Luthiery Laboratories

I crunched some numbers based on the excellent data that D'Addario provides, and it turns out that a 25.5" scale bass is quite workable with off-the-shelf string sets. The trick is to get a 5-string BEADG long-scale set and discard the G. Tune the remaining strings to EADG. This is equivalent to capo-ing the long scale at the 5th fret, or lopping 5 frets off the neck, so of course, it will work! In hindsight, it's all pretty obvious. I worked out the following scales and string sets:

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