Pyramid Gold 640 Short Scale - Will they fit a regular SS?

[Just Wrong]

Hello,

I purchased a 30-inch scale Fender MusicMaster (top loaded) on Reverb yesterday, and I was wondering if the Pyramid Gold 640 Short Scale strings will fit it or if they're specifically made for Hofner basses?

I asked Pyramid, and they asked me to measure the instrument (fair enough, but I don't have the instrument yet). They said

Short Scale

76 cm / 30”

Distance from ball-end to silk „wound length“ = 84,5 cm/33.27“

Does anyone know if those will fit a regular 30-inch scale bass or should I look elsewhere?

Thanks!

 

[michael_t]

33.27" in winding length... That's longer than the standard "short scale" strings, which are typically 32" - 32.5" in winding length. That means there is a likelihood some of the full winding on the E string will end up wrapping around the tuner post when top-loaded on the Fender. Whether or not that's detrimental with these specific strings, I don't know.

 

[iiipopes]

Let us all repeat the mantra:
1) measure from the string anchor to the tuner side of the nut;
2) measure from the string anchor to the center of the lowest string tuner post;
3) purchase a set of strings that the winding/speaking length is between these two measurements.

I suggest for this top-load bass GHS Balanced Nickels in short scale, because from experience they are consistent with the mantra. In addition, they have great, big, tone that when it settles in takes on some of that organic, woody, goodness of "golden era" Fender strings, they are absolutely consistent, as the name suggests, from top to bottom and up the neck, they are the correct tension: not too floppy, not too stiff, so they hold tune and intonation; they are relatively inexpensive; and they last a long, long, long time.

 

[Just Wrong]

Let us all repeat the mantra:
1) measure from the string anchor to the tuner side of the nut;
2) measure from the string anchor to the center of the lowest string tuner post;
3) purchase a set of strings that the winding/speaking length is between these two measurements.

I suggest for this top-load bass GHS Balanced Nickels in short scale, because from experience they are consistent with the mantra. In addition, they have great, big, tone that when it settles in takes on some of that organic, woody, goodness of "golden era" Fender strings, they are absolutely consistent, as the name suggests, from top to bottom and up the neck, they are the correct tension: not too floppy, not too stiff, so they hold tune and intonation; they are relatively inexpensive; and they last a long, long, long time.

I'm actually unsure about strings. I asked for suggestions in the MusicMaster thread, but I could ask here as well. Essentially, I'm looking for a vintage vibe. My thoughts were:

- D'Addario tape wounds
- Pyramid flats, but I guess not... maybe La bella
- dead DR Sunbeams
- GHS Balanced Nickels - I keep hearing good things about them.

Any other suggestions?

 

[iiipopes]

I'm actually unsure about strings. I asked for suggestions in the MusicMaster thread, but I could ask here as well. Essentially, I'm looking for a vintage vibe. My thoughts were:

- D'Addario tape wounds
- Pyramid flats, but I guess not... maybe La bella
- dead DR Sunbeams
- GHS Balanced Nickels - I keep hearing good things about them.

Any other suggestions?

You can't get any more "vintage vibe" than you can with the GHS Balanced Nickels. I have these on my travel bass which is essentially a generic Mustang, upgraded with a Nordy Mustang bass pickup and these strings. We cover a lot of Rolling Stones. Everyone, both band and fans, have told me I perfectly nail the Bill Wyman vibe from when he used a Mustang bass from 1969-1971.

 

[GwenOnBass]

Respective of "will they fit ..." (correctly answered in post 3 ), I play both Pyramid Gold flatwounds and (as @iiipopes recommends) GHS Balanced Nickels on short scales, and can speak to both.

Selected the Pyramids for my ES-335 style semi-hollowbody after no few years of trials, and there they stay for the full-on Chas Chandler territory. The bass is wired with a DPDT push/pull potientiometer. It has one cap in down position, and when pulled up, it adds a second cap in parallel. Since they are .047 Orange Drops, it becomes ~0.094 µF when pulled for full-on dub territory.

The Pyramids take a long time to settle in. Once they do, though (it takes way longer than I imagined!) YEAH. There's a TB'r here who has not changed his Pyramid Golds in more than 20 years. He's got a new set and just can't pull trigger. lol.

A spare set of GHS Balanced Nickels is always in the string larder for the Nordy Cat bass. I change them (oh maybe) every eight months or a year for no good reason. Haven't killed a set dead yet. This is the bass and these are the strings I take to Ari Cap's Jamerson June & July. With the deep tone cut, and the NordyMute, the tone is there. The Jamerson feel is strictly my responsibility (and that's the part that counts IMO)