Can't anyone wind strings correctly?

[TRichardsbass]

Why is it everytime I see a Craigslist ad for a bass and it says, "vintage, great, mint bass, plays well, everything perfect" they always have the string ends hanging off, not wound into the hole, nor trimmed.

I just saw a vintage Rick ad that said, "Expertly restrung by my guitar tech with new medium guage strings" and the strings were all pigtailed out of each post.

Where do we find these guys, anyway?

 

[BurningSkies]

Nah. I'm particularly picky about stringing. The stability of your tuning depends upon it as well as the break angle over the nut. Its a science, not a sport.

 

[esa372]

Where do we find these guys, anyway?

On Craig's List!

I hear you, though... seen it many times.

 

[PotsdamBass8]

I would think that it's mostly guitar players who don't realize that the string ends go down into the post.

 

[grendle]

Having "eye pokers " on guitar is ok, but not on bass. #1 culprit of wierd buzzes, tuning issues, and wierd string noises.

 

[Geroi Asfalta]

I would think that it's mostly guitar players who don't realize that the string ends go down into the post.

I think you're right....when I picked up my first bass, that's how I strung it the first two or three tries....

but now....I'm super anal about how strings get wound onto the pegs...I watch youtube videos on occasion, and when I hear people say Just put the end of the string in the hole then twist it around the peg a few times" I cringe and die a little inside. I spend about 10 to 15 minutes per string making sure that i have exactly between 3 1/2 to 4 winds around, winding down. If I can't get it right, I take the strings off and try again. If I fail after 3 attempts, I buy new strings.

Yes, I'm sick in the head ($250 a month on strings)

 

[mdogs]

I think you're right....when I picked up my first bass, that's how I strung it the first two or three tries....

but now....I'm super anal about how strings get wound onto the pegs...I watch youtube videos on occasion, and when I hear people say Just put the end of the string in the hole then twist it around the peg a few times" I cringe and die a little inside. I spend about 10 to 15 minutes per string making sure that i have exactly between 3 1/2 to 4 winds around, winding down. If I can't get it right, I take the strings off and try again. If I fail after 3 attempts, I buy new strings.

Yes, I'm sick in the head ($250 a month on strings)

33 years of playing bass and I have NEVER had so many problems with a string that I had to buy new strings. I have had strings fail out of the box, due to no fault of my own, but I can do a successful restring of a 6 string in the amount of time you take on one string. This is just not right. Sorry for the rant and I am not trying to offend you at all, but I prefer to play my basses rather than take all my time restringing them...

 

[Pilgrim]

but now....I'm super anal about how strings get wound onto the pegs...I watch youtube videos on occasion, and when I hear people say Just put the end of the string in the hole then twist it around the peg a few times" I cringe and die a little inside. I spend about 10 to 15 minutes per string making sure that i have exactly between 3 1/2 to 4 winds around, winding down. If I can't get it right, I take the strings off and try again. If I fail after 3 attempts, I buy new strings.

Yes, I'm sick in the head ($250 a month on strings)

You really need to back off that. I haven't spent that much on strings in the last five years. And you're not gaining anything by doing ll that fussing around!

My process:

1) Get Labella flats

2) Install (15-20 minutes for the entire bass). Cut each string three to four fingers' width past the tuner, bend end 90 degrees with pliers, insert in tuner, wind string from high to low on tuner. Done.

3) Intonate

4) Play bass for 20+ years

5) After 20+ years, install new strings if needed. Don't be in a rush. They may just be broken in.

 

[bassman314]

I guess I don't understand. My tuning posts have a slot that I use, but there's no hole in the tuning post for the string.

I do one wind over to lock, and then 2-3 under for winding. Whole process (for 5-string bass) takes maybe 5 minutes. Am I doing something wromg? Did I enter anal-retentivlandia and miss the sign?

 

[Ric5]

When I get a new bass I usually give it a new set of strings and a complete setup.

 

[LowNotes1]

I've been playing bass for 38 years, and I think I've broken a grand total of one string in all that time. I cut each string so I have about 2-3 inches beyond the peg, put the end of the string in the peg hole, bend it 90 degrees or close to it, and wind from the top down. Just never seemed to be an issue for me.

