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D'Addario B string not long enough for 35 scale?

M

Mola Ram

Jan 18, 2010
260
3
Chicago
#1
So I recently got me a new pair of D'Addario Nickel Wound XL 170 bass strings and I'm really confused.

All of the strings seem to be perfectly fit for a 5 string bass EXCEPT the B string. Its starts to taper just shy of the nut. What gives with this? Has anyone else had a similar issue?

I mean, I would get it if all the string were the same but I can't for the life of me figure out why only one of the strings would be off.
 
#9
Mola Ram said:
Well, that stinks. Do you know why that is? The rest of the strings are fine and its just the B?

Seems like a really terrible decision on the company's part.
Click to expand...

I use these strings in both lengths all the time for several years.
(In fact its all I use).

Its not a terrible decision.
The majority of basses are still 34" scale so the packing is going to be marketed for 34" scale. (Thats not a dig, it just is what it is).

You just have to remember SL for your longer scale basses.
 
#10
basswave said:
I use these strings in both lengths all the time for several years.
(In fact its all I use).

Its not a terrible decision.
The majority of basses are still 34" scale so the packing is going to be marketed for 34" scale. (Thats not a dig, it just is what it is).

You just have to remember SL for your longer scale basses.
Click to expand...

I would understand this if all 5 of the strings fell short of the nut, but if 4 of them fit a 35 scale and 1 doesn't then that definitely seems like a mistake to me.
 
#12
ilmaio said:
It also depend by the shape of the headstock of you bass, in my BTB the E and B strings of the long set are too short while the other strings are long enough.
Click to expand...

I can string the bass without issues, its that the B string tapers off before it hits the nut. So while the string is attached the action is low because the part of the strign that is resting on the nut is thinner than the string it self.
 
#13
Here's th e skinny,
Many years ago BB (Before Bass of today), Scale was the universal measurement . top of bridge(saddls) to just over the Nut.....With the passing years and newer developements the origination point of a typical bass moved farther and farther away from the saddle. In doing so it changed the winding length of the strings. Now you would think it would stop there but it did not. Many string makers, unable to get the absolutely most efficient tension in the manfacture of a string went to stringing thru the body. Now that was a very clever idea, only that it posed an even greater opportunity to stringmakers, (real ones) in that string lengths moved again. Now much of this did not matter on four string instruments, but as Bassists came into their own and became frontline players they expanded to 5,6 7,8 and or more strings, and there lays the issue.
Best measure for a correct string is ball end to just over the nut...Now if you have the option of originating the string up top even better.
If you search the best way to a solution....LaBella
 
#14
Thanks for all the responses, and not to add fuel to the fire, but I jsut got a response from an email I sent to D'Addario's Customer Service.

They said this is a manufacturing mistake and that they would be sending me out a replacement string. They also included a file that contained all of their string lengths and this is what is listed for their bass series:

All string lengths are wound & trimmed at 48”
Scale Lengths
Short = 32” Taper
Medium =34” Taper
Long = 36 ¼” Taper
Super Long = 38” Taper

So according to this information all of the strings in the standard long scale should all taper at 36 1/4 inches meaning they should totally work with a 35 scale bass.

Huge props to D'Addario's customer service for such a fast turn around on a response too.
 
#15
Yes, it's clearly an error at the factory. This just happened to me with a set of long-scale Chromes a few weeks ago; one string (in this case the A) was significantly shorter than the others. Took it back to the store, they opened a new pack and the A was the correct length. I'll bet D'Addario has had a few of these slip through recently.

Don't take everything you read here as gospel.
 
#16
Mola Ram said:
All string lengths are wound & trimmed at 48”
Scale Lengths
Short = 32” Taper
Medium =34” Taper
Long = 36 ¼” Taper
Super Long = 38” Taper

So according to this information all of the strings in the standard long scale should all taper at 36 1/4 inches meaning they should totally work with a 35 scale bass.
Click to expand...

Almost. That measurement is ball-end to taper, leaving 1.25" from the saddle to the ball-end for a 35" bass. This may work on some bridges, but not all - and will depend on how the bridge is installed.

I have several 35" basses with Hipshot "A" bridges and I can't use the standard D'Addario "Long" scale strings because of this very issue of the taper occurring just short of the nut (by .25" or so). Super Long works fine, but no one in my city stocks those, so I have to order them. Or just don't use D'Addarios any more.

My guess is that if they made the Long scale strings taper at 37" from the ball end, they'd save a lot of consumer frustration over the B-string being .25" short on many 35" basses. However, it's quite possible that the machines used to make the Long Scale strings just can not go any longer and would require a huge capital investment to change. Don't know, but it's possible.
 
#17
lowfreqgeek said:
Almost. That measurement is ball-end to taper, leaving 1.25" from the saddle to the ball-end for a 35" bass. This may work on some bridges, but not all - and will depend on how the bridge is installed.

I have several 35" basses with Hipshot "A" bridges and I can't use the standard D'Addario "Long" scale strings because of this very issue of the taper occurring just short of the nut (by .25" or so). Super Long works fine, but no one in my city stocks those, so I have to order them. Or just don't use D'Addarios any more.

My guess is that if they made the Long scale strings taper at 37" from the ball end, they'd save a lot of consumer frustration over the B-string being .25" short on many 35" basses. However, it's quite possible that the machines used to make the Long Scale strings just can not go any longer and would require a huge capital investment to change. Don't know, but it's possible.
Click to expand...

But if that is the case wouldn't all 5 of the strings experience the same issue if they are all designed to taper at the same 36 1/4 inches?
 
#19
Before they changed the specs (WAY back, around 1991 or so), a regular D'Addario long scale string would fit a through-body pre EB StingRay. At some point they changed and the reason Jim D'Addario told me is that if the strings were too long, they experienced some string breakage as they wound around small tuning machines.

John
 
#20
Mola Ram said:
All string lengths are wound & trimmed at 48”
Scale Lengths
Short = 32” Taper
Medium =34” Taper
Long = 36 ¼” Taper
Super Long = 38” Taper
Click to expand...

Yes, lowfreqgeek is correct, those are measurements of winding length from the edge of the ball-end to the start of the taper between nut and tuner.

In the past they published this:

"Step 1. Mark the lowest gauge string at the nut with a marker.

Step 2. Remove the string and measure from the mark to the inner edge of the ball end & refer below.

Up to 32" D'Addario Short Scale
32"-34" D'Addario Medium Scale
34" - 36" D'Addario Long Scale
36" - 38" D'Addario Extra Long Scale"

It looks like they have lengthened the long scale so perhaps that should now read 34"-36 1/4" Long Scale.
 

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