Thru-Body v Top Loaded stringing, equal string tension?

[P-T-P]

I've a pair of Lakland DJ5s, one with maple board, one (which I just acquired) with rosewood. The maple one is strung through the bridge with DR Extras, the rosewood one through the body with Lakland steelwounds. The strings are the same gauge (.45s) except for the low B which is .003 heavier on the Lakland strings.

After a few days of truss rod tweaks and bridge adjustment, I've managed to get the action on the new bass to be as near as damnit to the older bass (which is fantastically low and buzz free) as possible. There's a smidge of buzz here and there but I can live with that.

What is driving me nuts though is that the two basses still feel quite difference to play. I glive about on the old bass while the new one feels very taught. Fretting or plucking a note requires enough extra effort that it's noticeable (to me anyway).

So after all that, is it the case that the sharper angle of the strings between the wirness point on the bridge and the anchor point in the body of the through body strung bass creates a significant amount of greater tension in the strings than the shallower angle behind the bridge on a through bridge strung bass?

I know different strings will feel and sound somewhat different, but both sets are played in some and are of almost identical gauge so that surely can't be the reason for the apparent increased tension can it?

How about the fretboards? I've never noticed this kind of difference between a rosewood and maple board before, but then I've never had two otherwse identical basses to compare.

Anything else it could be?

[SJA]

the actual tension of the string can't be different, as the vibrating length, pitch and mass of the string are the same.

however, the extra pressure of the string against the saddle, and possibly the extra length of the string behind the saddle do have some kind of effect on the way the string bends when you pluck it.

I've noticed the difference too on my strung-through warmoth p bass.

[Kiwi]

How do you know the differences are not down to other factors such as neck tension?

[Alpha-Dave]

The angle that the string breaks at over the bridge or nut only affects the amount of friction at that point.

The differences you are feeling could be due to the longer string length through the body, because the entire string length will stretch as you fret a note, but the break-angle at the bridge will be increased so the friction shuld be greater and it should stretch less.

Even then, the additional length is only about 5% different (1.5" of 34"), so I'd be slightly sceptical but it's possible you could feel that.

To be honest, I'd say a bigger difference could be the edge of the rosewood board (you should rarely touch the fretting face, and it certainly shouldn't affect the speed of play), but as you move your hand along it will be slightly rougher than the gloss finished maple, so that could be the difference you are feeling.

[P-T-P]

Thanks guys.

Not sure how neck tension would affect things, can you elaborate?

It won't be the edge of the board because they are both bound.

I think the idea that the break angle behind the bridge on the through body strung bass must be it. The idea that the increased friction there causes the string to stretch a little less makes sense. It is a very slight difference, in fact only notice it really if I play the top loaded bass before playing the other one. Gonna re-string it top loaded this evening and see what happens.

[bass_ferret]

Well I have 2 almost identical basses, one top loaded and one strung through. Can't say I've noticed any difference.

[Painless]

How about the nut end of things? Is one higher than the other, hence requiring different tension on the truss to get the same action height? Is the higher string tension more noticable nearer to the nut?

Russ.

Edited June 1, 2007 by Painless

[Kiwi]

[quote name='P-T-P' post='10814' date='Jun 1 2007, 10:12 PM']Not sure how neck tension would affect things, can you elaborate?[/quote]

Just simply the flex in the neck. By way of illustration older basses are more settled, their necks have become pre-shaped like a bentwood chair because of the constant tension of the strings and truss rod. Your basses might have necks that have been made from wood of slightly different density and so they exert greater or lesser tension on the strings despite action, neck relief etc. being equal.

[Lfalex v1.1]

My Zoot bass is a good example of inordinately high string tension. Even with 35-95s on, it's harder to fret than one of my Warwicks with 45-105s.

One major difference is the break angles- The Zoot is thru-body, and the Warwicks are all top-loaders.
Furthermore, the Zoot has a severe break angle at the headstock, as ALL the strings pass under a retainer. Warwicks have the angled headstock, and need no string trees.

Do you want the basses to sound the same? If you can live with (or want) a different sound, I've found that DR Fat beams run a discernably lower tension at the same gauge on the same instrument than some other brands. I attribute this to their being round -cored, but I could be wrong. The bass is a Squier 70s VMJ with a BadAss II on it. It feels very similar to my thru-body MIA S1 Jazz, but that's got 40-100s on it compared to the VMJs 45-100s.

Aren't flatwounds softer for a given gauge, too?

[neepheid]

I prefer through body stringing from a purely mechanical point of view, I just like the idea of less pulling on the bridge. I know it's not likely to budge with 3-5 screws anchoring it, but all the same...