DR Black Beauty strings too long for 34" scale (or even 35")?

[vindibona1]

I purchased a set of Black Beauty strings to put on my Yamaha TRBX605. I put the low B in the slot and wound it around the tuner. But even before it came up to tune the windings were wrapping around the tuner peg. When I did get it up to pitch is was floppy and unusable. I thought I got a defective set.

I called DR and they were surprised and said they would send me a replacement set. It came and I measured before installing it and again the windings would have wrapped around the tuner. I held it in place with my BTB675 which is a 35" scale, and again, it would have still had the winding wrap on the tuner.

I then held the string in place with my Fender Jazz 5 and the windings went WAY past the tuning peg. But interestingly, the Jazz5 has DR Sunbeams on it. And while the windings are close to the peg the wrapped core only is around the peg.

IS THERE SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE BLACK BEAUTIES? I've had DR Pure Blues on my Yamaha with no issues, but these? What am I missing????

 

[michael_t]

What's the exact measurement on that BB low B from ball end to the taper? It's supposed to be the same as other DR strings at 37.75".

 

[michael_t]

By the way, low B's typically have three layers of winding, so they have two tapers at the tuner end. We're talking about the first taper, where the full winding ends.

 

[vindibona1]

What's the exact measurement on that BB low B from ball end to the taper? It's supposed to be the same as other DR strings at 37.75".

I'm not sure how it's supposed to be measured relative to what point is the end of the taper. But here is a picture. I'm sure you can tell me what's what.
Are the tapered winds supposed to wrap around the tuner post? I'm not sure what the deal is with the original set, but they were retuned. Perhaps I should have kept them for comparison.
Edit: Second picture below is the DR Sunbeam low B.

 

[michael_t]

I'm not sure how it's supposed to be measured relative to what point is the end of the taper. But here is a picture. I'm sure you can tell me what's what.
Are the tapered winds supposed to wrap around the tuner post? I'm not sure what the deal is with the original set, but they were retuned. Perhaps I should have kept them for comparison.

View attachment 4995008

The first taper is at 37.75" the way it should be. That's the most important part. The second taper at 39" is not as crucial, and can wrap around the post. Nothing's wrong with the string. The first taper is what counts when we talk about "winding length".

 

[vindibona1]

The first taper is at 37.75" the way it should be. That's the most important part. The second taper at 39" is not as crucial, and can wrap around the post. Nothing's wrong with the string. The first taper is what counts when we talk about "winding length".

Thanks. Perhaps I'll try it. I'm thinking that maybe I should have gone for the lighter gauge? That 130 is pretty fat. Looks fatter than the others of that gauge. The wrap making it fatter?

 

[michael_t]

Thanks. Perhaps I'll try it. I'm thinking that maybe I should have gone for the lighter gauge? That 130 is pretty fat. Looks fatter than the others of that gauge. The wrap making it fatter?

Here's the pic of the DR Hi Beam 120B I have in my personal stash.

As you can see there are two tapers - one at 37.75" and the other at 39".

 

[Thundar]

I have Black Beauties on several basses, both 34 and 35, and I just checked mine..my first taper starts right at the tuner peg, so the actual regular part of the string never even touches the tuner peg...no fat wraps on mine. I also use the 130 B string

 

[HaphAsSard]

I have Black Beauties on several basses, both 34 and 35, and I just checked mine..my first taper starts right at the tuner peg, so the actual regular part of the string never even touches the tuner peg...no fat wraps on mine. I also use the 130 B string

That means your Black-Beautied 34" basses are strung through the body, and your 35" ones are, well, 35". Right?

 

[Thundar]

That means your Black-Beautied 34" basses are strung through the body, and your 35" ones are, well, 35". Right?

LOL...no, I dont string anything thru the body, and the only one I could string thru the body is my Sire P10...and it has black beauties on it actually lol....all my Spectors have em too (34"), and most of my Peavey Cirrrus's (35").

 

[yodedude2]

this will look awkward, but it will function well...one could place a hollow brass spacer around the string behind the bridge to mimic the length effect of a string-thru-body approach.

 

[coy garcia]

I think your good. Floppy feeling B strings are a common nature of the beast and one of the reasons I went back to 4's

 

[HaphAsSard]

LOL...no, I dont string anything thru the body, and the only one I could string thru the body is my Sire P10...and it has black beauties on it actually lol....all my Spectors have em too (34"), and most of my Peavey Cirrrus's (35").

