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Help! Flat Wounds For Gibson SG Short Scale?

Stewie26

Stewie26

Feb 15, 2012
1,557
13,571
Redondo Beach-Palos Verdes, California
#1
I just purchased my first Gibson bass. It is the SG with a 30-1/2 inch neck. I play in a classic rock band. My style is about half fingering and half picking. I want to try out flat wounds cause all of the good things I hear about them on TB. I just talked with "Bass Strings On Line" and ordered the TI 34 inch, 106 gage flat wound strings. They are out of stock and will not be able to ship for about 10 days. In the meant time, they said if I changed my mind I could order some other type string. I would just like to get some opinions and make sure I choosing the right strings for the Gibson. I have always been a Fender guy and the Gibson short scale gig is all new to me.

Thanks.
 

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#2
Don't buy 34 inch scale strings for a short scale bass. I had to do it in a pinch and it was hard to fit them in the tuners.

Labella should have a dedicated short scale set. Be aware, however, that flats might be too dark for your taste with the gibson sound. Don't let that dissuade you from trying though!
 
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#5
CnB77 said:
Don't buy 34 inch scale strings for a short scale bass. I had to do it in a pinch and it was hard to fit them in the tuners.

Labella should have a dedicated short scale set. Be aware, however, that flats might be too dark for your taste with the gibson sound. Don't let that dissuade you from trying though!
Click to expand...

The 34" measurement is the length from ball end to silk.

T-I long scale strings have a 37" winding ball to silk.

I made a mistake... The JF324 Jazz Flats actually measure 36" Ball end to Silk.
 
#6
Stewie26 said:
... and ordered the TI 34 inch, 106 gage flat wound strings. ...
Click to expand...

They are too long for that bass. TI makes a medium scale variant that will fit better.

Despite of that i do not like TIs on these basses (mine is a short scale Epiphone EB-3 which is heavily modified and in direct comparison at least competes with the SG bass):

a) the woody tone of the TI flats does not harmonize (IMO) well with the sound of the SG (the TI flats are great on my fretless basses with PJ and MM PUs).

b) the TI flats as well as the Jazz rounds oscillate with large excursion, especially when the scale blength and hence string tension is reduced. Therefore the achievable string height is less comfortable.

Strings that i like on this type of basses:

Pyramid Pure Nickel Round Wound, both in 0.040 and in 0.045 - IMO the string of choice if You prefer rounds.
D'Addario Half rounds (ENR71S - i currently play these)
Some nice black nylons will also sound great.

Strings i did not try but would:

D'Addario Chromes
GHS Brite flats
GHS Pressure Wounds

Any dark sounding flatwound (Pyramid Gold...) will probably be great if You need only that dark tone the Gibson designers seemed to have hat in mind.
 
#9
BEWARE!!!! if you get the wrong strings, you'll get too much silk winding at the ball end, and it will extend beyond the saddles causing intonation problems.

I can not for sure remember exactly which brands have the silk on that end - but I know labella deep talkin' do not - just metal.

Labella deep talkin' is my default brand for short scale Gibsons - and I thoroughly recommend them - I do use other brands - but have had to remove silk in the past.
 
#11
The Pyramid (rounds) do not have silk, and the usable string end of the (most critical) E sits just in position of the saddle.

You can always add a small spacer to the bridge. Easiest is a nut for M5 or the closest inch based size fiddled on the string before mounting it. Better is a bar (Tele bridge saddle with widened hole).

The best solution IMO is the Hipshot supertone bridge, AFAIK the only bridge upgrade which can be mounted without modifying the instrument permanently.
 
#12
I tried Labella short scale flatwounds on my EB-3 and SG basses with very bad luck. The E string sounds muted and the strings break very easy. Pyramids are a bit more money but have a better tone on a Gibson bass than the Labella strings. I get that classic Jack Bruce sound with the Pyramids and you can bend them all you want without fear of them breaking.
 
#14
i bought a lebella tapewound B string, and it fell apart, got d'aderio and they work iust fine, and fender tape wound on a p bass,and they work great, fender's are cheaper, had bought for over a month and no problems
 
#16
I have a Gibson SG short scale, I have a Hipshot Bridge on this bass, I bought the LaBella Deep Talkin Bass flatwound short scale strings and on two of the strings the silk is touching the nut they are actually useable but too short, You need 32" ball to silk strings which are medium scale, the short scale LaBellas are too short for the Gibson SG,

I have edited this post with the correct info my statement on this post saying "you need 32" ball to silk" is incorrect, you need 34" ball to silk to clear the nut

thanks slapinfunk you are correct, I think the hipshot only added about a quarter inch in length but on a Gibson SG mediums scale is just about right
 
#17
La Bella's Measure

32" Ball to Silk is Short Scale
34" Ball to Silk is Medium Scale
37" Ball to Silk is Long Scale
38" Ball to Silk is Extra Long Scale

Could it be the aftermarket bridge is changing the required length?

What is the measurement from the back of the ball end to just past the nut with the Hipshot on the SG?
 

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