 

[Munjibunga]

I think you're right....when I picked up my first bass, that's how I strung it the first two or three tries....

but now....I'm super anal about how strings get wound onto the pegs...I watch youtube videos on occasion, and when I hear people say Just put the end of the string in the hole then twist it around the peg a few times" I cringe and die a little inside. I spend about 10 to 15 minutes per string making sure that i have exactly between 3 1/2 to 4 winds around, winding down. If I can't get it right, I take the strings off and try again. If I fail after 3 attempts, I buy new strings.

Yes, I'm sick in the head ($250 a month on strings)

See? If you changed strings as often as I do (every 4 years), you could just buy a very expensive new bass every time you needed strings.

 

[Munjibunga]

I guess I don't understand. My tuning posts have a slot that I use, but there's no hole in the tuning post for the string.

I do one wind over to lock, and then 2-3 under for winding. Whole process (for 5-string bass) takes maybe 5 minutes. Am I doing something wromg? Did I enter anal-retentivlandia and miss the sign?

The hole goes straight down vertically into the peg.

 

[Munjibunga]

You really need to back off that. I haven't spent that much on strings in the last five years. And you're not gaining anything by doing ll that fussing around!

My process:

1) Get Labella flats

2) Install (15-20 minutes for the entire bass). Cut each string three to four fingers' width past the tuner, bend end 90 degrees with pliers, insert in tuner, wind string from high to low on tuner. Done.

3) Intonate

4) Play bass for 20+ years

5) After 20+ years, install new strings if needed. Don't be in a rush. They may just be broken in.

Oh no. I've been changing strings way too often.

 

[Pilgrim]

I guess I don't understand. My tuning posts have a slot that I use, but there's no hole in the tuning post for the string.

Some older basses don't have a hole in the center of the tuner to allow inserting the end of the string. My 1964 EB-0 is one of these...like yours, it just has a slot to hold the string. It just means one has to wind the string with a bit more care and make sure to lock the string laying across the slot in place with the subsequent windings.

 

[mcnach]

I think you're right....when I picked up my first bass, that's how I strung it the first two or three tries....

but now....I'm super anal about how strings get wound onto the pegs...I watch youtube videos on occasion, and when I hear people say Just put the end of the string in the hole then twist it around the peg a few times" I cringe and die a little inside. I spend about 10 to 15 minutes per string making sure that i have exactly between 3 1/2 to 4 winds around, winding down. If I can't get it right, I take the strings off and try again. If I fail after 3 attempts, I buy new strings.

Yes, I'm sick in the head ($250 a month on strings)

Wow.

 

[Reigninblood]

Down in the post first, then wind, its pretty simple ya don't do it this way ya go outta tune every 18 seconds lol.

 

[Munjibunga]

I was at GC Peoria, AZ a few years ago, and there was a pristine used Roscoe Beck V hanging on the wall. I took it down to play it, and the E string sounded like hell. Someone had wound it bottom to top, and the string was not seated in the nut at all. I grabbed a salesman and played a little to show him how messed up the bass was, and offered him $300 less than they had it marked. I said it probably wouldn't be too hard to get it fixed. He did the deal, I went back to my hotel room, restrung the E string, and it was perfect.

 

[dmonroe]

I was at GC Peoria, AZ a few years ago, and there was a pristine used Roscoe Beck V hanging on the wall. I took it down to play it, and the E string sounded like hell. Someone had wound it bottom to top, and the string was not seated in the nut at all. I grabbed a salesman and played a little to show him how messed up the bass was, and offered him $300 less than they had it marked. I said it probably wouldn't be too hard to get it fixed. He did the deal, I went back to my hotel room, restrung the E string, and it was perfect.

AWESOME story! I will be on the lookout for this kind of thing next time I hit a GC.

 

[bassman314]

Some older basses don't have a hole in the center of the tuner to allow inserting the end of the string. My 1964 EB-0 is one of these...like yours, it just has a slot to hold the string. It just means one has to wind the string with a bit more care and make sure to lock the string laying across the slot in place with the subsequent windings.

Here's the funny thing... I have a newer bass. Both of my Laklands are about 5 years old.

Meh I'm over it... I've never had a problem with losing tune from string tension.