Lowender Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 (edited) Just thought I'd pass along a tip to anyone who has a string through body design. I have a J with that type of bridge and I always felt as if it didn't have a great slap sound. It didn't matter much, since a J isn't really a slap bass and I have others that work in that regard very well. But... I found that as the strings got deader, the sound became very choked and the feel very..."spongy." Very dull. So I changed the strings and it was better, but I felt the bass should really "snap" more. Then by observing the "through the body" design, I noticed it's a drastic downward bend -- causing the string to flex over the bridge saddle. So I removed the strings and strung them straight through to the hole in the back. BINGO! The bass now sings with more tone, more brightness and a snappier feel. The slap sound is sharp and twangy. WHO WOUDDA KNOWN? I never really bought into the notion that a thru the body design was an improvment, but it does look kinda cool. But now I realize, it's an unnatural and flawed design and the regular old fashioned way is better. If any one else has been experiencing lack of tone with a thru body string design I recommend going straight. It may solve a big problem. Edited August 20, 2013 by Lowender Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 [quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1377032635' post='2182595'] ....since a J isn't really a slap bass..... [/quote] Really? I would have said a Jazz bass was one of THE slap basses - Marcus Miller & plenty of others seem to think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowender Posted August 20, 2013 Author Share Posted August 20, 2013 [quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1377034503' post='2182625'] Really? I would have said a Jazz bass was one of THE slap basses - Marcus Miller & plenty of others seem to think so. [/quote] The MM has a different electronic, but yeah, some guys sound great slapping a J, I just wasn't getting it. And a Sting Ray or anything with jumbo frets and active pups seems to be better suited for slapping. Though, now my AS Jazz has been funkified! The string set up made all the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Thanks for the heads up! This is duly noted, and I hope to remember it when I get a thru body design. That said, this must mean some veritable idiots have designed your bridge then. The problem is not thru body design, but bad implementation of it. Then again, I've noticed gazillions of bad engineering on modern instruments like electric and electronic ones, so it shouldn't come as a surprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 [quote name='Lowender' timestamp='1377032635' post='2182595'] Just thought I'd pass along a tip to anyone who has a string through body design. I have a J with that type of bridge and I always felt as if it didn't have a great slap sound. It didn't matter much, since a J isn't really a slap bass and I have others that work in that regard very well. But... I found that as the strings got deader, the sound became very choked and the feel very..."spongy." Very dull. So I changed the strings and it was better, but I felt the bass should really "snap" more. Then by observing the "through the body" design, I noticed it's a drastic downward bend -- causing the string to flex over the bridge saddle. So I removed the strings and strung them straight through to the hole in the back. BINGO! The bass now sings with more tone, more brightness and a snappier feel. The slap sound is sharp and twangy. WHO WOUDDA KNOWN? I never really bought into the notion that a thru the body design was an improvment, but it does look kinda cool. But now I realize, it's an unnatural and flawed design and the regular old fashioned way is better. If any one else has been experiencing lack of tone with a thru body string design I recommend going straight. It may solve a big problem. [/quote] Didn't work on one bass, so the whole idea is invalid? Not buying that, sorry. Also, the "old fashioned way" is through body - RE: the 1951 P bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 I had a long conversation with a top American string maker a few months back and he was really, really against through body stringing. He said it tends to be worse on modern, and particularly, cheap bridge designs. He still makes longer strings for this use but advises anyone who'll listen not to do it as, amongst other things, it can kill strings really quickly. It can totally deaden the tone of flatwounds very quickly and one of the really annoying things is that it can often depend on how they are strung individually. E.G. You can find a single string to be totally dead whilst others sound OK. It was enough for me not to think about ever stringing through the body again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowender Posted August 20, 2013 Author Share Posted August 20, 2013 [quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1377038729' post='2182684'] Didn't work on one bass, so the whole idea is invalid? Not buying that, sorry. Also, the "old fashioned way" is through body - RE: the 1951 P bass. [/quote] That wasn't the cause of the determination. It was the observation that the length of a string is compromised went put into a drastic bend. Logic dictates that a straight string will resonate better and when making the change on my bass, it indeed did. Maybe that's why they s changed design from the 51 P bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkyard Rocket Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 it's the only way possible to string a mustang and a toploading bridge would mean that I couldn't use Thomastik TI324s on mine as they're meant for a 32" scale, but the bass has a 30" scale. Its my favourite bass sound ever, but I like my bass to sound like a bass not a harpsichord. No sign of the strings being killed yet, but them I've only had them on the bass since I bought it five or six years ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime_BASS Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 It's possible on some strings to actually break the core which will deaden the string. I had this all too often on DR strings which is why I don't use them now. Maybe the much stronger break angle at the bridge is doing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 DR strings thru the body of my Lakland sounded fine for a lot of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Mmmm... this thread makes me ponder the 45 degree angle of the string-through on Yamaha BBs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 String through body is the old fashioned way. Top loading was cheaper, so it got changes, less holes to drill, no turning the bass over in production. It gives better mechanical coupling to the body, which will show up tonal flaws from the body more, it also shows up poor quality strings, and bad stringing practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmanady Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Interesting,i was just thinking of re-stringing my Lakland,which has always been strung thru-body,so will now try this and see if there is any noticeable difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Have 3 USA Fenders with through body stringing. The jazz has a badass III and the P special and passive P both have original BBOT bridges. Never had any issues with any of them, sound fine to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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