Dumb question?

[basswtf967]

OK this might be a dumb question but oh well I am going to ask it anyway. I am sort of new to bass I have tried to play guitar for some years now but never could get the hang of it no matter how much i practiced.My fingers just could not hit the frets right, so I just stuck to the drum set. I picked up a bass for the first time early this year and now I never want to put it down. ANYWAYS... I noticed that most strings have a felt type material wrapped around the ends and I always assumed this was to prevent any buzzing. I picked up a new set of Ernie ball regulars about a week ago for my Fender p-bass and every now and then the strings buzz near the saddle. It looks like it is vibrating against the spring over the screw, but is fixed once I adjust the position of the saddle. So I guess my question would be is there any way to tell which strings have this felt stuff wrapped around it? Also, is there a "technical" term for the felt stuff because I don't think "felt stuff" is it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[DaveF]

I think it's just called a silk wrap?

I don't think there's any way to tell which brands use them or not. I can tell you a couple however:

DR Strings - No Wrap
D'Addario - Multi-colored Wrap

Hopefully we can build some sort of list? Anyone?

[basswtf967]

Thanks for the reply, do any of the Ernie balls have the wrap? For some reason I was under the impression all bass strings would/should have it but I guess this is not the case.

[fretlessman71]

It's not necessary for strings to have the wrap. DR strings are bare as well as D'Addario. I think they're there to allow the manufacturer to use less metal at the end of the string and give it the ability to grip the peg better. I've never heard of the silk wrap affecting a string's buzz, or lack thereof. Are you sure it's not just the fact that you chose strings of a different gauge and the tension on the neck has changed?

EDIT: D'Addario Slowwounds used to have a different colored wrap for each string. Most of the XL strings I've seen are bare.

[basswtf967]

Yea none of the strings buzz except for the E. It buzzes like 5% of the time it is not even a big deal but I figured with the wraps this buzzing would be eliminated completely even if the end of the string was in fact touching the spring on the screw that connects the saddles.

[fretlessman71]

If you fiddle around with that spring, and find a place where it doesn't want to rattle, you'll be good. This happens with saddles from time to time.

[brivello]

I would advise getting your bass set up by a professional. Most likely the buzz will disappear with proper set up. Either that, or you bought a different string gauge that is not big enough for your nut. The silk wraps however, are not used to prevent buzzing.

[basswtf967]

Thanks for all the quick replies. When I first got this bass a couple weeks ago the person I bought it used from somehow managed to screw with the action and none of the frets past 7 worked on any of the four strings. I restrung it with regular slinky's and set everything up properly on it again. It plays great now but I guess I need to have a deeper look at the E strings saddle. Before I strung it up the neck was straight as an arrow. After I put the strings on there is a slight bow. I assume this is normal because of the tension right?

[fretlessman71]

If the strings you put on were heavier than the old ones, yes.

If there's a bow and you don't know how to adjust a truss rod, DON'T TRY IT YOURSELF - take it to a pro. And mention the spring thing while you're at it.

[BassXgirl]

Originally Posted by basswtf967

Thanks for all the quick replies. When I first got this bass a couple weeks ago the person I bought it used from somehow managed to screw with the action and none of the frets past 7 worked on any of the four strings. I restrung it with regular slinky's and set everything up properly on it again. It plays great now but I guess I need to have a deeper look at the E strings saddle. Before I strung it up the neck was straight as an arrow. After I put the strings on there is a slight bow. I assume this is normal because of the tension right?

It definately sounds like you need to have a professional set up on it. Especially as a new player, you want to make sure the intonation is correct. A pro set up will also ensure that the neck/action is set up in a correct way. If it was buzzing everywhere after the 7th fret, that bass is probably pretty far out of whack.

[basswtf967]

Yeah for the most part I read a lot of information about it and got some tips from my brother who is a guitar player. It is pretty much back to normal now. The bow in the neck is barely even noticeable. I might go with some lower gauge strings in a couple of weeks and that might help straighten things out a bit since it is straight without strings on it. Thanks to all the replies for the thread I appreciate the help.