Free tool from Cole Davis · Better Bass Lessons
Why Your B String Feels Floppy
Tension depends on gauge, scale length and pitch. Change any of them and see what happens, which is usually enough to explain a setup that has never felt right.
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▶ Side A · String Tension CalculatorBBL-T20
Your bass
Reading it
- Under 35 lb feels slack. Great for bends, bad for digging in.
- 35 to 50 lb is where most factory sets sit and where most players are happy.
- Over 50 lb is stiff. Good for low tunings, hard on your hands for a four hour gig.
- A 35 inch scale adds roughly four to six pounds across the set, which is the real reason five strings often feel tighter.
Your next step
Tension is half of how a bass feels under your hands. The other half is what you practice on it.
The New Simandl The modern method for upright bass
Cole DavisThe 1881 method every upright player learns from, rewritten for players who have to swing.
- Cuts shifting in half by using open strings as transition points.
- Unlocks the upper register of the E and A strings.
- Sounds like jazz because it's built around motion, not lockdown.
The 15 Minute Warmup Electric Edition
Cole DavisMake the first tune of every gig as good as the fifth. The same routine Cole runs before every gig.
- Ten exercises, each a written line plus a chord vamp you improvise on.
- Backing tracks with bass and without, plus one master press-play track.
- Right-hand patterns most players never warm up: alternating, raked, and 2-2-1-2.
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