BigRedX Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 The easiest way to get the silks to line up is to use strings without silks: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 22 minutes ago, BigRedX said: The easiest way to get the silks to line up is to use strings without silks: Yes but we haven't found any flatwounds with no silks. And TBH I prefer to have the feel and compliance I like, as opposed to a neater look, when the choice is one OR the other. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Incredible thread(sic). I'm genuinely amazed that this is a thing. 5 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonse Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Never thought I'd find myself posting in this thread but here we are. Looks to me string brand might be a factor. You have daddario chrome's on the Stingray right? The chromes on @Silvia Bluejay basses match up well and below are the chromes on my precision. So maybe chromes are designed to line up somehow? Or maybe this is all just nonsense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I’d never ever thought of this before now, I’ve only ever been interested in the tone and how they feel, but you could have something there @Jonse because my jazzes with Daddario tapes are pretty well in line, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 18 hours ago, AinsleyWalker said: It's more or less level lol.. Remind me not to get you to build me a house. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CameronJ Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Start playing multi scale basses. Then you will cease to care whether the silks line up or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 My P with Chromes, though the silks are beginning to fray as they're so old and it's my home go to bass. So the best advice so far has to be get a set of Chromes. There is no way, short of physically trimming the silks away, to adjust how the silks line up. The string is anchored with no adjustment in the bridge, how far along the string the silk starts is up to the manufacturer, whether you have two inches or two foot of string after that has no bearing on it. You can have one wind of string around the post or five winds, it has no bearing on where the silk starts. Just for the absolute pedants among us, raising the saddle height will minutely bring the silk towards the nut, but that's just rediculous. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Forget what they sound like... do the silks line up? Ha ha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Hey come on Basschat we're better than this. Kudos to those of you who tried to help but taking the 4X out of a guy for asking for help, that's not why I I love this forum. For what it's worth I have three basses where the silks line up, and no I hadn't paid any attention before this thread. However, 2 of them (strung with Deroit Flats) only technically have three in line because on a P Bass the silk on the G string disappears entirely. Maybe on a 3+1 it might not? The other one has 4 beautifully aligned red silks but I can't remember what they are 😕. Probably best I don't discuss the bass pictured below with the OP though... They're Fenders and probably painful to look at for those who like neatness but like the Detroits they line up and so might the G on a 3+1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushbo Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 Now I’m worried. Like a few people commenting, I’ve never even thought about string wrap alignment before, but from this day forward, that will be the first thing I notice on a bass, and my OCD will cause me to do unspeakable things... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicVibes Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 Buy strings without silks. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 On 22/04/2020 at 11:33, Silvia Bluejay said: Yes but we haven't found any flatwounds with no silks. And TBH I prefer to have the feel and compliance I like, as opposed to a neater look, when the choice is one OR the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo2 Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 This might be the most pointless thread on BC I've seen (apart from some of the OFF Topic ones where I simply don't understand what they are about and why they go on for years), and I absolutely am loving it. Is there going to be a difference in silks lining up or not between different string manufacturers, ultra precise production line vs not so much? Genuinely intrigued now. No pics from me, currently al basses strung with DRs, no silk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 This one ain't bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 2 hours ago, prowla said: This one ain't bad. If you pregressively detuned more from the E string across to the G you could get that almost bang on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 Right - I’ve read this thread a few times. heres my suggestion. tune the bass up to desired pitch. slide some masking tape under the strings - behind the nut. dab some clear nail varnish around where you want the silks to end. then get a craft knife or scalpel and trim the excess silk off. should stop the fraying and mean the silks all match. someone mentioned heat shrink tubing too. nice idea. Each to their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 This ^ seems like an excellent use of downtime during Lockdown. I hope to see a huge out-pouring of photos of carefully doctored strings. What we're far more like to get is a huge out-pouring of carefully doctored photos of strings ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 55 minutes ago, Maude said: If you pregressively detuned more from the E string across to the G you could get that almost bang on. I was thinking of maybe tuning the G to G#... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 17 minutes ago, AndyTravis said: Right - I’ve read this thread a few times. heres my suggestion. tune the bass up to desired pitch. slide some masking tape under the strings - behind the nut. dab some clear nail varnish around where you want the silks to end. then get a craft knife or scalpel and trim the excess silk off. should stop the fraying and mean the silks all match. someone mentioned heat shrink tubing too. nice idea. Each to their own. Alternatively, dab a spot of glue at the start of the bare string and wrap some excess silk from the end cut-offs of the string around it. A kindof bass player's equivalent of a comb-over! 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicVibes Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 If the silks are black, you could Sharpie the ends to make them aligned? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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