Quick Scale Length Question

_christian_ · #1 09-30-2006, 11:50 PM

I have a quick question, but first I'll give a little story as to where it came from...

Today I played my Uncle's Lakland Joe Osbourne 5. Let me just say, I really liked it. I really liked the feel of his strings, so when I was told they were Lakland Nickels I though I'd buy a set. Problem is, they make them sized for their basses, which have a 35 inch scale length, and the bass I'd be putting them on is a 34 inch.

My question is, can I use the Lakland Nickel string on my 34 inch bass?

Poop-Loops · #2 10-01-2006, 12:54 AM

Probably. The only real problem is the taper would probably end too soon for you and you'd end up wrapping part of the "real" string around the tuner. Shouldn't be much of a problem, though. It's when you try to put some 34" strings on a 35" bass is when you get problems, since the taper doesn't come soon enough and it ends up on the nut or even past it.

The Craw · #3 10-01-2006, 01:46 AM

You run a risk of breakage if you wind part of the full diameter of the winding around the tuner, especially on the larger strings. Most stringmakers recommend against that. It won't necessarily happen, but it defintely can happen.

If yours is string through body, you should be all right. If not, you still may be okay depending on the string's winding length. Otherwise you can always take the chance it won't break. Most of the time it won't.

_christian_ · #4 10-01-2006, 11:35 AM

Thanks for the replies guys! I'm gonna order a set of those today and see how they work.

My bridge isn't through body, and I'm not sure on what the string's winding length is as I haven't measured it, but these strings aren't that pricey, so I'll just give them a test run. And, I must say, they were very comfortable to play and they sounded great on my Uncle's bass..

Mrdak · #5 10-07-2006, 07:49 AM

I take it you need them for the Fende jazz in your sig? The spector you have listed is 35" scale. Remember, if you wrap the part with full diameter around the post. The part past the silk, it might not always break, but it puts unnecessary strain on the post, and will always sound Bad.
If you like nickel wound, try DR Lo-Riders in nickel. I likes those much netter than Lakland nickels. Much better.

Poop-Loops · #6 10-07-2006, 11:36 AM

I just noticed that neither of my basses wound the string further than the taper, so I guess it might be bad.

_christian_ · #7 10-08-2006, 01:58 AM

I didn't order the Lakland strings, and after hearing what you guys have said, I'm glad I didn't. I'll look into those DR's.

Thanks for the input guys.