String question

Knackebrod Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:41 pm

Hi!
One of my strings just broke and I'm thinking of buying a new set via the internet. The strings that are on now are pretty thin, I might change to some that are thicker. Will the nut/bridge/tuning bolts handle it? Its a Greg bennett fairlane 4 http://www.gregbennettguitars.com/fn4.html

Oh and what unit of meassurement do you use when meassuring the gauge of a wire? All I have seen is 0.40 1.00, 1.00 what?

lol!

Thanks Alot!

**Smaz** Fri Jun 26, 2009 11:05 pm

Generally speaking, everything should be able to cope with thicker strings. You may find, if you're taking things to an advanced level, that you might need to change the saddle height & reset the intonation - but that's only if needed.

~~Strings are measured in millimeteres (mm), so 40 - 100 is 40mm (or 0.4cm) to 100mm (or 1cm).~~ As far as I know, 45 - 105 seems to be the 'standard' guage.

Any more questions, or if I've missed something, just ask! Smile

Edit/update: Apologies, after a few beers I made a huge mistake there. As correctly pointed out below, it's measured in inches - 0.045 - 0.100 etc.

**Dmanlamius** Fri Jun 26, 2009 11:08 pm

Oh, and check out this thread:

https://freebasslessons.forumotion.com/general-chat-f3/strings-t284.htm

I think there are some interesting and worthwhile things being said, there.

Smile

**Dropthelines585** Fri Jun 26, 2009 11:30 pm

How do you fix the intonation? Gosh, I can't believe it took me this long to ask.

It's needed it for a long time, but I'm a bit skittish about messing with the truss rod and whatnot. I'd hate to permanently injure my baby,

**danthewelshy** Fri Jun 26, 2009 11:54 pm

Dropthelines585 wrote:How do you fix the intonation? Gosh, I can't believe it took me this long to ask.

It's needed it for a long time, but I'm a bit skittish about messing with the truss rod and whatnot. I'd hate to permanently injure my baby,

Fuzzy Sat Jun 27, 2009 6:18 am

Smaz wrote:Generally speaking, everything should be able to cope with thicker strings. You may find, if you're taking things to an advanced level, that you might need to change the saddle height & reset the intonation - but that's only if needed.

Strings are measured in millimeteres (mm), so 40 - 100 is 40mm (or 0.4cm) to 100mm (or 1cm). As far as I know, 45 - 105 seems to be the 'standard' guage.

Any more questions, or if I've missed something, just ask!

It's actually in inches.
40 is .040 and 100 would be .1
I use 55-110's which would be .055 to .110
Silly americans using the imperial system.. Very Happy

Protoplm Sat Jun 27, 2009 6:38 am

Fuzzydice45 wrote:
Smaz wrote:Generally speaking, everything should be able to cope with thicker strings. You may find, if you're taking things to an advanced level, that you might need to change the saddle height & reset the intonation - but that's only if needed.

Strings are measured in millimeteres (mm), so 40 - 100 is 40mm (or 0.4cm) to 100mm (or 1cm). As far as I know, 45 - 105 seems to be the 'standard' guage.

Any more questions, or if I've missed something, just ask!

It's actually in inches.
40 is .040 and 100 would be .1
I use 55-110's which would be .055 to .110
Silly americans using the imperial system..

He's right. it's measured in 1000ths of an inch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_strings

Some nice links at the bottom of that page for anyone wanting technical jargon.

**Smaz** Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:37 am

Fuzzydice45 wrote:
Smaz wrote:Generally speaking, everything should be able to cope with thicker strings. You may find, if you're taking things to an advanced level, that you might need to change the saddle height & reset the intonation - but that's only if needed.

Strings are measured in millimeteres (mm), so 40 - 100 is 40mm (or 0.4cm) to 100mm (or 1cm). As far as I know, 45 - 105 seems to be the 'standard' guage.

Any more questions, or if I've missed something, just ask!

It's actually in inches.
40 is .040 and 100 would be .1
I use 55-110's which would be .055 to .110
Silly americans using the imperial system..

LMFAO, I was reading that this morning & realised what a mistake that was. I then thought about playing 1cm thick strings, and burst out laughing Very Happy

I was half pissed when I wrote that, apologies.... Smile

Knackebrod Sat Jun 27, 2009 11:47 am

Thanks for the info, really helpful!
As you might understand I'm new to this and ordering the wrong type of strings would suck since im kinda broke and cant wait to get playing again.

1 cm strings would be cool but hard to play on Razz

Protoplm Sat Jun 27, 2009 11:52 am

Knackebrod wrote:Thanks for the info, really helpful!
As you might understand I'm new to this and ordering the wrong type of strings would suck since im kinda broke and cant wait to get playing again.

1 cm strings would be cool but hard to play on

If it's on the bass correctly, I'd find a way... I would just fall in love with the tone.

Reminds me of a dream my friend had, he was playing 2 string bass with one string the thickness of a pencil... and it sounded awesome.

**Dropthelines585** Sat Jun 27, 2009 8:22 pm

Thanks Dan, very helpful

**danthewelshy** Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:27 pm

Dropthelines585 wrote:Thanks Dan, very helpful

I have not actually carried out what he says, but he seems to know what hes talking about and i've heard of that method before. Did it work okay for you? Im getting a new bridge soon for my jazz so if this worked well for you thats good as it doesn't seem to difficult.

**Dropthelines585** Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:09 pm

My stuff's over at my guitarist's place, so i've yet to do it, but I will let you know as soon as I do.

Protoplm Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:12 am

i did it and it worked like a charm. Don't be afraid to turn the screws either, you need about 5 turns before any difference comes through. It's not a truss rod.

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