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Can a change of strings affect the action?

Nimzowitsch

Nimzowitsch

May 6, 2020
40
53
#1
Hi all,

So I got a brand new Fender Precision Original Series and the action was perfect when I got it. It came with Fender's default P-Bass strings (dunno what they are, but they were roundwounds.)

I bought a set of LaBella 760M, which are significantly thicker to the stock ones and had my bass restrung with those.

I just got home and I somehow feel that the action is MUCH higher now. Could a change of strings (especially significantly thicker ones) affect the action, ie. make it higher?
 
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#4
Nimzowitsch said:
I bought a set of LaBella 760M, which are significantly thicker to the stock ones and had my bass restrung with those.

I just got home and I somehow feel that the action is MUCH higher now. Could a change of strings (especially significantly thicker ones) affect the action, ie. make it higher?
Click to expand...

La Bella 760FM has a much higher tension than the factory strings, so the neck has been pulled forward, resulting in a higher action. What you need to do is to tighten the truss rod to straighten the neck back to the way it was.
 
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#5
0000_1.jpg


(all of the above)
 
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#8
Thank you all for taking the time to answer my question - I appreciate it.

Initially I thought to myself "WOW these LaBellas sure are hard to play", but then I noticed that the action around the 6th fret was way higher than I remember it, so I did some googling, but couldn't find any info and posted my q here.

I am a bit of a perfectionist myself when it comes to my work which I take great pride in, and in my eyes, this really is a sloppy job.. I told the guy that I really liked the current action when I dropped off the base, yet all they did was restring it, didn't bother checking...

Really sloppy. Too bad, cuz their shop is 5 minutes away from my place.
 
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#9
michael_t said:
La Bella 760FM has a much higher tension than the factory strings, so the neck has been pulled forward, resulting in a higher action. What you need to do is to tighten the truss rod to straighten the neck back to the way it was.
Click to expand...

The neck being pulled forward by a noticable margin sure sounds troubling.. Should I be worried? Will I regret buying these strings? :|
 
#10
Nimzowitsch said:
The neck being pulled forward by a noticable margin sure sounds troubling.. Should I be worried? Will I regret buying these strings? :|
Click to expand...

That's what the truss rod is for - to compensate for the change in tension going from one set of strings to another. Yes, La Bella Flats 49-109 are one of the heaviest out there, but as long as the truss rod is working properly, there should be no issue. I'd be more worried about how your hands and fingers will handle the added stiffness. ;)
 
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#11
michael_t said:
That's what the truss rod is for - to compensate for the change in tension going from one set of strings to another. Yes, La Bella Flats 49-109 are one of the heaviest out there, but as long as the truss rod is working properly, there should be no issue. I'd be more worried about how your hands and fingers will handle the added stiffness. ;)
Click to expand...

52-110 to be precise:/

Perseverance is the name of the game! (famous last words)

Ok I called up the luthier, he said pretty much what you guys just said and told me to swing by tomorrow to have it adjusted. Btw, if you could only see the shock on his face when he saw which strings I wanted strung onto my bass haha. He said these are veeeeery hard.. and he's a bassist himself :P
 
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#12
Nimzowitsch said:
The neck being pulled forward by a noticable margin sure sounds troubling.. Should I be worried? Will I regret buying these strings? :|
Click to expand...
the strings you have purchased are one of the heaviest highest tension strings out there but as long as the neck of your bass is not defective and the truss rod is not defective this should not be a problem, take it to a decent tech and have them adjust it.
 
#14
Nimzowitsch said:
52-110 to be precise:/

Perseverance is the name of the game! (famous last words)

Ok I called up the luthier, he said pretty much what you guys just said and told me to swing by tomorrow to have it adjusted. Btw, if you could only see the shock on his face when he saw which strings I wanted strung onto my bass haha. He said these are veeeeery hard.. and he's a bassist himself :p
Click to expand...
wowzers, my D string is only a 55 gauge, and it's round wound, a 52 gauge G flatwound must be a workout
 
#17
Nimzowitsch said:
The neck being pulled forward by a noticable margin sure sounds troubling.. Should I be worried? Will I regret buying these strings? :|
Click to expand...
Standing-on-Fender-Neck 2.jpg
Should you be worried? Not really - as long as your bass' neck isn't actually defective to begin with. Will you regret buying those strings? Well... yeah, you just might. For someone who's new to flats, you've pretty much done the equivalent of learning to box by getting into the ring with Mike Tyson... Lighter gauge flats - especially from some other brands - are much easier to start on. Don't get me wrong; La Bellas are very, very good flats, and I have them on some of my basses. But, I've been playing flats since 1968. I'm used to - and like - stiff, heavy gauge flats. In your place, I might consider taking those strings off; saving them for later; and trying something like, say, a set of Fender 9050L flats. They will sound - and feel - very good; they won't freak your bass' neck out nearly as much; and they'll be a lot easier to play. And, yes, I use them, too...:thumbsup:
 
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#19
By rights, changing the string gage should also require changes to the nut slots, but most people will say this doesn't matter at all. Depends on how rigorous you are with your setups.

To test if yours are ok for you, try comparing the effort it takes to fret the first note. It should be pretty easy to fret with a modest amount of pressure. The first position should be in perfect intonation.

You'll find specs on this slot depth in the setup instructions of a lot of basses, which I believe state there should be a certain amount of nut above the fretboard when measured from the top of the fretboard to the bottom-most depth of the nut slot at the base of it.

It's just one of those little things that make a bass setup feel perfect instead of just "good".
 
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#20
Someone check me on this, but IIRC, generally an equivalent set of flats will generally have a higher tension than a roundwound set of approximately the same gages. And as the other before me have pointed out, that LaBella 'Jamerson' set in 50-110 is much higher tension than a typical 4-string.

Back in the 50's when many upright bassists were converting over to that new-fangled 'Fender bass', string choices were very limited, and if it played a little easier than upright, that was good enough, their idea of low action was far different than current practice.

So to me your bass acted exactly as it should, and should come right back with a careful adjustment. No worries.
 

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