Made a mess of a string change…

[Bassray_82]

Hey everyone need a bit of advice and apologies for being dumb…

After having a set of roundiwounds on for over nine years I decided to swap them out for a set of Earnie ball slinky cobalt flats. Changed my strings like normal however I’ve cut the ends of the D and G strings a bit too short and they are only wrapped around the tuning peg once.

Now the D string is holding its tune and intonation fine, G strings tunes fine open but is sharp on the 12th.

Before I get another set flat should I do anything to get the intonation sorted or should it be fine with a new string on it?

Cheers!

 

[jeff62]

It’ll be fine as is, most likely. Feel free to adjust the intonation using the saddle screw on the G. You want to move the saddle away from the neck.

And the proper way to check intonation is not using the open tuning. Tune your string using the harmonic at the 12th fret. Then lightly fret the string to check if intonation is correct. If intonation is sharp, do as above. If flat, move the saddle towards the neck. Retune & recheck until correct intonation is achieved.

 

[jthisdell]

The problem with cutting strings too short and not enough wraps around the tuning peg is that the string will want to go badly flat and/or slip off the tuning peg. If that happens you are out of luck.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Hey everyone need a bit of advice and apologies for being dumb…

After having a set of roundiwounds on for over nine years I decided to swap them out for a set of Earnie ball slinky cobalt flats. Changed my strings like normal however I’ve cut the ends of the D and G strings a bit too short and they are only wrapped around the tuning peg once.

Now the D string is holding its tune and intonation fine, G strings tunes fine open but is sharp on the 12th.

Before I get another set flat should I do anything to get the intonation sorted or should it be fine with a new string on it?

Cheers!

Two things:

*You're not supposed to cut Cobalt Flats. They use a convoluted install process...should be a flash card in the package.

*If the string is holding, it has nothing to do with intonation. Just toggle the saddle backwards to spec.

Riis

 

[sawzalot]

The intonation change is because you went from rounds to flats, not because you only have one wrap around the tuner. Have the bridge re intimated and you should be good.

 

[MCF]

Hey everyone need a bit of advice and apologies for being dumb…

After having a set of roundiwounds on for over nine years I decided to swap them out for a set of Earnie ball slinky cobalt flats. Changed my strings like normal however I’ve cut the ends of the D and G strings a bit too short and they are only wrapped around the tuning peg once.

Now the D string is holding its tune and intonation fine, G strings tunes fine open but is sharp on the 12th.

Before I get another set flat should I do anything to get the intonation sorted or should it be fine with a new string on it?

Cheers!

Those require a different wrap on the tuner posts. Did you follow the instructions on the package?

 

[retslock]

Tuner peg winding doesn't affect intonation. The string may slip though affecting tuning. If the string slips, re-tune. If it keeps happening and doesn't settle you may have to replace it.

See Jeff62's intonation adjustment advice.

 

[AaronBass4]

You might also check the neck relief. If the new flats are higher in tension that could result in more relief which will result in higher action which can lead to sharper fretted notes . . . but that wouldn't be just the G-string I would think.

 

[kyral210]

You need a proper setup! If a easy to do:
- neck relief around .25mm at the 8th fret
- action around 6/64 at the 17th fret
- intonate to pitch

 

[J Wilson]

82, a bit of background:

Any time you change strings, everything changes with it UNLESS you are installing a new set of what is on there now.

The roundwounds you ran for nine years: Whatever gages they were (let's say the typical 45-105 set), that set would adjust out slightly differently from one brand to the next even in the exact same gages.

And that same roundwound set will be different if you install flats where they are all exactly the same sizes.

Even with the same size strings, each brand to the next will always adjust out a bit differently. May not be a big difference, but if setting your string lengths (the exact locating of each bridge saddle to play in tune the length of the neck) with an electronic tuner you can see it, some big enough cases with good ears you'll hear it.

Don't sweat it. If I had not put new strings on in nine years (!), I'd be a little rusty too.

 

[JazzEnjoer]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you should cut flats. Besides that, the intonation issue is probably much more related to the change of tension in the neck due to the flats being more stiff than rounds

 

[KohanMike]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you should cut flats. Besides that, the intonation issue is probably much more related to the change of tension in the neck due to the flats being more stiff than rounds

I always heard the same thing, never cut flats before installing. I also understand that three wraps are minimum to get enough break from the nut.

 

[Ritter667]

You don't cut flats to size!

Hex core roundwounds you can cut as you like, as long as you make a sharp 90 degree bend bellow the cutting point before cutting.

Cutting flatwound strings however is the recipe to ruining the strings.

 

[michael_t]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you should cut flats...

I always heard the same thing, never cut flats before installing...

Not true... Flats or not, strings need to be cut down to size so you end up with around 3 wraps around the post.

Not like this...

That said, the instruction not to cut down has specifically to do with the Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats the OP is talking about. They're supposed to be installed in a specific way to avoid slippage at the post according to the special instruction that comes in the package.

 

[happygilmour]

EB Cobalt flats are still too long to install without cutting them. That card doesn't say not to cut them. Also go to EB's site and order the strings. There's a link to installations instructions. It says to trim the strings 4" past tuner.

 

[logdrum]

The G silk is likely to unravel. Some batches unravel regardless

 

[Dan_reeves]

Just a heads up in case you didn’t already know this - some retailers will sell you single strings. So in theory you could buy just a D&G and reinstall. This way you don’t have to get a complete set. Ernie Ball might even send you some if you reach out to their customer service.