Silver-plated, Nylon Core Sub-Bass Strings
 for Nylon-String Harp Guitars*

*Including Sullivan-Elliott style harp guitars, nylon string Dyer style instruments, vintage and modern Viennese style instruments, Schrammelgitarres, kontragitarres, bass-guitars, and other vintage and modern "classical" instruments) Both La Bella and D'Addarion strings come in 40" length

All Harp Guitar Music gauges individually machine-tested for true tension!
 Read about tension research on my blog

Custom Gauging for your harp guitar or similar instrument

FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $100*
* Continental U.S. only
International Customers: DO NOT USE PAYPAL CART - please contact us for quote.

Sub-bass Sets Sub-bass Singles

Silver-plated, Nylon Core

from .034" to .080" in either
La Bella (in tie or ball end) or D'Addario

UPDATE 2023

La Bella has permanently discontinued all custom string manufacturing. Once my strings listed below are gone, that will be it.

There are still various custom nylon string options in Germany which I may (or may not) be exploring in the future.

Nylon-core Sub-bass Sets*

* PLEASE READ THE FINE PRINT BELOW BEFORE ORDERING

Harp Guitar Music sub-bass sets are specifically put together by harp guitarist/engineer Gregg Miner for balanced, even tension across all open bass strings to provide optimum tone and feel while retaining a comfortable safety margin for both modern and vintage instruments in either "extra light," "light" or "medium" tensions (see String Scale & Gauge Guide for more).  These handy, pre-gauged sets are offered only through Harp Guitar Music. 

CAUTION: Harp Guitar Music sets are based solely on the measurements of John Doan's original 20-string Sullivan-Elliott harp guitar with sub-bass scale lengths within 5% of those listed in my String Scale & Gauge Guide.  If your instrument is much more than 5% different in scale for any sub-bass string, or if you use many different tunings, I might suggest you explore custom gauging.  John's own signature set consists of his own gauge choices, and is not a Harp Guitar Music set.

Harp Guitar Music is not responsible for any instrument damage incurred by stringing.

 John Doan Signature Series Sub-bass Sets

These are the exact same strings that John has been using for years on his custom Sullivan-Elliott 20-string concert harp guitar.  They were developed from research and consultation between Jeff Elliott and La Bella string consultant/artist endorsee Dennis Cinelli.  Material is standard silver-plated copper wire wrap over La Bella's 2001-type very balanced formula nylon core.  For similar instruments with extra basses, different string lengths or different tunings, additional single gauges are available below.  These strings are custom made for Harp Guitar Music by La Bella, in 40" lengths, in both tie-on and ball-end versions!

Update: I have long known that this set has very uneven tension across the six sub-basses.  The highest string (D) is extremely heavy (over 22 lb tension) while the lowest string (F) is extremely light (13 lbs).  I suspect that this was an effort to better match the steel strings that John uses on the neck (the sub adjacent to the neck's low E being the heaviest, and then reducing tension significantly as one goes down the scale).  Obviously, this has worked for John for his entire career, and also many others who string similar instruments with nylon basses.  Note that these instruments are strung by some players with steel basses, and the instruments were actually designed to handle either type, within reason (per Jeffrey Elliott).

La Bella John Doan set, with either tie or ball end
(6 sub-basses, ranges from extra heavy to extra light tension)
.064 .062 .060 .058 .056 .054 total tension
F G A B C D ~106 lbs
TIE END
(for classical-style bridge)
$48.85
Some gauges out of Stock - see singles below
and substitute with Tie End if possible
BALL END
(for pin bridge)
$51.10
Some gauges out of Stock - see singles below
and substitute with Tie End if possible

Harp Guitar Music "Even Tension" sets of LaBella brand nylon-core
 harp guitar strings, with either tie or ball end
for 20-string Sullivan/Elliott Harp Guitars and "copies" with similar scale*

* See String Chart.  For different sub-bass string lengths, see custom gauging option.
Note: "Total tension" listed for sets below is total of sub-basses only!

