I've got some updates.
The SIT Power Steel strings arrived. I had a doofus moment in that I went outside to check the mail early in the day after seeing the mail lady drive away, saw my neighbor, started chatting, and totally forgot to check the mail.
At 11:30pm I checked the order status and it showed delivered. I couldn't wait, so I ended up staying up till 2:00am stringing, then playing the bass. I am working today, but work swing shift, so I still got plenty of sleep.
These are the strings.
After installing them, here's what I noticed.
First of all, the advertising on the the site mentions that all strings are wound. However, upon opening the box I realised that the .018 G octave strings are plain, which is clearly stated on the packaging.
That's not an issue for me, at all.
It had been pointed out that perhaps the strings would not be long enough to use on the bass. I can happily attest to the fact that they are plenty long, and needed trimming before being installed.
On that note, something to point out is that the string posts for the main strings are not very tall, so it was quite tricky to measure correctly, cut, then wrap to get enough wraps on the post for stability, without the string bottoming out on the post, thus getting jammed up on the tuning post mounting nut. It basically took me quite a few tries on each string to get the correct length. I made sure to take my time because I'm notorious at accidentally cutting strings too short.
Here's an important thing I found with these strings installed.
There is much more tension on the neck as compared to the original strings. If you remember, because of the odd gauges of the original strings, it had 2 strings tuned to the normal note, and one octave string, as opposed to these SIT strings (and all other brands of 12 string strings) having 2 octave strings. With the bass tuned up, it put a noticeable front bow in the neck. I still haven't had a chance to do a set-up, so I can't yet say if the truss rod will take care of it.
I wonder if the SIT Nickel strings are lower tension? I doubt it but, if anyone does know for sure, please share that info. Or of another brand that are lower tension than SIT.
Another difference with installing these strings vs the wonky originals is that the ball ends are bigger, so there is a serious cluster-@$&^ going on at the string retainer by the bridge. Yikes! It actually made me laugh at how absurd it is. At the same time, I do find it oddly beautiful.
If you notice, the A, D, and G have the main string ball end sitting (mostly) in the hole, and the octave string ball ends piled up behind it. I couldn't get this to happen with the E string due to the thicker diameter of all of the strings. I don't know if this affects the tuneability, or stability of the strings staying in tune. They're still stretching, so I can't comment on that, yet.
Lastly, but not leastly
The most important bit of info I have to share is that, with the extra tension on the neck, the posts of the string retainer started to pull out of the body. At least, I think they did, because I don't remember them being that way previously.
I find it pretty concerning. It would appear that, at the very least, a different string retainer is in order (see the the thread posts above between myself and Brad from Lowe's Custom Guitars regarding an more appropriate string retainer and bridge). Once I do a setup and try out my experiment to see just how off the intonation is due to all three strings sitting on one saddle, I'll then decide whether or not I will also buy the bridge he mentioned. I'm pretty sure I will be.
Once I have time to do a set-up, I'll report back on how the bass handled it.
I'd like to wish everyone happy, and healthy holidays, and a very Merry Christmas to all that celebrate. Cheers!
