Moving strings from one bass to another?

[tzohn]

Done it countless times, no problem if follow what already posted above. Also don't set the witness points.

 

[mikewalker]

Can be done, though it's better to do this with a quick release (aka quick load) bridge, since you don't have to uncoil the entire string to remove it.

I have gone to "quick-release" bridges pretty much exclusively - just for gaining the ability to play around with lots of different string sets

 

[maple_machine]

I have gone to "quick-release" bridges pretty much exclusively - just for gaining the ability to play around with lots of different string sets

My first bass had one, and I never knew how cool that was until I got a Jazz ^^

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

Hey Bass community!
I have to change strings on my J, so I thought trying flats since it currently sounds really good with 3 year old completely dead rounds... Now the rust is becoming a bit too much and I feel she wants some new strings.

However I'm not sure if the flats will actually suit her, so I thought - If they don't, can I remove the relatively fresh rounds that are currently on my Pbass, put them on the J and vice versa (put the brand new flats on the P)? Because my P is kindof my second Bass and it will surely be good with flats for what I use it for....

I asked my guitar tech he said "Not recommended whatsoever". But it's hard to know with him cause he's an extremeeee pedantic guitar doctor type dude... So I wanted to see what other people think


Thanks :-D

The bridge and nut are likely not the same and most likely have imprinted an impression into the string making intonation somewhat difficult.

If you know you like dead strings, why not hang a set or two opened and extended in a safe place like a closet to artificially "age" them?

 

[edencab]

just don't go from 4 side tuners to a 3+1 style and cut the string to fit, like someone I know...you can't go back the other way

 

[BAG]

As others have noted, just be careful that you don't twist the string. That'll kill it quickly.

 

[2saddleslab]

If the scale, bridge and tuner configuration is a match, you are good to go. Assuming you have a Fender J & Fender P it should be quite a painless swap. Just top load or string-thru the body based on how the STRINGS were originally installed. Rule of thumb is you should always top-load flats as they don't like the sharp angle of most string-thru-body bridges. Rounds can go either way but if you move them from a string-thru bass, it's best they go back on string-thru.

Don't know why it wouldn't be recommended other than it's likely that you may need to tweak the truss rod as a result of differing string tension. If you can do that, you're covered. I have done this where there was no tweaking necessary so it's not always an issue.

Go for it!

Over 3 decades of flats of almost every brand and gauge strung thru the body and never a problem. Top loaders love to repeat this for some reason but it just ain’t true. Can you find an example of broken string on such a combo? Sure. But I've only broken 2 strings all these years and both were on top load bridges.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

I’ve done it quite a bit. I’ve only ever had a single issue, which was of my own doing. But, one time out of probably 30+ or so is a good record. They had been on three separate basses, taken off and on probably ten times before they failed.

It is especially not a problem when going from a 34” 4-in-line to a 34” 4-in-line.

 

[Machiavelli]

Ya, nbd.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

Over 3 decades of flats of almost every brand and gauge strung thru the body and never a problem. Top loaders love to repeat this for some reason but it just ain’t true. Can you find an example of broken string on such a combo? Sure. But I've only broken 2 strings all these years and both were on top load bridges.

It isn’t “recommended”. I’ve done it, had no issues. They can take a pretty good angle in my experience. The trick is to mitigate the possibility of that flat ribbon from sliding up its neighbor. And, once it’s on, best to just leave it, but I’ve also removed them and reinstalled without a problem. Setting intonation seems to cause no problems either.

I will say that watching that ribbon wire separate while tuning up makes me a little anxious. So, I see why it’s not recommended, but there are a lot of things that aren’t recommended that seem to work out fine.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

A quick-release bridge makes this a cinch:

B100 bridge

• Killed_by_Death
• Jun 21, 2019
• b100 bridge ibanez

This is the GSR100 body with a quick-release B100 bridge.
It's a direct replacement for the...

 

[two fingers]

I have a set of Chromes on one of my P basses that has been on that bass, to a Jazz, to another P bass, back to this bass, to another P bass for a recording, and now back to this one. And they're STILL in need of a little breaking in.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Hey Bass community!
I have to change strings on my J, so I thought trying flats since it currently sounds really good with 3 year old completely dead rounds... Now the rust is becoming a bit too much and I feel she wants some new strings.

However I'm not sure if the flats will actually suit her, so I thought - If they don't, can I remove the relatively fresh rounds that are currently on my Pbass, put them on the J and vice versa (put the brand new flats on the P)? Because my P is kindof my second Bass and it will surely be good with flats for what I use it for....

I asked my guitar tech he said "Not recommended whatsoever". But it's hard to know with him cause he's an extremeeee pedantic guitar doctor type dude... So I wanted to see what other people think


Thanks :-D

I swap strings left and right all the time. No worries, no problems.

 

[southpaw723]

I’ve had my current pair of flats on four different basses

 

[bumperbass]

I do it all the time as well. I am very careful to not undo the natural winding of the strings.
To do this, I thread the string around the tuning post (after bridge, of course). As I do this I am careful to let the string find its own twist at the bridge. Before I tighten the string completely,
I check the ball end to see if it's floating, indicating the string's not twisted.

 

[Manticore]

No reason why it can't be done, and no reason why it should...

 

[ashtray]

If both basses have the same bridge, it can work. (If one is a top loader and the other a string thru body, it will leave a nasty kink in the string.)

If both basses have identical bridges, it might even be easier to swap the bridges with the strings still on them - since getting the strings off the tuners is easy to reinstall, but feeding the strings thru the bridge twice can cause issues.

I put wrapped strings on my J bass, and I absolutely hated them. They were expensive strings. I moved them to my fretless, and they were amazing there.

 

[Andy Daventry]

I've been swapping strings around for forty years. I never realised there could be problems with it.

 

[thatbassguyrob]

I have a set of TI flats that have been on 4 different basses at this point. Ive done the same with several sets of rounds, to see what they sound like on multiple basses. Granted they have all been Fenders so the fit is basically identical.

I make sure to not uncoil the tuner ends more then necessary, and so far I haven't had any problems.

+1 on this advice - but interested what are the TI brand, given they gonna be around for a while, why not get the goods - thanks in advance

 

[jchrisk1]

+1 on this advice - but interested what are the TI brand, given they gonna be around for a while, why not get the goods - thanks in advance

I've done it with both jazz flats, and jazz rounds.
The only problem I've had is the silks getting damaged on one set of flats that got swapped A LOT.