The effects of swapping strings from bass to bass

[SuperDuck]

If I hadn't noticed this on more than one occasion, I would have written it off as nothing, but since it has happened three times, I figgered I would see if anyone else has noticed this...

For one reason or another, in the past I've taken strings off of one bass and put them on another, after they've been used for a bit. Now, I use the same strings all the time, and I "know" how used they are, where they are in their life/tone/feel.

When I put them on the second bass, however, the strings seem more dead and not as "new" feeling as they were on the previous bass a few minutes prior. They seem stiffer, they don't sustain as long, and they sound duller, as if they magically got older during the short time off of the first bass.

All I can guess the moving, rotating, streching and unstrecthing "unsettles" the strings.

Am I crazy? Has anyone else observed this?

[Minger]

Probably the stretching and restretching.

[cptnhook]

I'm no expert, but I would guess that since it's likely that the second bass has different "witness points" at the bridge and/or the nut from the first bass, this might have an adverse effect on the tone of the strings.

[Marshes]

I've noticed that happen with a pair of flat grounds that i have on my bass. Sounded terrific on a cheap bass, then switched them over and didnt even feel like the same string.