I was wondering that myself.
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Why do folks cut strings?
- Thread starter anightintunisia
- Start date
I, myself, am less tense about the risk of strings poking out an eyeball.
i don't know anyone who does that.
@gebass6's hilarious post/pic notwithstanding (post #7),
it's actually easy for me to be neat with the wraps without cutting strings. leaving them as pictured is clownish or lazy, possibly dangerous, and not good for a gigbag, IMO. i also believe that hardly anyone actually leaves them like that, so the arguments (based on the pic) are really more about 'looks', specifically, and/or herd behavior, generally...or vice versa (also: IMO).
also: there's a TB group who cuts their strings, leaves them on the ax for years (even decades!), and then holds that the strings are easier to replace if they were cut when installed!
if strings are wrapped appropriately = no difference between cutting or not cutting (IME/IMO/YMMV).
For some reason, I have an aesthetic objection to having a lump of string nearly the size of my thumb wrapped around each tuner.
The idea sounds to me like an article I read in which the author was an amateur learning to weld while working on a car. "All my welds were the size of a clenched fist, which at least made me feel confident."
I cut strings about 4 inches past the tuner, bend the ends for the tuner hole, then wrap from the top down. Then simply tune up to pitch.
My strings hold the tune very, very well.
The idea sounds to me like an article I read in which the author was an amateur learning to weld while working on a car. "All my welds were the size of a clenched fist, which at least made me feel confident."
I cut strings about 4 inches past the tuner, bend the ends for the tuner hole, then wrap from the top down. Then simply tune up to pitch.
My strings hold the tune very, very well.
If....IFFF there are people out there that bu y used bass strings then I'm sitting on a small fortune. Between ernie ball and daddario pro steels I have around seventy used sets lol. Unless I'm missing something after 38 years of playing,I can't understand why or how cutting strings would alter the string tension for tuning HEEEEEELP
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I have no plans to take advantage of that (if it exists.)
As a flats user, I don't change strings once I get Labella DTFs on it. Ever.
Why do folks cut strings?
Because if I didn't, my basses would look unkempt, make clangy background noises while being played, and be a danger to everyone around me.
Because if I didn't, my basses would look unkempt, make clangy background noises while being played, and be a danger to everyone around me.
Because the shorter the string “if cut correctly” shortens the string length allowing less winding around the tuning post which equals to a tighter pull and less of a floppy string especially on the B string which is problematic on most basses when tuned down. I have the tension/tightness of a standard tuned bass.
Decreasing the afterlength(s) decreases the overall compliance ("stretchability") of the string. The difference is measurable although it may not be perceptible in real-world applications. Locking nuts, Sperzel tuners, etc. use this approach but I see it more commonly with guitars.
Riis
I don't see it. The pitch of an open string is determined by the active length (that is, between the nut and bridge), the mass per unit length and the tension. Therefore, the tension is determined by the pitch and mass. Length of string between the nut and the tuners has nothing to do with it, any more than the length of string between the bridge saddles and the ball ends.
Ditto. If I ever took that notion, then my basses wouldn't have strings anymore.
Actually it does affect the overall compliance but not the tension. We’re talking afterlengths which is any portion of the string under tension-at-pitch but not part of the vibrating string path. Richard / @Turnaround performed a neat little experiment measuring varying levels of deflection / actual string movement per X amount of force.
Riis
It's a thing in the DB world where sets cost $150 to over $600 for guts.
With most BG sets around $20 these days, it seems pointless (to me) to bother selling them.
In both cases I keep the set I just took off as spares in the gig bag.
You're probably already aware of this but for anyone else interested in these concepts:
Surely excess string flopping around upstream of the tuner makes zero difference to the amount of 'pull' on a string. Just as with shoe-laces, the only difference is tripping over the slack.
Turnaround
Commercial User
Two problems with this:
1. It's already been done. Have a look at a Rob Allen Solid 4.
2. What he does will not increase the string tension. It will increase string compliance, which will actually behave like decreased tension.
In what way will excess loose strings past the tuner, affect compliance, tension, or anything on the string between the tuner, nut, and bridge. If is simply surplus flacid length, flopping around.
