Can't anyone wind strings correctly?

[Lowactnsatsfctn]

I cant stand strings hanging out and flopping around.
Can't stand to see 6 wraps on a tuner with overlap while others have 1 or a half wraps.

Its really in tune, I didn't just line them up

 

[Munjibunga]

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

Of course, you could just "do it yourself" (which I didn't).

 

[Solarmist]

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

$250 for strings per month; you could buy a pretty nice bass in 3/4 months time at that rate.

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

After 20 years they belong in the Bass Strings Hall of Fame.

 

[MouseRat]

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.

THIS! THIS! THIS!
Also, from my luthiers:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[cbabbman]

I've never overlapped, and never ever had a string that gave me problems because of it.

I leave 3-4" past the tuner, stick it in the hole, bend it to a 90 and then speed wind it from slack to in-tune...

 

[Rocky McD]

O.T. - While we are on this topic, what are you opinions on Fender's new E string, single tree. The first one I saw, was a round, bent over screw like tree. Now, it is an flat extension off of the washer under the post nut. It comes out and makes a loop for the string to pass through. None of the parts places seem to have any in stock.
Rocky

 

[Floyd Eye]

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

It is not acceptable on either. Tuning stability, etc.. There is a right way to string a guitar and it doesn't involve strings hanging out of the tuners.

 

[curbowkid]

Nothing bugs me more than messy restring jobs. I'm so OCD with it. I have exact measurements for excess and I ALWAYS wind them on evenly. I always trim the ends and run them into the center of the peg where they should go. I can't stand seeing strings wound on in big messy balls on the peg. Drives me nuts. Just as bad a people whos bass bridges are at all wacky heights and people who let their instruments necks get wicked forward bow. it's like nails on a chalk board for me

 

[RobJ]

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.

I've only broken one bass string, the D, and that was in 1975. We aren't too far apart on procedures either. Once you learn how to do it right you're golden.

 

[afzoomie67]

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)

If you don't change strings for a year (could you do that, for me?) you'd save a ton.

If you can't do the math:
12*250 = 3000.
3000 - x = y. X = cost of one set of your strings. Y = the amount left over. Then, take Y and buy a new bass.. I wish I had 3k lying around each year.

 

[Lowactnsatsfctn]

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

What kind of strings are you changing every 4 days?

 

[newbold]

Some older basses...just has(ve) a slot to hold the string...just...make sure to lock the string laying across the slot in place with the subsequent windings.

First loop on top, then wind down towards the neck.

 

[Renaissance]

I recall reading somewhere you should bend the string 90 degrees before you make the cut. I don't remember the reasoning but it made sense to me at the time so I've always done it this way.

 

[Geroi Asfalta]

Nothing bugs me more than messy restring jobs. I'm so OCD with it. I have exact measurements for excess and I ALWAYS wind them on evenly. I always trim the ends and run them into the center of the peg where they should go. I can't stand seeing strings wound on in big messy balls on the peg. Drives me nuts. Just as bad a people whos bass bridges are at all wacky heights and people who let their instruments necks get wicked forward bow. it's like nails on a chalk board for me

This is my issue as well (also as to why I spend so much time restringing my stuff)

What kind of strings are you changing every 4 days?

8 basses, each gets a new set of strings the first saturday of the month.

As I said, I'm a bit messed up in the head. I won't play any bass of mine until the strings are perfectly wound on the posts, and the bridge is setup so the action is as low as it could possible get, and intonation is set (I also check intonation twice a week...why, I'm not sure, just a severe ocd/insanity thing)

I make sure the strings look like this at the end before I do anything else

Link Removed

The main reason I spend so much time putting on my strings is to make sure they're not twisted or kinked as they get wound on the pegs...one of the first few times I restrung a bass myself, the string was twisted. It snapped and would've taken out my eye had I not been wearing a hat. I'm also hate dead strings.

 

[Thor]

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.

Same thing with my EB3. When I first started playing it I never cut the strings but circled them into little loops. So there would be 4 loops out board the headstock.

I stopped doing that when I stopped smoking.

Never had any of my guitarists complain about it, they were happy to have a bass player.

 

[Thor]

This is my issue as well (also as to why I spend so much time restringing my stuff)



8 basses, each gets a new set of strings the first saturday of the month.

As I said, I'm a bit messed up in the head. I won't play any bass of mine until the strings are perfectly wound on the posts, and the bridge is setup so the action is as low as it could possible get, and intonation is set (I also check intonation twice a week...why, I'm not sure, just a severe ocd/insanity thing)

I make sure the strings look like this at the end before I do anything else

Link Removed

The main reason I spend so much time putting on my strings is to make sure they're not twisted or kinked as they get wound on the pegs...one of the first few times I restrung a bass myself, the string was twisted. It snapped and would've taken out my eye had I not been wearing a hat. I'm also hate dead strings.

I don't know man. One set looks like it's wound counter to the other way. And one looks like it's upside down.

I suggest you get a dial vernier caliper and measure carefully as I suspect that is the only way for you to achieve perfect string installation. If you can't measure it, how do you know what you got?

I have also heard a good microscope is helpful, but I can't afford one so I really don't know.

 

[Lowactnsatsfctn]

8 basses, each gets a new set of strings the first saturday of the month.

That gets expensive then. Another reason I usually don't keep more than 2 Basses at a time. Have you looked in to some coated strings for the Basses that didn't get as much use?

 

[Munjibunga]

I like tidy string winds, too, but I don't obsess over it. Cut the string four inches past the peg, stick the end in the hole, give the string a tug to create the bend, and wind away. Just before the string is tight, push the winds down. Tighten, tune, and play.

The bass on which you spend 15 minutes winding per string will not sound better than mine wound at 10 minutes per [5-string] bass.

 

[GreaserMatt]

Sounds like you guys just need some rotosounds, LOL.... j/k

 

[Stumbo]

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

What's that, 10 sets per month. Every 3 days a new set on your bass?
That's $3k a year. $30k over 10 years. $120k over 40 years.
That's not right. I mean, you could by a new house and condo in many parts of the world for that much cash.
Or save for retirement or something like a college education.

There's got to be a better way. OCD is tuff.