String tension - Double Bass vs. Electric Bass

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Scott Pope

There's one other detail I didn't address: break angle over the bridge. Generally, the greater the break angle, the more downforce this puts over the bridge, reinforcing sustain and the fundamental. The less angle, the lesser the sustain and the lesser the fundamental.

Ok, let me throw a monkey wrench into this whole tension debate.

There is the bridge angle, bridge mass, after length, tailpiece mass, headstock/scroll angle, after length per string, break angle of the nut, nut material, nut width front to back, instrument woods, thicknesses, vibration abilities whether absorbing or reflecting mass of the vibrations, neck stiffness, and, and, and .................................... etc, etc, etc...

There is no way to measure the overall tension-performance of anything on a bass and make that work the same on another bass.

Have fun with your project. If you want lower notes on a Bass Guitar which is NOT a bowed instrument, add strings to it. Usually a low B below the E. Anything lower and you are kidding yourself. Most musical applications don't need anything below the E if down that deep. The response is just too slow and had nothing to blend with down there. usually the lower notes are used as an effect, not as a pulse for the normal bass part, jazz, classical, rock, R&B or what ever you play.