chriscassar Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Hi all, I've had a customer come in to my shop after a set of bass strings that have a smaller ball end! He has a bass with an inset bridge (brand and model unkown at this time) that has too small an appature to accomodate the usual Ernie ball/Rotosound/D'addario/Elites size ball ends! Just wondering if any of you good folk have had a similar issue and can offer any suggestions for alternative strings. I can order in most brands so getting them shouldn't be a problem, I just can't get loads of different types in simply for him to try! I'd really appreciate any suggestions, my customer has said he doesn't want to make any alterations to the bridge unless it's an absolute last resort. Cheers all, Chris Cassar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deksawyer Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Stagg bass strings have smaller, guitar sized ball ends. D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairyhaw Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I really need to get myself down Specsavers - I totally mis-read the title of this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I didn't know balls had..............never mind! G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriscassar Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 [quote name='deksawyer' post='1308018' date='Jul 18 2011, 04:07 PM']Stagg bass strings have smaller, guitar sized ball ends. D.[/quote] Thanks for that I'll have a look :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 If it is a short scale, LaBella make a Danelectro-specific set of deep talkin' flats which are supposed to be just like the original 50s. I don;t know what the originals were like, but I bought a set. They fit my Korean danelectro longhorn perfectly and they have a guitar-type ballend which fits into the recess in the bridge better than the crappy rotos I had before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I think Thomastik Superalloys have slightly smaller ones, and maybe Pyramid. I know I had trouble a while back with them slipping though a Fender bridge with oversize holes. That was fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarhead Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 Can't recommend a set of strings personally, but my personal choice would be to mod the bridge, for example, big gig that night but earlier in the day you break a string and have no spares with the smaller ball-ends, so you have to use a set of standard strings with the bigger ball-ends, but they won't fit properly. No idea if it would actually cause any problems, but that'd be my personal choice of action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky L Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 [quote name='deksawyer' post='1308018' date='Jul 18 2011, 04:07 PM']Stagg bass strings have smaller, guitar sized ball ends. D.[/quote] Ooh! That's handy. The Aria electro-acoustic bass I have seems to need smaller ball ends to fit in the wooden tailpiece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriscassar Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 Brilliant, thanks so much folks. Sorry I've not responded sooner, been away on tour and not long been back and to honest, this had slipped my mind until I saw a reminder I had left for myself in the shop! While I was away the customer came back in to see our tech about modifying the bridge. While he was in he took a shine to a second hand Ricky we had in stock & px'd his bass for it. We've since modded the bridge & sold the bass on= problem solved :-) Thanks again everyone Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krispn Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 I've already got my coat and just about out the door! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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