-F-Bb-Eb) because I'm a big fan of Kyuss. What string gauge should I use for this?

[seraphim7s]

The heaviest you can get, which'll probably be about 110 for the short scale E string.

 

Face it, tho, it's gonna be slack as anything if you down tune to C - there's really no escaping it.

[Super Bass]

Get a longer scale bass. A 30" downtuned to C is going to be awful to play.

[hwaorang]

So the strings will too slack to play when playing in C?

 

The heaviest short scale strings I've been able to find so far are 050/107. That's not going to cut it either?

[Craig Vecchione]

So the strings will too slack to play when playing in C? The heaviest short scale strings I've been able to find so far are 050/107. That's not going to cut it either?

 

Try before you buy. I wouldn't even go to drop-D on a shortscale. *Every* shortscale I've played was borderline floppy for the E.

 

Part of playing bass is dealing with the scale length....make the commitment...