Broke 2 sets of SS strings tonight, I'm an idiot..req help.

[jammybastard]

I was setting up my wife's new Epiphone Rumblekat short scale bass tonight.
She wanted to try flat wounds, normal and nylon, so she go two sets at the local GC.

The sales dude sold her two sets of Rotosound's.
1. Rotosound RS77S Monel Flatwound Short-Scale Bass Guitar Strings (40 50 75 90)
2. Rotosound RS88S Black Nylon Flatwound Short Bass Guitar Strings (65 75 90 115)

So like a dummy I don't even look at the guages, and proceed to string up the bass with the nylons. Of course it doesn't go well with serious neck bowing, tuning issues, and eventually snapping the G string trying to get it to pitch.

Then I try to the Monel flats. For some reason neither the E or A strings will tune correctly. The E is wrapped far too tight to get to pitch, and I'm starting to think these aren't the right strings. Then I try to get the A to pitch and eventually crank on it so much that it snaps.

$80 worth of strings shot in 30 min. A new record.

So after all that, what gauge of short scale string should I get for this bass? Clearly not all short short scale strings will work and I'm a bit baffled.

Thanks.

[fretlessguy]

Wow. Strange.
First, I have a Allan Woody Rumblecat. Great little bass to play. I too have had issues with certain string sets with it. Did you trim the strings' windings (silks) when putting them on? Sometimes if you don't it can give you some problems when tightening them up to tune.

I bought a set of GHS Boomer short scale strings to try out. The E was .108, and was literally to big to fit that funky bridge they put on those things. The tension was way too tight, and I saw I really was going to have to do a real number on setting the tension on the neck. The strings wouldn't intonate for me either. No matter what I tried, it would not stay in tune. I took them off and put on a set of GHS Pressurewounds for short scale, which are .45-.95. It did well and I intonated the bass and adjusted the neck. But, the D string wouldn't stay in tune to save my life. So, I took it to my guitar tech and told him to see what was the matter. The pickups were too high and were pulling the strings down, actually causing them to go out of tune. This could have had something to do with your strings not gettng in tune. Afterwards, the bass was fine and I have not had any issues with it. I wouldn't hesitate to consult a guitar tech about the matter.

The 3 point bridges that are on the Allan Woody are quite quirky, and sometimes the setups done at the factory are a little bit off. I have discovered that they work best with nothing other than .45-.100 gauge sets or smaller. The Nylons should have worked, and I imagine that the bass would sound really cool with them. You can order replacment strings for the sets from www.juststrings.com for the sets in the single string section.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by jammybastard

So like a dummy I don't even look at the guages, and proceed to string up the bass with the nylons. Of course it doesn't go well with serious neck bowing, tuning issues, and eventually snapping the G string trying to get it to pitch.

Then I try to the Monel flats. For some reason neither the E or A strings will tune correctly. The E is wrapped far too tight to get to pitch, and I'm starting to think these aren't the right strings. Then I try to get the A to pitch and eventually crank on it so much that it snaps.

sorry, but it wasn't the strings.

you obviously cranked right past the pitches you were supposed to get to and tried to tune to the next octave up

are you using a tuner? if so, go for the lowest E, A, etc. that the tuner will show, not the next one up.