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25.5" bass strings

Ball end to nut? Is this not the measurment referred to as "scale length"? It 25.5"

"Scale length" is from the saddle to nut, the part that vibrates.

When you're considering what strings would fit a particular bass, you need to include the part from the ball end to the saddle, which can vary quite a bit depending on how the bass is designed - the size and design of the bridge, top-load vs. thru-body, etc. And that's why "scale length" is not the most reliable way of determining what strings should fit your bass. Always think in terms of "winding length".

Here are a couple of helpful resources for you to understand this concept:

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Hey guys, where can i buy strings that will fit on a 25.5 inch scale bass? Thanks!

If you want flats, the La Bella/Gold Tone set is the ticket. If you prefer rounds, here are some options (copypasting from old posts of mine, conveniently grouped here, but more conveniently reproduced below, without quotes-within-quotes):


1)- low octave strings from sets made for an instrument called bajo sexto (they need a light touch but are designed to work at that pitch+scale - look for stainless or nickel-plated steel, most companies make bronze wound sets that will have low output with magnetic pickups);

2)- I believe a set that fits your requirement is the following
Original Fernandes BSZ-2000 4 Bass String Set for PIE-ZO Nomad Bass
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- made for [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], a small bass marketed under the "Pie-Zo" name in Japan, and indeed equipped with a piezo pickup (as well as shaped as an elephant - "zō" in Japanese...), but the strings themselves are normal roundwounds and work with magnetic pickups, as per @reep (from this post);

3)- Kalium guitar strings, they make them as big as .182";

4)- you can build your own custom set of SS or NPS big-arse guitar strings on the La Bella website, specifying gauges (up to .120) and measures, ball-to-nut-to-post;

5)- TBer @SBassman had Curt Mangan Strings make him sub-short scale roundwound string sets;

6)- TBer @Bassamatic got his from Guadalupe Custom Strings in LA (if you contact them they might direct you to a recently established spin-off, "daughter" operation, the Gabriel Tenorio String Company);

7)- TBer @basslayer has ordered an off-the-shelf set sold on dedicated mini-instrument site SmallGuitars;

8)- TBer @5544 once enquired with Pyramid Strings of Germany for a similar request (they have a custom order form in German on their website - they also take custom orders by email, in English, and are open to special needs, at least as long as they're custom lengths of gauges they already offer);

9)- until recently I didn't know there was such a thing as a 9-string electric guitar, but...apparently there is, because there are strings for it (I believe the lowest two taper before the tuner so they should be perfect for a ~25" instrument tuned that low)
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La Bella also makes one, lighter in gauge (in bajo sexto territory)
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10)- unwrapping long scale strings to size can also work, I've read about putting a drop of superglue to secure the point where the full wrapping starts (*I* wouldn't do it, but I'm also egregiously lazy).
 
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A set of strings meant for Bass VI type instruments perhaps, and then just use the 4 bass strings?

The most common set would be with the gauges: 044, .056, .075, .095, for the 4 bottom strings.

Not far off the D'addario 095-040 set of regular short scale strings I use as my go to set for my Ibanez Mikro.

Could be just a regular short scale bass string set would do fine as well, at least I used a combination of short scale bass strings and guitar strings for stringing up my Epiphone SG guitar as a baritone tuned A-A, and it seems to work flawlessly.

No problems what so ever with cut off strings acting weird, and they even seem to have the perfect tension for me, even if I keeped them at fairly low standard guitar action.
 
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Request: Could any Greg Bennett Corsair MCR-1 bass owner out there (I guess a few of you read this thread ?) tell me the overall length of the bass ... strap-button to tip of headstock ? Trying to evaluate one of these as a holiday bass.

Many thanks.