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Double Bass Changing strings

#42
Thunderstorm woke me up early this morn, was reading this thread, layed down to go back to sleep, but of course couldn't, so got up and switched the E and A string and re-set the bridge. The E sounds alot better now, just opened it up alot, more sustain too. Before the change the E didn't have quite as much volume as the other strings, now it does. Can't really say if it changed the sound of the A string but I really like it this way. Thanks all for the info.
 
#43
Ok, i just bought Spirocores on the internet.... It says Medium S42 on pack of stings. The individual packs are unopened, but say S36 medium (G) S37 medium (D) S38 medium (A) S39 medium(E). Is it how it is supposed to be?

I put the G string on, the metal part of the string is wound on the roller, plus all the red part of course. Can the string break? The spiros i had before seem to be shorter, but my bass is 42..
 
#44
The S42(W) are 4/4 strings, so the S42 Mittel may have about the same tension than the 3/4 3885.0W Weich strings. So expect them to be a bit softer in tension than your old strings.
The 4/4 strings are made for vibrating string lengths of about 110 cm (43 inch) and longer.
For your 42" scale you can use either one, depending if you like a bit more or a bit les tension.

S42 is the name of the complete set, S36 to S39 is the name of the individual strings. (There are more like extended E, low B, high C ...)

Winding the metal wound part on the peg is usually only dangerous with synthetic core strings, but even then it depends on the type of string. Steel core strings are very robust, no problem here.
 
#45
Macher said:
Ok, i just bought Spirocores on the internet.... It says Medium S42 on pack of stings. The individual packs are unopened, but say S36 medium (G) S37 medium (D) S38 medium (A) S39 medium(E). Is it how it is supposed to be?

I put the G string on, the metal part of the string is wound on the roller, plus all the red part of course. Can the string break? The spiros i had before seem to be shorter, but my bass is 42..
Click to expand...

The S42 set is designed for a 110CM string length, the 3885.0 set is for a 106CM string length.

You shouldn't have any problem with the S42 strings on your 107CM string length. ;)
 
#46
Hi guys,
I just bought a used set of spiro 3/4 mittels & will be installing them next week. Looks like we have 2 ways of restringing the bass.
traditional way
scroll
D
A
G
E

non-traditional
scroll
E
A
D
G

I currently arco & pizz about 50/50. I'm using the same bass for orchestra as well as a swing.
My question is. I'm planning on trying out the non traditional way of stringing the bass. Should I cut the strings as I'm worried I won't be able to fit the E & A strings in?
thanks
 
#48
I'm restringing my bass as I type this, and I have a bit of an issue (maybe not an issue at all?). On my D and A string, the peg-box silks are touching the nut. On the d string it's only 1/4" that's touching, but on the A string it's about 3/4 of the nut that the silk goes over. Is this something that I need to change? I have as much of the string going through the roller as I can get, so I'm not sure how to change this.

Edit: Nevermind, problem solved. I didn't realize that I could just cut that part of the silk wrapping off.
 
#49
I just changed strings on my upright for the first time, and coming from the EB world, can't get past the idea of wrapping the string over itself. If it says that's the way to do it, then I'm going to redo my strings.
 
#50
Sometimes winding the string over previous string windings is needed if you don't want to shorten the string or let the strings ends peek out of the pegbox. But everybody had his personal preferences.

But if you wind the string onto itself, first wind from the peg hole away from the nut groove of the string and then before touching the cheek of the pegbox quickly in one winding to the other side of the peg hole.
That way you can use both sides of the hole for windings, let the last windings reside on the peg, not previous string windings, which would be bad, and don't make the diameter of the string windings too large, which might make contact to the bottom of the pegbox and break the string.
 
#51
dbassnut said:
traditional way
scroll
D
A
G
E

non-traditional
scroll
E
A
D
G
Click to expand...

Earl said:
I've been stringing with the compensated tailpiece method for a while and it really opens up my juzek. I was recently emailing string maker Gerold Genssler and mentioned this and his reply was 'that's a good idea but still better is: E on E, A on G, D on A, G on D-peg. Try it.' I haven't tried it but I cannot imagine why it would be better.
Click to expand...

Gerold Genssler could be the wisest luthier I ever talked to, so I'm gonna try this on friday! Was recently more inclined to try the non traditional as stated above as I never tried it, but hey you ain't gonna learn unless you try, right?
 
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#52
Will post back any feedback I have when the strings have calmed down and settled on the bass in the from bottom to top-installation method as decribed by Gerold Genssler and if I notice any difference from before. Of course the only fair thing would be to put the same kind of strings on it, let's hope there's a difference anyhow.
Now, this way seems to pull a bit more on the E and A strings while the D and A is a bit looser but not quiter but I'm not sure. Only time will tell!
 
#53
The string-to-peg combination one makes could impact the friction the string experiences over the nut (while tuning), as well as the stretching of / local tension in the core, but I fail to see why it would impact the sound in any significant way. Can anyone please explain?
 

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