Fender Super 7250ML question (Squire VM Jazz)

[Wayne8]

I've searched and seen threads that sort of deal with this subject but I've yet to find a thread that actually answers the question.

I've got a new Squire VM Jazz and I love the strings that came on it. Squire's website says that they come with Fender Super 7250ML's. Mine has the red wrap. I've seen several posters say that the 7250ML has a black wrap. Now, do the 7250ML's sometimes come with red wrap and sometimes with black wrap or do I have a totally different string? Several other folks have said that their's came with strings that had red wrap.

If I can't get a definitive answer I guess I'll write Fender and/or Squire a letter (they post no email address and they also warn you that a response may take a while).

Thanks.

[Earthquake]

7250 ML is my favorite string and I've only seen them with black silk wraps. I have a Squier VM fretless jazz and it came with the 45-100 black silk wrap Fender strings.

[nickn]

Did you buy it literally brand new, straight out of the box, or did you buy it off of a music store shelf? If the latter is true, then maybe the music store swapped out the strings for some reason. I had 7250MLs on my P-bass for a long time, and they did indeed have black wraps.

[fretlessguy]

The red silk strings are their stainless strings. The black silk is the 7250 strings. I am sure that they do at times grab whatever they have surplus to string them up. Then again, it could be what the store had lying around cheap when it came time to restring the stock at hand.

[Wayne8]

I bought it brand new, off the wall. I guess maybe I'll ask the store if they have any idea, maybe they did change them. Though I'm pretty sure it was only there for a couple of weeks since I'd never seen it before. Seems like other folks say their's came with red so maybe it's the manufacturer that's subbing the strings with whatever they have available in that gauge.

[Wayne8]

What color silk do they have on the pure nickel, the 7350's?

[Earthquake]

I was in a Sam Ash store last weekend and noticed they had a VM fretless with red silk wraps on the strings. I thought somebody put Roto's on it. They looked more "gray" like Roto's and not shiny like the 7250ML's. That would support the stainless Fender string suggestion above.

[Wayne8]

I think maybe they started off putting 7250ML's (nickel) and then switched to stainless (red wrap) or else they just use whatever they have at the time and the info on the website is either outdated or at least mis-leading. Way too many folks saying they come with red wrap for it to be the stores doing it. Anyway, I appreciate all the input. When these strings get old I'll try the Fender stainless and see if they sound the same. If they do then I guess I'll know for sure what came on the bass.

[Wayne8]

And yes, they are way bright but I've managed to EQ that to the point where I like the sound.

[NWB]

Originally Posted by Earthquake

I was in a Sam Ash store last weekend and noticed they had a VM fretless with red silk wraps on the strings. I thought somebody put Roto's on it. They looked more "gray" like Roto's and not shiny like the 7250ML's. That would support the stainless Fender string suggestion above.

My VMF came out of the box with red silk. I'm guessing they use whatever is handy at the moment.

[tonebrulee]

Originally Posted by Wayne8

I've got a new Squire VM Jazz and I love the strings that came on it. Squire's website says that they come with Fender Super 7250ML's. Mine has the red wrap. I've seen several posters say that the 7250ML has a black wrap.

Hey Wayne8,

I have the fretted VM Precision Bass (olympic white + black guard) and it also came with red-wrap strings, which I love too.

If you look closely at the enlarged pictures on the Squire site, you can see that pics of our basses clearly have red wraps. So either the info on the site is wrong about our basses coming with 7250's, or Squire puts red wraps on the 7250's that go onto these basses for some reason we are not considering (e.g. maybe red attracts the eye better when the guitar is on a wall, etc.).

From musiciansfriend.com for 7250's :

"If you've played a Fender bass lately, chances are that you've tried their Super Bass 7250 strings. That's because these are the bass strings installed as original factory equipment on Fender basses that are strung through the bridge."

