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shipped with strings tightened

ghostsontheroad

ghostsontheroad

Jul 2, 2010
238
9
St. Louis, IL
#1
I bought a Bass VI instrument off ebay, and the guy shipped it with the strings tuned down about a half-step lower than standard. By tuner was still picking up what the notes were. Is this bad? I've always heard about people loosening string tension when shipping. Anything I have to worry about? Should I leave the strings tight or loosen them for a few hours? It was in the cold on my porch for a couple hours, but was packed well.

Thanks
 
#3
I've had basses shipped fully-tuned, tuned down a step or totally detuned(like almost no tension)- haven't discerned a diff from one to the next aside from needing to retune, which one would likely need to do any way. I've never heard the theory behind the *tune-down-to-ship* argumant.
 
#5
1st - my rule of thumb has been to let a cold instrument come to room temp in it's case. 2nd - some think tuning down is important. I've done it both ways, but Sadowsky and other in-the-know builders ship the bass tuned to standard.
 
#6
I don't get it: your title says the strings were "tightened" and in your post you mention them being tuned down "about a half-step lower than standard". Which is it? In any event, I wouldn't worry - unless your neck looks like a banana...
 
#7
I think the problem is more to do with the instrument potentially getting banged about during shipping and if it's an instrument with a weaker neck (like a Gibson) then there's more possibility of breakage around the headstock if strings tuned to pitch and it takes a heavy knock. Fenders are built like tanks though so I can't see it being a problem. If it plays fine then you're all good.

FWIW, I've had my basses (including my Gibson) throw about by baggage handlers all over the world tuned and un-tuned and never had a problem.
 
#10
The vast majority of basses & guitars Ive bought for myself and others over the past three decades have arrived tuned or very close to. No problem at all. I'm really not sure why the urban myth about loosening strings started. I think originally guitars and basses where shipped with strings a bit loose cause the factory workers simply didnt tune them to pitch cause they wherent supposed to take the time to do that. Inspection of working electronics, tuning gear installation, etc etc didnt require tuned instrument. Sound check person just tested for working pups and electronics. They didnt play music on it for this, just quickly popped a few notes to test for sound making it to output jack and to see that tone controls etc worked. Imo

I do think its a good idea to let it come to room temp if its been in severely cold weather for extended period of time. Take it out of the box or case to inspect for damage etc. Then put back in for half hour to maybe an hour max, or so to more gradually acclimate to the nicer weather inside ones place.
 
#11
darkstorm said:
The vast majority of basses & guitars Ive bought for myself and others over the past three decades have arrived tuned or very close to. No problem at all. I'm really not sure why the urban myth about loosening strings started. I think originally guitars and basses where shipped with strings a bit loose cause the factory workers simply didnt tune them to pitch cause they wherent supposed to take the time to do that. Inspection of working electronics, tuning gear installation, etc etc didnt require tuned instrument. Sound check person just tested for working pups and electronics.
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Not at all. It started with sending acoustic guitars as baggage on airplanes. The reasoning was that if the instruments were tuned to pitch and it suffered a blow, the string tension would exacerbate the damage. That is, a small crack in the face or a loose brace would be compounded by the string tension.

I've never seen a major (nor many small) manufacturers ship new instruments not tuned to pitch. Gibson, Martin, Guild, and Ovations used to show up in tune even, depending on the temperature.

Jihn
 
#13
darkstorm said:
I do think its a good idea to let it come to room temp if its been in severely cold weather for extended period of time. Take it out of the box or case to inspect for damage etc. Then put back in for half hour to maybe an hour max, or so to more gradually acclimate to the nicer weather inside ones place.
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Bad advice! Taking your bass out of a case before it has adjusted to its new environment (temperature and humidity-wise) will likely cause checking in the finish. Depending on what kind of difference in environment we're talking about (I live in Montreal where the differences can be extreme) you might want to leave the bass in its case for a number of hours, just to be safe. The damage inspection can wait.
 
#15
Like bassteban, I've had guitars and basses arrive in tune, tuned down a step or two, and with the strings almost floppy. I have not noticed that any of these caused a difference in the instrument.

Still, once it's in my house, I leave it in the original shipping box for a few hours before opening it. Sudden changes in humidity and temperature can cause permanent changes in the wood. It is much more likely to happen to an acoustic than a solid electric, of course, but the same rules apply.
 
#18
also, if one detunes severely, the truss rod would need to be loosened accordingly or the neck would travel its journey with a forced back bow (providing it is an instrument with a truss rod)

ship tuned to pitch the instrument is set up to play
 

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