I had the same issue with my Preicsions. I contacted DR and they said it won't damage the string if the fat part of the string wraps partially around the tuning peg.
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E string is too long for Fender Jazz
- Thread starter seracis
- Start date
What he said, if it was a legit problem, string companies wouldn't make them like this.
In fact the guy at DR jokingly said if there strings didn't fit on 34" scale basses they would be out of business!
I once had a problem with DR strings (the E string) but it was the inverse problem: the string as too small... well, the string was long enough but the fat part was too short...
Thank you dystopiate, Low Main and others who see the problem. I know how to change strings. But several other posts had said that a flatwound string could break if the wound portion was bent too far, so I didn't want that to happen. I guess a string-thru upgrade is the best/only option I have. I will be contacting Fender Monday. I may not get an answer that suits me, but I want them to know that I will not be buying anything else with the Fender name, including strings.
I am going to string it with the DR's and pray that the string either breaks immediately or kinks and works just fine. I'm taking the Fender strings back and get D' Addarios I guess. From now on I'll be measuring the strings right there in the store.
**Note to self-- E string must be 36.5" (not 38") from ferrule to end of taper.**
I am going to string it with the DR's and pray that the string either breaks immediately or kinks and works just fine. I'm taking the Fender strings back and get D' Addarios I guess. From now on I'll be measuring the strings right there in the store.
**Note to self-- E string must be 36.5" (not 38") from ferrule to end of taper.**
String through is a harsher bend than this, if you believe this to be a problem, string through would actualy be worse, not better.
Oh, FWIW, I use flats all the time, I use ones that the final wind goes past the tuner on the E's, never break, in about three years of using heavy flats, never broken, not once, not even the sets that have been on that long.
Fender have been in the buisness long enough, I think they know how to make strings that fit their own basses.
I guess you're right on all points. No string-thru, no phone call to Fender, no worries about string-bendation. Thanks to everyone here for their input. Sorry for the rantings. Just at the end of a long, not-so-good week. Should not have taken my frustrations out on everyone here. My sincerest apologies.
I know having silk wraps through the nut & towards the first fret is "too short",
but when the winding length goes over the machine head post, does this kink
the inner core in a bad way, or am I just overthinking it?
but when the winding length goes over the machine head post, does this kink
the inner core in a bad way, or am I just overthinking it?
My understanding is that many flats are not meant to be strung thru body, but that DR's are fine to string thru body.
I think adding a little spacer on the back of the bridge is probably a better solution than drilling holes through your bass (unless you want to do some serious mods).
Let me know how it goes with the stringing. When I couldn't put the Smith .125 on my fretless, I couldn't get the tuner (gotoh GB variety) to wind the string very well even with a fair amount of force, and the string would slip off of my fairly deeply cut nut as it approached the proper pitch.
A couple of people seem to have indicated that they successfully strung up their basses in spite of the tapering issue. I had no such luck. Perhaps the Fender-style tuners will be easier to manage.
FWIW, I've been stringing up my own basses for over a decade and can't imagine why everyone would have so much faith in string or manufacturers. I've seen plenty of mistakes in their literature and plenty of oversights (most recently I discovered that D'Addario's literature says that their long scale strings can be used on a 35" scale bass -- not so). Even if it's possible to jam the tapered end around the post, why should you have to? Call me idealistic or elitist or whatever, but that just seems like s#!% to me.
I have the same problem with my american standard Jazz, I can string it through the body fine, but the E is too long if strung thru the bridge option. That's because the bridge is moved a tad closer to the nut in that model. I have not found an E string that would not involve wrapping the fat part of the string around the post, so I just leave them thru the body 
I've never had one break, but I've had one that was incapable of being tuned up without slipping off of the nut. It's my only experience with a string that was tapered in such a fashion.
Frankly, I'd have been less miffed if it had just snapped in two.
On a side-note, it's a shame that there was enough belligerence to cause seracis to abandon the thread, likely without a solution. I'm glad my first experiences with TB were quite different, and not marred by a handful of keyboard cowboys.
I have two basses with Gotoh style tuners strung up this way as we speak, have been with ages, no breaks, no tuning issues.
Way late, but come on. This is a real issue on all J and P basses. 37"....37.5" is the new standard winding length. The length from back of bridge (ball end) to the E tuning post is 36". That means the taper and/or silk is PAST the E tuning post. The meat of the string is wrapped around the tuning post.
Every string manufacture web site stats only the taper or silk should be wrapped. Yet they do not make a shaging E string that meets there own recommendation.
The old standard worked. The new does not.
Unless you happen to have through body option, then everything is fine.
I dont understand why the standard winding lenght was changed when what, over 50% of the market (p and j's) share of basses requires a shorter winding lenght.
My Elite jazz is strung through body. My 98 epi ripper is fine since the length to the E peg is over 37". My Am Perf P bass is not. Meat of string is wrapped. It looks like crap, sounds like crap, and E wont stay in tune. Same strings on all 3. The E string is notably poopie sounding compared to the others. No matter what brand i try, E sounds like crap and wont stay in tune.
Not true... La Bella is the only company I know of who explicitly warns on their website against the full winding wrapping around the post. And that only applies to their flats.
I've had GHS Precision Flatwound E string (38" winding) wrap around the post with no issues.
True. Here is from the GHS website, since you mentioned thrm.
To find the winding length for your instrument, measure from the ball end of the bridge to just past the nut (ideally, between the nut and the closest tuning peg to the nut). Any string with a winding length that falls within that measurement will work well. Too short and you risk having the silked/tapered end over the nut and into the first fret; too long and the "meat" of the string will wrap around the tuner, which can compromise the string. For your information, here are the winding lengths of all GHS strings.
- Short Scale = 32" Winding Length
- Medium Scale = 34.5" Winding Length
- Standard Long Scale = 36.5" Winding Length
- Universal Long Scale = 37.25" Winding Length
- Long Scale Plus / Extra Long Scale = 38" Winding Length
Thanks for the info.
I should point out some of the info is outdated by several years.
GHS Short Scale should read 32.75".
GHS Medium Scale should read 35.5".
