• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Taking rounds on and off (and on again)

#41
Whenever I build a bass, I transfer strings from one of my other basses to the new one. My basses have loading circuits that I tune to get the amount of high frequency extension/brightness I want, and...I don't want to optimize the circuit with brand new strings - I want the bass to be optimized sonically with broken in strings (where strings will spend 90 plus percent of their life.) If you optimize things with new strings, the thing will sound dull in a couple of weeks when the strings break in.

Anyway, all my basses have bridges with quick release slots in them, so I can take strings off one bass and put them on another without running the string through the bridge hole - that minimizes physical disruption of the string's geometry in the winds, which helps avoid metal fatigue there. That allows me to do multiple swaps without fear of string failures.
 
  • Like
Reactions: willddd
#42
Selim said:
You have X set of strings on, they’re broken in how you like them — that state is the string’s “mojo”.

But you want to experiment with a couple of other sets of strings for this bass. So you take the set off, try a new set, don’t like it, and meanwhile you need to put that first set on since it’s broken in just how you like it and you have to go play.

Then you want to try the 2nd set of strings you’re curious about. So you take off your 1st again. You don’t like that 2nd set. So you put that 1st set on again, and when you do, that set has lost something.
Click to expand...

One quick question...

Does this bass in question have a type of bridge with tiny holes for the whole string to be threaded through every time you install and uninstall them, or is it the type that allows the ball ends to be freed more easily?

I used to try to do what you're talking about, but got tired of the tedious process of having to deal with the coiled end off of the tuner post having to be carefully pulled through the bridge hole. I wasn't too worried about this whole process affecting the overall performance of the string itself; I was more concerned about the metal fatigue that could result from the coiled ends having to be straightened too much during the install/uninstall process.
 
#43
willddd said:
True, TI Flats are a very different feel, almost polar opposite to Lo Riders imo, although Lo Riders are probably also at another extreme of the tension spectrum.. Took me a while to get used to the flats.
Strangely if I accidentally leave the Lo Riders on a bass that I take to a gig or rehearsal, it's only 16 bars or so before I remember where I am and its cool, both tension levels have their advantages. With the Lo Riders your right hand has more power (cos you know where the string will be, they don't move that much), with the TI flats, your left hand has more power for expression (assuming right handedness), but you gotta watch the right hand.
Edit : But for 2 completely different feeling strings, they sound remarkably similar when worn in.
Click to expand...
Right - like for all strings, which one you use depends on the music
 
#44
michael_t said:
One quick question...

Does this bass in question have a type of bridge with tiny holes for the whole string to be threaded through every time you install and uninstall them, or is it the type that allows the ball ends to be freed more easily?

I used to try to do what you're talking about, but got tired of the tedious process of having to deal with the coiled end off of the tuner post having to be carefully pulled through the bridge hole. I wasn't too worried about this whole process affecting the overall performance of the string itself; I was more concerned about the metal fatigue that could result from the coiled ends having to be straightened too much during the install/uninstall process.
Click to expand...
A Suhr classic jazz - so it has a traditional bent plate type bridge with threaded rods.

Man do I get tired of experimenting with strings. But we want to find the right cover for that pot.
 
#46
If I change strings on a bass I consider whether the strings being removed are in fact better than those on another of my basses, in which case I will clean them using my Ultrasonic Cleaning Machine (they’re mainly used for cleaning jewellery but work fine for things like strings). I do one string at a time (8 minutes), they are cleaned in the machine using luke warm water and the tiniest amount of washing up liquid. The ultrasonic machine then does it’s job in getting rid of all the crap off the strings and between the windings, pretty much the same as boiling but without the harshness of using boiling hot water.

The riskiest areas I find are where the strings have been over the tuning posts, if you can re-fit them without damaging the string or putting a kink in it then there’s no problem. It’s also best in trying to keep any coloured string windings dry as they do seem to degrade once they’ve got wet.
 
#47
sonojono said:
Buying a bulk of 3 set of strings will carry you for a good length amount of time. Expensive yes but I like to look at time rather than $$$

YMMV
Click to expand...
Funny you should mention that. I recently took an advantage of a 2-pack sale at Strings and Beyond. Two D'Addario nickel-wound regular light-gauge sets for $20. Even after shipping, that was basically the same price as one pack usually is.

Despite that, I still saved my old strings when I changed out my strings the other day. I can't bring myself to throw away something that's still perfectly playable. Like I said, old habit.
 
#49
Not to try a different round wound, but to put some flats back on to see whether I want to use them (again) for the music I am playing. I don’t want to swap them out only to reinstall the rounds and find out the sound is now “less good”.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back