Fender 5250xl short scale strings?

[hooky_lowdown]

Does anyone know if Fender's 5250xl short scale strings have silks at either end?

Thanks

 

[three]

Strangely timely as I re-strung one of my short-scales with 5250xl strings at the weekend (I use these more than anything else on short-scale basses).  They don't have silks at either end which is a bit of a problem for me as the string retainer on one of my basses has gold plate and I want to avoid scraping it.  There are two solutions (at least).  One is to use heat shrink wrap (the kind of thing that electronics engineers might use), or just wrap yourself.  Standard sewing thread is fine in my experience and it takes around 30 seconds per string to wrap carefully at the ball end.  Sealing is a bit tricky (tying knots is difficult), though a little blob of super glue should hold the end of the thread.  I used the latter option last weekend (a rather fetching deep blue) and was very pleased with the result.  Just don't overdo it and extend the wrap over the saddles.  I used TI rounds as a template and they have around 0.75" of wrap from the ball.  I don't know if embroidery silk would be a better option.  I might try it.  Whatever, nice to have the option of your preferred wrap colour from the rainbow of threads on offer