Adam "Nolly" Getgood on bass strings

Adam "Nolly" Getgood is the bassist for Periphery (2010 to 2017, returned for select cycles afterward) and one of the most technically-detailed producers working in progressive metal. His production work spans Periphery's catalog plus mixing credits across the modern djent and prog-metal lane. He is also the co-founder of GetGood Drums (with Joey Sturgis), one of the most-used drum-sample plug-ins in current metal production.

His approach to bass — Dingwall Combustion, multi-scale fanned-fret construction, custom Circle K gauges sized by tuning — is the case study for why off-the-shelf bass-string answers don't work in modern low-tuned music. See his producer profile for the broader production context.

The bottom-string flap problem Nolly describes — pitch definition smearing under pick attack on drop-tuned bass — isn't solvable with a heavier off-the-shelf set. Hitting a .130 harder doesn't add tension; it just makes the smear worse. The solution is a per-string gauge choice tuned to tension, with the multi-scale instrument geometry doing half the work. Circle K is the manufacturer most associated with that approach because they were among the first to publish per-string tension specs and sell single strings to match.

Most readers aren't tuning bass to Periphery's drop registers, but the framing transfers cleanly:

1. If you're tuning bass below Drop D, an off-the-shelf .045–.105 set will start to feel slack on the low string. Step to .105–.135 (5-string set top-five), or move to a custom gauge.
2. If you're playing a multi-scale or extended-range bass, equal-tension thinking is non-optional. The longer-scale low string at lower pitch is the design intent; the gauge has to match that intent.
3. If you're playing a 4-string in standard tuning, the equal-tension principle still applies but the off-the-shelf sets are already close enough that you won't usually feel it.