OK. we're getting somewhere. Let's leave aside the 35". Can you measure the distance between ball-end and 1st tuner on your Black-Beautied, top-loaded 34" basses? They either have significantly long paths between string anchoring and 1st post, or you got Black Beauty low Bs that are shorter than those shown in this thread. Both alternatives would be of note, but we still don't know which is the case.

 

[yodedude2]

lowend1 said: ↑
There is ALWAYS a need to be a wise ass.
And no: "ineffable" does not mean "very ugly".

interrupting this thread to say: you make me laugh ~ heh heh heh

and now, back to your regular thread ...

 

[Thundar]

OK. we're getting somewhere. Let's leave aside the 35". Can you measure the distance between ball-end and 1st tuner on your Black-Beautied, top-loaded 34" basses? They either have significantly long paths between string anchoring and 1st post, or you got Black Beauty low Bs that are shorter than those shown in this thread. Both alternatives would be of note, but we still don't know which is the case.

Will do...I have the Sire here close at hand and I will measure in a bit

 

[Thundar]

Ok so on the Sire P10 the distance from ball end to B string tuner is right at 38" and yes there IS a about 1/2 a wrap of the thick string at the base of that tuner. The E string is right at 40" (sorry I have terrible eyes and its kinda dark in my den so I can't give exact measurements), and there is no thick string wrap on that tuner..it appears that the second taper begins right before it hits the tuner on this string. Hope this helps.
As for the strings, they are the standard Black beauty 45's but I add the 130 Tapered B string to all my 5 string basses, as the retail set of 5 string Black Beauties with the 130Tapered B string has a 50 G string which is a bit too thick for my tastes, so I just buy the Tapered B string seperately.

 

[Thundar]

FYI...for those of you that are Black Beauty fans, the Rotosound Nexus black coated strings are even better! They are more expensive, but they are hex core so they are more taut, and they sound like a set of SS Rotos with just a bit of the crispy top end shaved off....I friggin love those

 

[vindibona1]

OK... Here we go.
First, the first set I had must have had a defective low B string. That first low B was floppy, even flacid when brought up to pitch which was extremely upsetting and confusing. When I change strings I do one at a time so as to try to keep the neck relief as stable as possible to minimize changes after the full set is changed out.

The replacement low B appears to be the same length as original But I said "what the heck" threw caution to the wind and decided to try to string my Yamaha anyway. I got that low B strung up and it was totally different than the first set. This one tuned up nicely which was a relief. The rest of the set installed as I would have hoped.

So on the strings went. Tuned it up. Plugged it in. And scarrily my $600 Yamaha sounded a LOT like my Sandberg which was exponentially more expensive. But the saving grace of the Sandberg was, that in spite of almost identical physical specs it just plays easier. I have to believe it was the Plek job that Sandberg does. At some point I might splurge the $250 and get the Yamaha Plek'd. And perhaps part of the equation too was the Sandberg strings are .040-.128 as opposed to .045-.130. Still the Yamaha plays really, really well and sounds really great. It's just that the Sandberg is better. [I've worked really hard on my bass playing and feel I deserve it ]

 

[Thundar]

OK... Here we go.
First, the first set I had must have had a defective low B string. That first low B was floppy, even flacid when brought up to pitch which was extremely upsetting and confusing. When I change strings I do one at a time so as to try to keep the neck relief as stable as possible to minimize changes after the full set is changed out.

The replacement low B appears to be the same length as original But I said "what the heck" threw caution to the wind and decided to try to string my Yamaha anyway. I got that low B strung up and it was totally different than the first set. This one tuned up nicely which was a relief. The rest of the set installed as I would have hoped.

So on the strings went. Tuned it up. Plugged it in. And scarrily my $600 Yamaha sounded a LOT like my Sandberg which was exponentially more expensive. But the saving grace of the Sandberg was, that in spite of almost identical physical specs it just plays easier. I have to believe it was the Plek job that Sandberg does. At some point I might splurge the $250 and get the Yamaha Plek'd. And perhaps part of the equation too was the Sandberg strings are .040-.128 as opposed to .045-.130. Still the Yamaha plays really, really well and sounds really great. It's just that the Sandberg is better. [I've worked really hard on my bass playing and feel I deserve it ]

View attachment 4995593

Awesome! Glad you got it worked out! That Yammy is sweet and I have no doubt it sounds killer with the Black Beauties! Congrats