Truly custom string sets for 30" baritone

[Reuptake]

I've looked high and low and I keep getting stiff-armed trying to put together a custom string set for my 30" scale baritone. It's a hand-made instrument, so I can't provide a make/model. Specifics:

- Strings need to be about 42" long (35" of winding for the wound strings)
- I want the lightest string to be plain (unwound), about .020"
- Heaviest around .090 (I'd settle for .084)
- Guitar sized ball ends
- Tuning peg hole sizes are not a problem, so a taper is not necessary
- Planning on A tuning, although if the tension holds up I'll let it wander down to G. Sometimes the strings just tell me what the tuning needs to be

A set of bass VI strings solves this problem, minus the unwound string. How does one shop for that string at the proper length? Custom string vendors that I've talked to really push for a set they have on the shelf, which is understandable, but don't come close to the metrics I'm looking for. Nowhere have I found a source that states the length of their unwound strings, because everyone seems to assume a maximum 27" scale length.

Ultimately, it would be great to talk to someone who could take my preferences and put together a set of strings, thus earning a lifetime of business from someone who has some fetish for making odd-sized instruments.

 

[HelpImaRock]

 

[HaphAsSard]

Winding length of the lowest string of this set (can't remember about the second-lowest) is 32.5" or thereabouts. Too short for the OP.

I've looked high and low and I keep getting stiff-armed trying to put together a custom string set for my 30" scale baritone. It's a hand-made instrument, so I can't provide a make/model. Specifics:

- Strings need to be about 42" long (35" of winding for the wound strings)
- I want the lightest string to be plain (unwound), about .020"
- Heaviest around .090 (I'd settle for .084)
- Guitar sized ball ends
- Tuning peg hole sizes are not a problem, so a taper is not necessary
- Planning on A tuning, although if the tension holds up I'll let it wander down to G. Sometimes the strings just tell me what the tuning needs to be

A set of bass VI strings solves this problem, minus the unwound string. How does one shop for that string at the proper length? Custom string vendors that I've talked to really push for a set they have on the shelf, which is understandable, but don't come close to the metrics I'm looking for. Nowhere have I found a source that states the length of their unwound strings, because everyone seems to assume a maximum 27" scale length.

Ultimately, it would be great to talk to someone who could take my preferences and put together a set of strings, thus earning a lifetime of business from someone who has some fetish for making odd-sized instruments.

You could contact StringJoy or Newtone Strings.
Or, you could write an email to a string vendor like Jason at FretNation, and ask if they know how long plain 020 guitar strings by various manufacturers are. (In your shoes, I'd have just bought a bunch and seen for myself.) A plain bass high F string will almost certainly do the trick:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Just file down one side of the bass ball end until you can slip it out of the loop, then replace it with a guitar one. (The loop will be large for the new ball end, but tension alone will hold everything in place.)

 

[Reuptake]

Winding length of the lowest string of this set (can't remember about the second-lowest) is 32.5" or thereabouts. Too short for the OP.


You could contact StringJoy or Newtone Strings.
Or, you could write an email to a string vendor like Jason at FretNation, and ask if they know how long plain 020 guitar strings by various manufacturers are. (In your shoes, I'd have just bought a bunch and seen for myself.) A plain bass high F string will almost certainly do the trick:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Just file down one side of the bass ball end until you can slip it out of the loop, then replace it with a guitar one. (The loop will be large for the new ball end, but tension alone will hold everything in place.)

 

[Reuptake]

This is why I love you guys. I would have never thought of looking for plain bass strings. This solves all of my problems when in combination with bass VI strings and/or including a bass A-string (lowest is bass string tuning peg). I've even been thinking of converting a Carvin into a piccolo, just haven't started researching yet.

 

[HaphAsSard]

This is why I love you guys. I would have never thought of looking for plain bass strings. This solves all of my problems when in combination with bass VI strings and/or including a bass A-string (lowest is bass string tuning peg). I've even been thinking of converting a Carvin into a piccolo, just haven't started researching yet.

Unsolicited advice: the 020p will be fine for a high G, but very tight if tuned to A. If the latter tuning is your preference between the two options, consider getting a 018p instead:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Reuptake]

Unsolicited advice: the 020p will be fine for a high G, but very tight if tuned to A. If the latter tuning is your preference between the two options, consider getting a 018p instead:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Way ahead of you. Got a few of each brand of both .018 and .020 because it's hard for me to predict what I will and won't like about unfamiliar strings. Plus I always burn at least one set of strings during fret leveling, nut and saddle work. It's like the instrument wants me to spend money on it.

 

[iiipopes]

Please let us know the measurements:
1) We know the scale length, bridge to nut, is 30 inches. So please let us know:
2) Ball anchor to:
a) bridge saddle of the G string;
b) tuner side of the nut;
c) length of the tuner side of the nut to the center of the nearest tuner post.
Then you can start your string safari. You must know these ball anchor measurements, especially since you have a custom instrument. Three examples why:
1) My travel bass is a 30-inch scale, with a typical Fender-style flat plate top load bridge and tuner arrangement. So most typical short scale strings fit.
2) Hofners and others have a tailpiece that is separate from the bridge. So even though it is the same 30-inch scale, it takes either specialty strings or a medium scale set so there is enough length from ball to clear the nut.
3) Harmony H-22 has its anchor on the end of the body. There is so much space between the anchor and the bridge that regular long scale strings are used, despite the fact it is also a 30-inch scale.

 

[claudel]

Ping Newtone.

They seem to be pretty good at winding custom sets.