Also, looking closely at my strings, they definitely look more like nickel then stainless, and the specs on the Fender 7x50 strings are:

7150 : "Original Bass" string, pure nickel, (I've got a set and they have yellow wraps)
7250 : "Super Bass" string, nickel plated
7350 : "Stainless Bass" string, stainless steel

My guess is we do have 7250's as Squire says, and they ship with red wraps for marketing purposes.

Earthquake mentioned his VM fretless came with black-wrapped strings, which jives with the info here that the 7250's have black wraps, but also seems to be the exception rather than the rule of what's been reported/seen. Maybe this could be explained by the plant running out of red-wrapped 7250's and using available black-wrapped ones?

If you write Squire and get an answer, would love to see it here.

[jkramer5]

The VM P I got last week also had the red wrapped strings. Brand new out of the box. So did the MIM Deluxe Jazz I got last july, same as, out of a sealed fender box.

[tonebrulee]

Originally Posted by jkramer5

So did the MIM Deluxe Jazz I got last july

http://www.fender.com/products//sear...tno=0136760341

The MIM Deluxe Jazz series is spec'd by Fender for 7250's also. The enlarged pictures show black wraps.

[jkramer5]

I didn't buy a picture, I bought an actual bass, and like I typed, it came out of the box new with red wrapped strings. They're right next to the other pair I removed from the VM P bass I got last week. 2 bass's 2 spare sets of the same strings.

[tonebrulee]

Originally Posted by jkramer5

I didn't buy a picture, I bought an actual bass, and like I typed, it came out of the box new with red wrapped strings.

Right - I was pointing out that the wrapping color for OEM 7250's isn't consistent - i.e. the site shows 7250's spec'd for guitars showing both red and black wraps in their pictures. It looks like the bottom line here is that the strings we seem to like so much are indeed Super Bass Nickel Plated 7250's, regardless of whether they have black or red wraps.

[freshbass]

I just bought a brand new mexican jazz bass deluxe (candy apple red) shipped from the factory and Fender states they are shipped w/ 7250ML strings. tehse are def. nickel wrapped, but there is no silk wrap at all. they are bare string at both ends?!?! Mine sound, look, and feel like D'addario XL170's. I hope these are 7250ML because I really like them and plan to order a cple sets. BTW; this "mexican" bass is the nicest fender jazz I have ever played. At $699 versus $2000 It's nicer than my victor bailey jazz which needed fretwork, a new nut, and has a very unstable neck requiring constanmt tweaking (gonna trade it for PA gear). I think Fender Mexico might be using a plek machine because the fretwork is perfect. All I did for set-up was file the nut slots a bit lower and adjust the bridge and trussrod. Typical set-up stuff for me as I play w a very low action and have a light touch. AND...it has not gone out of tune for 3 days, nor has the neck moved a tad.

[SurferJoe46]

I bought one Fender and two Squier basses this past year - all new and two were right out of the box.

MiM Deluxe - NO silks 7250 NPS Fender Bass strings
VM-Jazz - BLACK silk 7250 NPS Fender Bass strings
VM-Jaguar - RED silk 7250 NPS Fender Bass strings

The no-silks were purported to be D'As and the black-silks were supposed to be Martin, but I doubt it.

The red-silks were really supposed to be Mexican Fender strings - and I think they are.

The only set of 7250s I can even stand are the ones on the Jaguar - so I think there's some truth to the rumor that they really are to Fender's design if not actually spun on machines in Fender de Mexico.

I've put Elixir Nanos on the other two ( GREAT ) and as soon as these real 7250s poop out, I'm going to Roto 45s which I heartily endorse as the better version of what Fender originally had in their 7250 NPS bass strings.

If anybody wants to buy some 15 minute old phoney 7250 NPSs, let me know.

~~ I have two choices - plain or black silks to suit your fancy ~~
~~~~~~~~ $10.00+ postage and handling ~~~~~~~~
Untouched by human hands.