PsyBean

Dropped Elixir people a line, hoping they’ll look into this, only a slight mod required. Tuning holds fine, it’s the damage I’m worried about. The core will never be truly straight again and integrity must be compromised to some degree.

One of the selling points of the American Elite Jazz is the through-body roving but have to conclude Elixirs are not suitable for this. Restrung all 5 strings through the bridge but there is an obvious kink on every string just past the bridge. You can just make it out on the E string in the pic above. This must affect tuning and integrity so this set will have to go. I have to be able to trust my strings!

So, bit of experimenting; restrung the E string through the bridge which results in the small diameter change being about 30mm closer to the peg and past the nut. The overtone has gone! Obviously will have to restring all the others through the bridge and a bit concerned that this will stress the saddle kink created from having been strung through the body. There is about 30mm more string length required when stringing through the body. Think I've now probably ruined this £50+ set for any serious use. Moral of the tale appears to be; Don't string Elixirs through the body of a Fender Jazz V, they are too short!!! Possibly same for other through-body bridges.

I've discovered a bit of an anomaly with Elixir strings on a Fender Jazz V American Elite. I noticed a buzz/overtone on the E string so took a closer look and it turns out the string diameter is not consistent for the whole length of the string. This is in addition to the obvious diameter change between the nut and tuning peg. There is a second drop in diameter about 10mm before the obvious size change and when stringing the bass through the body at the bridge, means that this additional small diameter change occurs before the nut on the E string and on the nut on the B string. I've measured the E string accurately with a micrometer and the diameter is 0.1042” for the length of the string from the bridge, reducing to 0.0930” just before the nut then 0.0687” for the last length to the post. The string is described as being 0.1050” so is marginally under size but I guess within tolerance. You can just make out the diameter change in the photo and appears to be the cause of the overtone. Clearly this will have the effect of lowering the action on the E string but the overtone is not fret buzz. The overtone does disappear if I apply light pressure to the E string at the nut. The strings are normal long scale and purchased from a very reputable source. I used Elixirs on a Stingray 5 to great effect so decided to fit them to my Jazz V but they don't seem to fit properly when stringing through the body. The overtone makes them unusable for anything other than practice and they're not cheap! Other strings, such as Ernie Balls are fine. Has anyone else come across this? Thanks.

Looks pretty similar, although yours looks like it’s badged “SLS series electrics” wheras mine is badged “XRB series electrics.” Any idea what the difference might be, I haven’t a clue?

My first ever bass was Hondo II Precision copy bought from a mate at school. Ended up defretting it, painting it metallic blue then eventually throwing it in the skip. But I have to concede, it launched me on a 40 year voyage of fun, friends and discovery!

I still own the Aria I bought in the early ‘80s, my first proper bass! I paid £275 for it, wonder what it’s worth now? Even though I’ve progressed to various MusicMans and an American Elite Jazz, it still plays great and sounds awesome!