String thru or bridge, I believe, makes no difference to the sound. ... And if it did all basses would be string thru.
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Fender bass guys with flats, string through the body or bridge?
- Thread starter MrRiff
- Start date
I’ve done it both ways with rounds and flats. Make zero difference in the sound so use whichever is most convenient for you. Nowadays I top string.
It’d probably be best to leave well enough alone. There’s no advantage to restringing it. And there’s always the chance you might damage a string by doing do.
And as someone mentioned in an earlier post, if you’ve already set the witness point it definitely wouldn’t be a good idea to restring it.
It’d probably be best to leave well enough alone. There’s no advantage to restringing it. And there’s always the chance you might damage a string by doing do.
And as someone mentioned in an earlier post, if you’ve already set the witness point it definitely wouldn’t be a good idea to restring it.
I always string through the body if that option is available, regardless of what strings I'm using. Mostly to keep the body ferrules from falling out.
I wonder just how damaging going thru the body is for Fender basses, The strings run through the body but don't they pull through the body and sit with the ball end just under the bridge plate? If they are already installed , I would leave them alone and just use the bass. It is probably going to be fine.
I know from first-hand experience that GHS Precision flats, DR Legends, D'addario Chromes, and TI Jazz flats will all survive through body stringing.
I've strung EB Cobalt flats through the body on my Fender Jazz and never had any problems. I've removed them and restrung them a few times and had no problems at all.
String through is fine. I've never broken a string at the ferrule side. Flats in general are a bit more delicate, so once they're strung up I don't remove unless really necessary - I don't usually move flats from bass to bass either. They're prone to unwinding if you do monkey with them, but usually for me those breaks are around the tuning posts.
I recently moved a low B from strung-through to top-loaded due to intonation issues. It has a permanent kink in it but other than that it's holding up fine. Its a LaBella 760FL tapered B.
I recently moved a low B from strung-through to top-loaded due to intonation issues. It has a permanent kink in it but other than that it's holding up fine. Its a LaBella 760FL tapered B.
No. There are metal ferrules in the body that the strings go through. The ferrules are sized such that the ball end can’t go through.
You'll hear this nonsense about string thru & flats, usually from those with little to no experience with them in the 1st place. My 38 years have proven to me it's a non issue. That includes LaBella, Fender, Pyramid, GHS [heavy gauge 115-60], and for the last 20 years, TI flats. My only broken string came from a cueball flying off a pool table. And that was a top loader anyway.
I currently have TI JF through body on a 4 string MiA P and no problems at all.
You can’t just say this like you ordered pancakes for breakfast and no further details needed!
Come on now. Story?
This was many years ago when I owned my 1st Fender, a Jazz bass. We had just finished our 1st set and I put my bass on a stand. A cueball came flying over from a nearby pool table and hit the G string right at the 12th fret and broke the string in half. Didn't seem to do any damage to the neck or frets though. It did teach me a valuable early lesson though: bring extra strings!!
This was many years ago when I owned my 1st Fender, a Jazz bass. We had just finished our 1st set and I put my bass on a stand. A cueball came flying over from a nearby pool table and hit the G string right at the 12th fret and broke the string in half. Didn't seem to do any damage to the neck or frets though. It did teach me a valuable early lesson though: bring extra strings!!
Was hoping for "El Kabong" brawl story but that's still remarkable nothing else got damaged.
IME it doesn't matter if the strings go through the body or come out of the bridge. I've tried both several times and haven't noticed significant differences in tone or playing feel.
D
Fender basses have a more than adequate break angle over the saddles when you string through the bridge, which means there really is no advantage of stringing through the body. So why risk it? Many types of flats can handle it but definitely not all.
If Fender basses have an issue with break angle it's the A-string over the nut. The tone of the open A-string on Fender basses can be massively improved with a retainer.
If Fender basses have an issue with break angle it's the A-string over the nut. The tone of the open A-string on Fender basses can be massively improved with a retainer.
Some Fenders do not have a stringed bridge option. I have used Chromes thru the body without issue.
