When Selling Flats

[A-Ro]

Those of you who say you can sell your flats if they don’t work for you...

Do you not cut them when you put them on your own bass? Or do you trim for your own bass then are still able to sell them?

I’m curious because I want to try TI’s but, don’t want to be locked in if I don’t like them.

 

[Paulabass]

Personally, I wouldn't try to sell or buy used strings. I'm guessing they can only be sold for an exact drop on bass, like fender- fender for example. I also can't see not cutting them, the tightest bend at the machine head has to be at the same place, I wouldn't trust a string that that tight bend had been straightened.

 

[Gorn]

I sold and bought many sets of used strings. Especially flats. If you want to get the TIs and make sure they're sellable if you don't like them, trim them minimally and properly. And if your bass has wide tuning pegs, you might not have to trim them at all.

 

[shawshank72]

I sold and bought many sets of used strings. Especially flats. If you want to get the TIs and make sure they're sellable if you don't like them, trim them minimally and properly. And if your bass has wide tuning pegs, you might not have to trim them at all.

End of the thread right here.
Just do it.

 

[Root 5]

You run into this issue with 2+2 headstocks. The G string is very long and really should be trimmed, but it then renders them useless on a 4-inline 'Fender' arrangement.

 

[JRA]

Do you not cut them when you put them on your own bass?

you do not have to cut any string*. if you're just trying a brand/model: don't cut them at all. good luck.


* usually. it's rare that a string "has to be cut." we do it for a myriad of reasons: mostly personal taste.

 

[JustDavid]

Whatever one’s opinion about trimming or not trimming, I don’t see anything wrong with test-driving the strings untrimmed. If you wish to, you can trim later when you decide to keep them.

Enjoy the TIs!!

 

[michael_t]

You can always do what guitar players do...

 

[A-Ro]

You run into this issue with 2+2 headstocks. The G string is very long and really should be trimmed, but it then renders them useless on a 4-inline 'Fender' arrangement.

This would actually be for a 4+1 G&L

 

[gitfiddl]

I was actually surprised to find that people were selling used strings. Maybe, just maybe, I could see selling a used set of expensive $70 TI's, but the others? Not so much.

My 26 year old son and I were actually talking about string prices just the other day. Back in the 80's, a set of stainless Roto 66's went for around $35. D'Addario XLs and GHS Boomers were $25-30 a set. I bought a set of Black Diamond flats from Woolworth's (!!!) for $11.99. Flats were generally cheaper across the board. Nowadays, you can get a set of name-brand roundwound strings for around $20 or all day long. Flats are now about the cost of what we used to pay for primo rounds. Not sure what changed...

 

[petrus61]

I usually won’t resell used rounds because they’re really not worth much and are mostly useless once I’m done with them. Flats on the other hand do retain value, after even extended use. It all depends on how much care was taken when they were cut and strung up. I’ll often see flats listed in the classifieds that have obviously been put on and removed from a bass multiple times, as you can tell from the frayed silks and windings...sometimes with only the core intact!

I will not sell a set that I wouldn’t use myself, and if I do the price and listing will reflect that. Ideally, the buyer will be putting them on the same bass I had them on (Fender Precision, for example) and has done their homework with regards to scale length, etc. When I sell a set and unless otherwise noted, you can expect:
-The correct number of turns for winding
-Completey intact winding and core, particularly at the winding end
-Silks that are relatively intact or in good condition
-Has been on one bass only and weren’t put on and taken off repeatedly (very bad for flats!)