• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Length of your 'B' String

What Length 'B' String would be best for your Bass

  • Total voters
    146
  • Poll closed .
#41
Great thread/poll! Hope I'm not too late for this party.

I have a handfull of Carvin basses. But I don't have any others to compare them to. I'll chip in with what I got.

Most of Carvin's basses are 34" scale. That's the B, LB, TBS, BB, and AC series.

If they do not have the piezo bridge, they have the option of stringing through the body, or just through the bridge.
If they do have the piezo bridge, then they are through-body only.

I just measured my 34" BB75P. I could get a more accurate measurement if I took the string off. There's a little bit of estimation involved in the through the body part.
It needs 36.25 - 38" from the far end of the ball to the start of the winding.

The XB series has a 35.25" scale. So add an inch and a quarter onto my above mesurement, and it needs 37.5 - 39.25".

So a string that's 37.5 - 38" should work for either. That's cutting it pretty close with your stated 1/4" tolerence.

Then throw into the mix that if someone elects not to string through the body, that takes (my best estimate/measurement) about 3/4" off of that. With a 34" scale, they'd need 35.5 - 37.25".
So any string that's long enough for an XB strung through the body would be too long for an LB strung through the bridge.
I don't know many (any?) Carvin players who string through the bridge when through the body is available. So I don't know how much of a factor this is.

When the XB (35.25") series first came out, there were actually pictures in the catalog with the silk winding out on the fretboard side of the nut. :rollno:

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way involved in building instruments at Carvin or in selecting what strings we will buy. But input from us musician/employees is frequently solicited.
 
#42
My 34" scale length Fodera has an extended B string headstock. The length from ball end to tuning post is 42". I've put your TCRML-6 set on the instrument before and I remember the B string fitting acceptably with two turns on the post. Should I be using a longer string in this case? -Brad
 
#43
VintageBT6Lover said:
My 34" scale length Fodera has an extended B string headstock. The length from ball end to tuning post is 42". I've put your TCRML-6 set on the instrument before and I remember the B string fitting acceptably with two turns on the post. Should I be using a longer string in this case? -Brad
Click to expand...

The most important DOs and Don'ts are, 1) the String MUST clear the Nut and 2) The Winding portion of the String should NOT wrap around the post.

With our Strings the Silk thread covers about 1/4" ot 1/2" of actual winding portion of the String so the silver color should be no closer than 1/2" to the tuner Post. It does not matter how much spread (the tapered end of the string after the winding) is between the Nut and the Post as long as you can get at least 2-3 wraps around the post. I like inserting the String inside the Post and 3 wraps around it.
 
#45
Figjam said:
B string? Is that what kids are calling it these days?
Click to expand...

Kids? :help: Did you get a look at your own profile recently? I have wood in stock older than you!.

B-string or Low B.. It's a 4th below the E-string which is the 2nd thickest/lowest sounding string on a 5,6 or 7-string Bass today for most. :bassist:
 
#48
KSB - Ken Smith said:
The most important DOs and Don'ts are, 1) the String MUST clear the Nut and 2) The Winding portion of the String should NOT wrap around the post.

With our Strings the Silk thread covers about 1/4" ot 1/2" of actual winding portion of the String so the silver color should be no closer than 1/2" to the tuner Post. It does not matter how much spread (the tapered end of the string after the winding) is between the Nut and the Post as long as you can get at least 2-3 wraps around the post. I like inserting the String inside the Post and 3 wraps around it.
Click to expand...
Ken, this thread is old, so I hope you see it. I just got a sadowsky Metro RV5 and I need to know which strings do you know of that will be long enough to clear the nut with the silk, but not so long as to wrap around the post beyond the silk, into the wound area. Like you mentioned right there. In a SS round wound string. I was hoping for lo-riders. Thanks, Dak
 
#49
Mrdak said:
Ken, this thread is old, so I hope you see it. I just got a sadowsky Metro RV5 and I need to know which strings do you know of that will be long enough to clear the nut with the silk, but not so long as to wrap around the post beyond the silk, into the wound area. Like you mentioned right there. In a SS round wound string. I was hoping for lo-riders. Thanks, Dak
Click to expand...

Measure from the ball to the lowest tuner post (B-string). Measure it as I described in your quote. It must clear the nut but not reach the post. Get me those two numbers and I can help you. I can only tell you though which of our strings will fit. I have no idea what the rest of the companies make or the lengths they offer. I can PM you back or you can email me and do it that way.
 
