Surprise - .130 sounded floppier than .125

kesslari · #1 02-18-2008, 12:15 PM

I have my Tobias 5 strung with my favorites, KS Compression Wounds. The only Low B option is a .125, and I've got a taper core on there.
The low B sounds great, but I thought I'd try a KS .130 (non comp-wound, not taper-core) to see if it sounded tighter. I had one, but it's regular roundwound.
To my surprise, there was more fret buzz (probably action-releated) and it sounded generally floppier.
I know it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, since the two strings are different winding and one is taper-core.
But I was surprised that the .125 sounded better and stronger, at least to my ear.
Gonna stick with .125...

Bass Below · #2 02-18-2008, 12:25 PM

Since the measurement is of the diameter of the string, the compression wound may actually have a higher mass even though the gauge is .005 less. Same reasoning behind why flats tend to have more tension than rounds of the same gauge.

Trevorus · #3 02-18-2008, 12:29 PM

Yep, mass and diameter are not locked together. Good call, Bass Below

onlyclave · #4 02-18-2008, 01:35 PM

You probably also have a better witness point at the bridge with .125.

kesslari · #5 02-18-2008, 02:32 PM

Ah, makes sense on the mass issue.

OK - what's a witness point?

bongomania · #6 02-18-2008, 02:38 PM

A witness point is where the string actually contacts the saddles, nut slots, or frets. I fail to see how a .125 would have a "better" witness point than a .130.

FWIW my current favorite low B string is a .130, but the particular model feels "tighter" to me than the .135 and .136 strings I tried from a few other brands. So yeah, diameter is not the only factor.

onlyclave · #7 02-18-2008, 05:46 PM

He'd have a better witness point with his compression wound .125 taper core than he would with his non-taper wound .130 because the taper wound is more flexible down at the ball end than the regular .130. If, when he installed the string, he spent a lot of time pressing the string down at the bridge saddle and bent it to create a better witness point he probably would have heard a difference.

I personally can't play with a B-string smaller than .130 because it feels too floppy. I don't know what a "floppy sound" is, I'm just want tension on a 34 inch scale neck.

greenboy · #8 02-18-2008, 07:32 PM

The Compressor .125 is a pretty tight/focused sounding string as Smith low Bs go (others tend to sound a little woolly to me in general) - though I like the Labella .128 tapered rounds better than just about anything in mix with the Compressor 4-string sets. Compressors in the lightest gauges really match up nicely with their .125 though and work very well for a versatile fretless set that can kinda span a couple different approaches.