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Without BSO, Where Do We Get Strings Now?

#202
Double E said:
Okay, I guess it's not surprising that Amazon is taking control of their own marketplace but there is still a staggering number of other competing online retailers, it is very hard to imagine Amazon knocking them all out.
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Not all, but there is no doubt what they are trying to do. Read their letters to their investors. They make it clear that their only goal is long term expansion of their market. They take a smaller amount of their profit than anyone else. Company Man (an interesting source of videos on businesses) did a good piece of them.
 
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#206
I placed an order through Just Strings the other day for some Dunlop Super Bright 5’s.....didn’t realize I could get them through TB. :crying: I checked prices and it would have been about $3.00 cheaper to go through TB. Now I know for next time.

@fauxtoe.....I lived in Temecula from about 96 to 2013. We may know one another if you were playing in that area during that time.
 
#207
Just went and bought an unusual batch of strings from Amazon for a new (to me) bass that will be arriving this weekend.

It's an Ibanez BTB7, and I will be re-stringing it to F#BEADGC tuning, so I spent some time with the D'addario string tension chart and made up a close to balanced-tension bunch of single strings for this tuning.

I'm using
.170 F# (super long, tapered)
.125 B (super long, tapered)
.095 E (super long)
.070 A (super long)
.052 D (long)
.040 G (super long)
.028 C (long)

I was concerned with the F#, B, E, and A strings in D'addarios normal "long scale" being too short to reach the tuners/have the head-end taper clear the nut, particularly the E and A because they will need to reach the tuners at the top end of the headstock, so I specifically ordered those in "super long". The F# and B are tapered because fat strings like that just sound better tapered IMHO. I would've gotten a tapered E if D'addario offered them. The G had to be super long because they didn't have a .040 in stock in long.

There were a couple of intersecting reasons why I went with Amazon for these strings over the likes of JustStrings or one of their other vendors.
  1. I'm a Prime Student member, so 2-Day Shipping is included on almost everything I buy.
  2. I'm staying somewhere that I can't receive personal mail, so had I ordered from another vendor, I would have had to pay more for the likes of Fedex shipping that I could go online and tell them to hold at location my package before they ever attempted delivery. USPS will not do this. They will attempt, then fail, to deliver a package, and then you've got to take the door tag to wherever the hell the outbound delivery center is... it's a huge pain.
    • Therefore, my strings and a few other things are being delivered to a conveniently located Amazon Locker
  3. None of D'addario's vendors carry all of those single strings. In fact, Amazon is the only place I found the .070 in super-long. D'addario.com's own webstore is the only place besides Amazon carrying the .052 single. I guess I could have compromised on a couple of the string gauges, but honestly, Amazon pricing worked out to be similar to or better than some of the other vendors.
  4. If any of the strings don't fit, Amazon returns/exchanges are quick and painless.
I could've thrown my money away on a set of strings that may or may not ever be delivered by Kalium, but they A) have had seriously terrible customer service in the past B) chose the worst possible webstore when they revamped a few years ago and C) only offer steels and nickel-steel hybrids, which I do not like.

It was an arduous process finding these strings on Amazon. They are arriving over the next couple days in different shipments at an Amazon Locker. Had I needed a set of strings all together, all at once, this would be a problem. But because I won't even have the bass in hand until Friday or Saturday, it's perfectly fine that they're coming at different times.

All in all, I cannot wait to see if Jason is able to reopen BSO. If he doesn't, then someone else has to pick up the torch. His customer service and selection blew everyone else out of the water.
 
#208
J Posega said:
Just went and bought an unusual batch of strings from Amazon for a new (to me) bass that will be arriving this weekend.

It's an Ibanez BTB7, and I will be re-stringing it to F#BEADGC tuning, so I spent some time with the D'addario string tension chart and made up a close to balanced-tension bunch of single strings for this tuning.

I'm using
.170 F# (super long, tapered)
.125 B (super long, tapered)
.095 E (super long)
.070 A (super long)
.052 D (long)
.040 G (super long)
.028 C (long)
Click to expand...

I'd be curious as to how the F# will sound ... Warwick used to make a 4-string "Dark Lord" Vampyre bass tuned F#, B, E, A, but it was discontinued for some reason.
 
#210
Solarmist said:
I'd be curious as to how the F# will sound ... Warwick used to make a 4-string "Dark Lord" Vampyre bass tuned F#, B, E, A, but it was discontinued for some reason.
Click to expand...
Most players that want to tune below low B tend to be 5 string players already, or they don't like the look of the Vampyre. Personally, I think the Vampyre looks cool, but I don't think I'd ever own one... it would look weird on some gigs. Then again, Sonny T who plays with Cory Wong plays a lefty 5 string Vampyre, so what do looks even matter?

I will post some basic sound clips of the bass tuned to F# once it's strung up and setup for it.
 
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#211
jjk2007 said:
I placed an order through Just Strings the other day for some Dunlop Super Bright 5’s.....didn’t realize I could get them through TB. :crying: I checked prices and it would have been about $3.00 cheaper to go through TB. Now I know for next time.

@fauxtoe.....I lived in Temecula from about 96 to 2013. We may know one another if you were playing in that area during that time.
Click to expand...
TB Store rocks. One order I placed, I had a tracking number in like 2 or 3 minutes iirc
 
#217
jjk2007 said:
I placed an order through Just Strings the other day for some Dunlop Super Bright 5’s.....didn’t realize I could get them through TB. :crying: I checked prices and it would have been about $3.00 cheaper to go through TB. Now I know for next time.

@fauxtoe.....I lived in Temecula from about 96 to 2013. We may know one another if you were playing in that area during that time.
Click to expand...

Sorry that I just now saw this reply. I am actually very new to the Murrieta/Temecula area, like within the last year. It's not permanent yet, but I spend enough time there that it's basically my second home. Permanent will likely come in the next 6 months.
 
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#218
fauxtoe said:
Sorry that I just now saw this reply. I am actually very new to the Murrieta/Temecula area, like within the last year. It's not permanent yet, but I spend enough time there that it's basically my second home. Permanent will likely come in the next 6 months.
Click to expand...

I'm still here in murrieta if you want to connect.
 
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#220
fauxtoe said:
We actually have already :) I dropped by the shop on August 20th and you sold me two 5 strings sets of D'Addario NYXL's that were pieced together from individuals containing a .130 B and .105 E, and a set from MJC Ironworks. I'll shoot you a PM with some more details.
Click to expand...

Ah yes I remember. That was when things were bad. Will be back!
 
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