Double Bass String in Pegbox?

[BobKay]

I'm putting gut D-G on one of my basses ('51 Kay). Never used guts before, so it is kind of an experiment. Last night when I changed the G, I simply wound all of the string length on to the roller in the peg box. As i got to the right pitch, I noticed that the G would touch the D string where it passed to its roller. I've heard that is not good. So, I loosened the string and wound it back on itself. I've also heard that is not good.

Should I cut some of the string length before I start to tighten? I'd like to figure this out before I put on the D string. And I'll take off the G and cut the length if that is what I should do.

Not sure if this post should be in String section or here in setup.

 

[ctxbass]

Rather than cut the string, I always leave the excess hanging off the peg and neatly stuff it into the peg box. It can be a bit of a pain to keep the end from interfering while you are winding though.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Never cut plain gut. You do not want to remove length in case the string breaks, so you can simply tie a new knot and continue using the string.