Standard 6-bass tuning

6 sub-basses, tuned FGABCD low to high

Light tension (for use with nylon strings on the guitar neck)
(Harp Guitar Music set)

.070 .062 .058 .051 .048 .045 total tension
F G A B C D ~88 lbs
TIE END
(for classical-style bridge)
 $48.75
BALL END
(for pin bridge)
 $50.95
 Some gauges out of Stock - see singles below
and substitute with Tie End if possible

Substitute .075 for low E in place of F

TIE END
 $48.75
BALL END
 $50.95
 Some gauges out of Stock - see singles below
and substitute with Tie End if possible

Standard 6-bass tuning

6 sub-basses, tuned FGABCD low to high

Medium tension (for use with nylon strings on the guitar neck)
(Harp Guitar Music set)

.075 .064 .058 .054 .051 .048 total tension
F G A B C D ~98 lbs
TIE END
 (for classical-style bridge)
$48.85
BALL END
(for pin bridge)
 $51.10
 Some gauges out of Stock - see singles below
and substitute with Tie End if possible

Substitute .080 for low E in place of F
OUT OF .080"

BALL END ONLY
 $51.10

Standard 6-bass tuning

6 sub-basses, tuned FGABCD low to high

Heavy tension (for use with steel strings on the guitar neck)
(Harp Guitar Music set) OUT OF .080"

.080 .070 .060 .058 .054 .051 total tension
F G A B C D ~110 lbs
NOTE:  Tie End set substitutes a .075 for the .080
TIE END
(for classical-style bridge)
 $48.95
BALL END
 (for pin bridge)
$51.25
 Some gauges out of Stock - see singles below
and substitute with Tie End if possible

 

Stephen Bennett Tuning nylon-core sets available by custom calculation.


Silver-plated, Nylon Core Sub-bass Singles
Both La Bella and D'Addarion strings come in 40" length

Gauge

 La Bella,
40" length,
with Tie-end		 La Bella,
40" length,
with Ball-end		 D'Addario

Popular fine quality strings at low prices
Please email for availability before ordering multiple singles
.040" n/a   n/a   $4.30
.041" n/a   n/a   $4.40
.043" n/a   n/a   $4.60
.045" $8.10
  $8.50
  $4.80
.048" $8.10
  $8.50
  $5.00
.050" n/a   n/a   $5.20
.051" $8.20
  $8.60
  n/a  
.052" n/a   n/a   $5.40
Temporarily Out of Stock
.054" $8.20
  $8.60
 Out of Stock
  $5.60

.056" $8.20
 Out of Stock
  $8.60
 Out of Stock
  $5.80
.058" $8.20
  $8.60
 Out of Stock
  $6.00
.060" $8.30
  $8.70
 Out of Stock
  $6.20
.062" $8.30
  $8.70
 Out of Stock
  n/a  
.064" $8.30
  $8.70
  n/a  
.070" $8.30
  $8.80
 Out of Stock
  n/a  
.075" $8.40
  $8.80
  n/a  
.080"

n/a

   $8.80
Out of Stock  
  n/a  

 

Kontragitarre Bass Strings

From Thomastik-Infeld (high quality Vienna company).  Highest quality silver-plated copper wire wrap over nylon core (tie ends), made specifically for Schrammelgitarres - also known as bass guitars or kontragitarres.  The popular Roland Neuwirth Custom sets have copper wrap on the A and C# for color-coded ease of playing.  Gauged from .050" to .054", from ~98cm to 116cm.  Tuning (low to high) is G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#.  The 7-string set omits the lowest two strings.  These strings are intended for "typical" Viennese double-neck harp guitars with long sub-bass headstocks, but can be used for any type of similar harp guitars.

Thomastik-Infeld "Vienna Sound"

7 bass

 $41.95

Thomastik-Infeld "Vienna Sound"

9 bass

 $54.95
 OUT OF STOCK

Thomastik-Infeld "Vienna Sound" Roland Neuwirth Custom

7 marked bass

 $41.95
 OUT OF STOCK

Thomastik-Infeld "Vienna Sound" Roland Neuwirth Custom

9 marked bass

 $54.95
 OUT OF STOCK

BACK TO TOP

[https://www.harpguitarmusic.com/_private/hgm_copyright.htm]