#56
KSB - Ken Smith said:
The most important DOs and Don'ts are, 1) the String MUST clear the Nut and 2) The Winding portion of the String should NOT wrap around the post.

With our Strings the Silk thread covers about 1/4" ot 1/2" of actual winding portion of the String so the silver color should be no closer than 1/2" to the tuner Post. It does not matter how much spread (the tapered end of the string after the winding) is between the Nut and the Post as long as you can get at least 2-3 wraps around the post. I like inserting the String inside the Post and 3 wraps around it.
Click to expand...

Hi again. On my post of many moons ago I mentioned NOT to let the String wrap around the Post.

I did a test not long ago and took a 40" length string and put it on a Smith Bass that measures about 38" before reaching the Post. It went around the Post and I kept turning the key till it was up to pitch. Nothing broke as I played with the strings. Then, I kept tuning it sharper and sharper till finally the string broke.

I had that string way way over tuned and wrapped around the Post at least 2 turns before it snapped. This proved to me that normal roundwounds will not break easily on the tuner post unless you over tighten the string missing the intended pitch.

How many of you have broken a 'B' string while wrapping a longer than desired string around the post before it was tuned to pitch? How many of you have broken it tuning it up and not watching the pitch and over tuning the string?

Now, on other types of winding like the Slick/ground, Compressor/pressed or Flatwound style stings they will most certainly break because they are usually much stiffer. On the other hand, Double Bass Strings rarely break when wound over the Post. This is mainly because of the core NOT being solid but rather strands like a ropecore.

So, tell us your experiences with breakage due to either length, over tuning or both combined..
 
#57
I've never broken a low B from getting the windings on the post or by unknowingly over-shooting the pitch. When I had a seven string, I found it uncommonly easy to break the high F string (of LaBella Hard Rockin' Steels) even when I took my sweet time and approached the pitch very carefully but I've never had any problems with their other guages nor any other manufacturer's 6-string sets for that matter.

I remember that with some of the first batches of KS strings I bought, I would commonly get one or two windings of the B and C string wraps around the post but I don't remember ever breaking any of them. The standard-length strings I've been getting for the last several years fit perfectly. The silk stops right after coming off the post on all but the C string. The C string has about 3/4 to a full turn of the wrap on the post but as your experiment shows, it doesn't seem to have any adverse effect so long as you're paying attention.
 
#58
VintageBT6Lover said:
I've never broken a low B from getting the windings on the post or by unknowingly over-shooting the pitch. When I had a seven string, I found it uncommonly easy to break the high F string (of LaBella Hard Rockin' Steels) even when I took my sweet time and approached the pitch very carefully but I've never had any problems with their other guages nor any other manufacturer's 6-string sets for that matter.

I remember that with some of the first batches of KS strings I bought, I would commonly get one or two windings of the B and C string wraps around the post but I don't remember ever breaking any of them. The standard-length strings I've been getting for the last several years fit perfectly. The silk stops right after coming off the post on all but the C string. The C string has about 3/4 to a full turn of the wrap on the post but as your experiment shows, it doesn't seem to have any adverse effect so long as you're paying attention.
Click to expand...

That's good to know. Thx for the reply. My main effort here is for other brands of Basses that are more plentiful where string requirements are different that my own Basses. I wasn't sure if there was a problem with wrapping the String on the post until I did my own test. I think a lot of the breakage if not most of it is due to a younger 'B'-string user tuning the Bass up to pitch without an Amp or tuner and just over tightening the strings. There are more Basses out there on the lower end of the spectrum with floppy B's that with taught ones and this we know if often the design of the Bass. A player not expecting this may easily just tune by tension and not by Pitch. By the time he realizes his 'B' is up to an 'A' a 7th above but equal tension, the String is already snapping.

I was going all out trying to have at lease 3 sizes of B's in the basic gauges available. I believe that the Gotoh-type tuning gear is about the smallest Post-type we usually see and that's what we use so I don't think the tuner post is to blame.
 
#59
Sidenote: I've currently got a standard long-scale .105 on my "35 BTB555 - which starts tapering 3-4mm before the nut. I'm experiencing no issues with playability or tonality whatsoever. It's not something I'd recommend, due to lack of practical experience, but it works perfectly fine for me, as I don't hear it deviating in any way from the other strings.
 
#60
Great thread from a very knowledgable luthier. I would have to add my observation (after I measured one of my Dingwalls), that the D and especially the G string should have a winding of 36"-36 1/2" in order to properly wind around the tuning post without the outer winding interfering with the post (if we are talking about a set that would be designed to fit Dingwalls)

PS I play Dingwalls too
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back