Hey gang, I'm thinking of changing to 'deep matched rec.' I'm using MR now so moving everything one step up the neck doesn't bother me. This simple change is really 'calling me' on the bass side. I'd like some feed-back on string gauges . I was thinking of strings 1,2,3 -10,11,12 being heavy gauge and all inside (4-9) being light gauge. Right now on MR I cant stand the difference in sound volume between strings 3 and 4 (wound to plain). I 'm also having a volume issue with my 1st. string. I've tried adjusting the pasv 4 pick-up but it doesn't help. the sound volume is all but gone. Thanx, Tony D.

Hi Tony,

I'm using DMR with light bass and medium melody and it works well. Wasn't too much volume drop from heavy gauge and it's far more responsive and easy to play. Your gauge idea sounds pretty good, I'd give it a try. (Emmett could confirm if it will be consistent in sound.)

Your problem with #1 doesn't sound good though, how much volume drop are you talking about, compared to #2? And which pickup setting are you using? Can't imagine both pickups could have a problem, so maybe your string height is too high?

Cheers,

EG

Hi EG, I guess my wanting to blend the gauges is in an effort to avoid the loss in volume from the round wound strings to the plain strings. I'm using a boss stomp-box comp to help level everything out, but the 1st string volume loss is bad. Perhaps an aditional EQ. might help. My amp is an AI coda. the strings aren't that old at all. the strings are low almost touching the pasv4. I quess I'm missing something probably very simple , I'll try switching to DMR and see what happens. As far as the deeper tuning goes, how do you find playing bass parts or all for that matter? Its really calling to me...time will tell. thanx , Tony D.

Hi Tony,

That really does sound weird, do you have another spare #1 string to try? Maybe the string is a dud? I did notice a little bit of volume unevenness when I switched bass gauge from heavy to light, but it was easily sorted out with height adjustment and pickup adjustment.

I love the DMR tuning, especially on the bass side. You have low C on the first fret marker and F on the second, so playing songs based around low C, D, E and F or G is very easy. You can get some extremely powerful, rhythmic grooves happening with DMR and a newer 36" scale Stick, it's a great amount of fun! Actually, I'll try and post a few samples up from a recent jam, some meaty grooves were a happenin!

I'm also starting to appreciate the use of a good compressor, especially after switching to light gauge. Although there isn't much volume or tone loss, sometimes you really do want the same thickness and power from all strings and a good compressor does seem to help. It's far from transparent though, does sound like an effect in itself.

Hope that helps!

EG