Swapping strings between instruments?

[AntAir267]

I hope this is in the right section. If not, please move, mods.

I have a bass with flats and a bass with rounds, however I believe each bass would sound better if I swapped the strings. The rounds haven't been played and the flats seem to be worn (I got the bass used.) I just plan on taking off both E strings, swapping them, and so on for the rest of the strings. Will there be any problems with this (Like intonation, etc.)? Should I take it to a shop who can do intonation (I can't.)? Should I just buy new strings for each?

I'm terrible at technical stuff, but my guitar playing friend offered to change my strings for free.

[darkstorm]

If you have to string the string thru small hole in rear of bridge, be careful to now unwind the part that goes around peghead anymore then needed. If you have easy top load bridges just loosen strings enough to lift them off the tuning peg and out of the bridge. It should be no problem changeing strings between the two basses.

As far as intonation goes, to many peeps make a big deal out of something they cant hear. Take away their electronic tunes and a large percentage of them couldnt tune their basses if theyre life depended on it. Intonation in the real world simply means the open note is same note at 12th fret. For most of humans history of making music with stringed isntruments its been with bridges that have no intonation adjustement ability. I'll even go so far as to say that more then 80% of basses with their bridges intonation set as it was from factory before putting it in the box for shipping, are well enough in tune for intonation that less then 10% of listeners or even players can hear a difference by ear for intuneness.

Your more likely going to need to tweak the truss rod or bridge saddle heights for action after the string swap.

Sure use a electronic tuner as a learning aid, or to learn about how diff brands of tuners seldom exactly agree with each other. Go buy yourself a tuning fork or pitch pipe and tune with it instead of your electronic tuner. Your musical ear will develope better then most peoples including most modern players. Who dont even know about the 5th fret of E string as ref note for tuning A string.

[AntAir267]

That was more advice than I needed, thank you. I've got top loading bridges, know how to tune by ear, and frequently play above the 12th fret. I think I'll just by new rounds and take it to my local shop. Thanks for your large amount of advice; I hope someone years from now reads it and finds exactly what they were looking for.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by darkstorm

As far as intonation goes, to many peeps make a big deal out of something they cant hear. Take away their electronic tunes and a large percentage of them couldnt tune their basses if theyre life depended on it. Intonation in the real world simply means the open note is same note at 12th fret. For most of humans history of making music with stringed isntruments its been with bridges that have no intonation adjustement ability. I'll even go so far as to say that more then 80% of basses with their bridges intonation set as it was from factory before putting it in the box for shipping, are well enough in tune for intonation that less then 10% of listeners or even players can hear a difference by ear for intuneness.

You can't seriously believe that. Why even tune at all then? The whole "nobody can tell" argument is distasteful to me on many levels. Not only is it not true, but -I- can tell, and that's enough.

Anyway, Ant, yes, you will likely have to adjust your neck and reset your intonation. But this is a perfect opportunity for you to learn how to do it yourself. There are lots fo online guides to doing a setup on your bass...one of the best is at fender.com under "support," I believe. You should absolutely learn how to do it for yourself. It's a snap, and it only takes a couple tools you probably already have.

[One Drop]

Intonating takes 10 minutes with most bridges. Do most definitely learn.

Absolutely no problem switching strings around, just make sure they are not twisted when re-installing.

Darkstorm, most of those instruments were fretless so there wasn't necessarily a problem, and many others do have bridges that are able to be intonated by angling a piece of wood, for example.

I do agree that precise intonation all the way up the neck is not really necessary, but a good approximation certainly can't hurt.

BTW I'm sure Darkstorm was only trying to help- you came across a bit newbyish in your OP, that's all.

[Pilgrim]

Just switch the strings and then intonate as/if needed. Don't make a bigger deal of it than you need to...it's not a big deal.

[JB36]

I've been on a string hunt lately and have been flip flopping between basses to find what I've been looking for. Just like you stated, I flip like strings. I usually just tune and check intonation. I usually give the neck a day to check the truss rod and then re-check and intonation and tune. String height and truss do not always need to be adjusted. All of this is good practice at first and well worth doing. I've found the best tutorials are the videos on the Bass Player web site.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by JB36

String height and truss do not always need to be adjusted.

True, but most likely it will. Even switching between D'addario XL's and Chromes of the same gauge, I have to readjust action and intonation.

[Audiophage]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

True, but most likely it will. Even switching between D'addario XL's and Chromes of the same gauge, I have to readjust action and intonation.

+1

[bassgod0dmw]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

You can't seriously believe that. Why even tune at all then? The whole "nobody can tell" argument is distasteful to me on many levels. Not only is it not true, but -I- can tell, and that's enough.

Huge +1! Also, what if you're playing the same line as another instrument in a certain song. Lets say it's all above the 12th fret for good measure. They are intonated correctly, or in tune, depending on the instrument we're talking about here. You're not going to be in tune together, which sounds like complete crap. Other than just plain bad music, I can't think of anything that would irk me more than a band being out of tune with each other. It's inexcusable.

[Jay2U]

Originally Posted by darkstorm

...As far as intonation goes, to many peeps make a big deal out of something they cant hear. Take away their electronic tunes and a large percentage of them couldnt tune their basses if theyre life depended on it. Intonation in the real world simply means the open note is same note at 12th fret. For most of humans history of making music with stringed isntruments its been with bridges that have no intonation adjustement ability. I'll even go so far as to say that more then 80% of basses with their bridges intonation set as it was from factory before putting it in the box for shipping, are well enough in tune for intonation that less then 10% of listeners or even players can hear a difference by ear for intuneness...

Playing chords at higher positions and thus playing in a band does reveal bad intonation. Intonation is just a few minutes work on most basses. I just compare the second harmonic with the string fretted at 12. That's enough for my Ibby, but it has to be done as bad intonation can be audible.

This is my opinion, which doesn't have to be shared...

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by Jay2U

Playing chords at higher positions and thus playing in a band does reveal bad intonation. Intonation is just a few minutes work on most basses. I just compare the second harmonic with the string fretted at 12. That's enough for my Ibby, but it has to be done as bad intonation can be audible.

This is my opinion, which doesn't have to be shared...

No, it's not your opinion...it's fact.

[Akami]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

You can't seriously believe that. Why even tune at all then? The whole "nobody can tell" argument is distasteful to me on many levels. Not only is it not true, but -I- can tell, and that's enough.

Anyway, Ant, yes, you will likely have to adjust your neck and reset your intonation. But this is a perfect opportunity for you to learn how to do it yourself. There are lots of online guides to doing a setup on your bass...one of the best is at fender.com under "support," I believe. You should absolutely learn how to do it for yourself. It's a snap, and it only takes a couple tools you probably already have.

This is the perfect response to post #2 and I doubt there's anyone here who wouldn't realize something was wrong with their intonation if it was out but much.

Not difficult or all that time consuming and definitely a good feeling to know everything is optimized.

[Jay2U]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

No, it's not your opinion...it's fact.

I wish all my opinions became facts.