Any Tips Changing Electric Bass Strings?

[Brucebubs]

I bought a great new Rickenbacker 4003 back in 2018 - noticed today that the original strings are beginning to look a little nasty - I've never done a string change on an electric bass guitar - the Rick owners manual with the guitar recommends changing strings one at a time - I've ordered a set of bass string cutters and a new set of DR HiBeams 45-100.

Any tips ?

[pieterh]

If I remember correctly the fingerboard of a Rick is lacquered, is that right? If so there isn’t really much need to take all the strings off in order to clean and oil it before putting new strings on. That said, you might want to clean off the gunk that accumulates by the frets from playing but on a varnished neck you don’t want to be doing that with OOOO-grade steel wool!

Otherwise just do one at a time if you feel comfortable with it. In my experience there is no real issue with taking off all the strings but you may just need to let it settle in again with the new strings before checking action and neck relief.

Nice looking bass!

[M Sarad]

Joe Osborne, one of the Wrecking Crew bassists, never changed strings on his Fender bass. He played a lot of Beach Boys hits with that bass

[FrankHudson]

Not all that different than changing them on a guitar, except there are fewer of them.

Yours are round core, so don't cut before you do the right-angle bend and have them up to tension.

You do have to adjust to the thicker strings filling up the string post faster if you have too much slack left in the playing length as you tighten up the strings. This is my biggest issue.

As to how long bass strings last for some players? I have a bass that had it's TI strings changed in the 1980s. You have a Rick, you've chosen round wound stainless steel, so you may want (and will get) a brighter sound, which is cool. For those who aim for the more mellow thud and flat-wounds, string age is almost a non-issue, as long as the string isn't damaged.

[Brucebubs]

Thanks for these replies - I guess I'm a little anxious about this one - bass strings aren't exactly cheap too!

The original factory strings still sound fine so I might just leave them another year or two going by your replies, thanks again.

[YamahaGuy]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Thanks for these replies - I guess I'm a little anxious about this one - bass strings aren't exactly cheap too!

The original factory strings still sound fine so I might just leave them another year or two going by your replies, thanks again.

See this:
https://www.drstrings.com/proper-string-installation
Also, for bass strings, I cut them about 2 peg heads past the post for the tuners with the hole in the middle, like yours. So put the bridge end in, straighten it out over the bridge and to the desired tuning peg, go past that by a distance of two tuning pegs farther, and make a right angle kink in the string there. Then cut about 1/4 - 3/8" after the right angle. Drop that part down in the hole, the rest of the string should go through the slot, (pull the string tight from out of the slot and around the tuning peg), and wind tight. Don't forget to stretch them.

And by the way, nice bass.

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

See this:
https://www.drstrings.com/proper-string-installation
Also, for bass strings, I cut them about 2 peg heads past the post for the tuners with the hole in the middle, like yours. So put the bridge end in, straighten it out over the bridge and to the desired tuning peg, go past that by a distance of two tuning pegs farther, and make a right angle kink in the string there. Then cut about 1/4 - 3/8" after the right angle. Drop that part down in the hole, the rest of the string should go through the slot, (pull the string tight from out of the slot and around the tuning peg), and wind tight. Don't forget to stretch them.

And by the way, nice bass.

Thanks and that was a great clip too ... the very end section where he puts the clipped and bent string in the hole in the tuner post was the bit I was unsure of.

He was also pretty strongly against stretching them.

p.s. I'm a fan of round-core DR Sunbeams too.

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Thanks for these replies - I guess I'm a little anxious about this one - bass strings aren't exactly cheap too!

The original factory strings still sound fine so I might just leave them another year or two going by your replies, thanks again.

If they sound fine, that's something to consider standing pat with. I have several basses, so the playing time gets split between them, but the main reason I change bass strings is to get a different timbre or feel. So typically after I buy a bass (new or used) I'll change out the strings to something that I think will bring out a sound and feel I'm looking for. Back in my youthful and poorer days, I'd sometimes swap strings off and on my bass then to go for round-wound to flat-wound.

The costs are tolerable given the life of the strings for someone like me who doesn't usually look for the brightest sounds on bass--but yes something like my favorite TI bass string set can cause sticker shock for guitarists.

[redir]

Make sure you have enough string wraps on the tuner posts so that you get a good break angle at the nut.

[hopdemon]

I have only changed strings on any of my basses when I was looking for a change in feel or sound. That being said I don't think ive changed a string set on any bass in 10 years. I have an 82 jazz bass with original flat wounds that sounds great ..gets that Jamerson ,Mowtown mwah..also I use flat wound exclusively because I like the warmth. I have an upright that has strings that are about 8 yrs old. It doesn't get used as much as it once did but its still sounding great.To get that funky sound those strings gotta get funky. I read Jamerson never changed his strings...might be an urban legend but ive always believed it.

[Rob7980]

I use Ernie Ball strings decent quality and $20... bass is no different than guitar just make sure to put a sharp bend in the strings and cut them right after the bend so the core doesn’t slip... there is no need to change them one at a time... it won’t hurt anything to have no strings on it... don’t be afraid you aren’t going to hurt it... if you know how to tune it then you’ll have no problem changing strings... I lay my strings over the tuner and pull it back a fret and a half, bend it to 90 degrees where I’m going to cut and cut so the bend it still on the string then start wrapping them... good idea to hit the fret board with a little 0000 steel wool and some lemon oil while the strings are off... just be careful not to get the dust near the pickups... good luck and have fun...

[pieterh]

Originally Posted by Rob7980

I use Ernie Ball strings decent quality and $20... bass is no different than guitar just make sure to put a sharp bend in the strings and cut them right after the bend so the core doesn’t slip... there is no need to change them one at a time... it won’t hurt anything to have no strings on it... don’t be afraid you aren’t going to hurt it... if you know how to tune it then you’ll have no problem changing strings... I lay my strings over the tuner and pull it back a fret and a half, bend it to 90 degrees where I’m going to cut and cut so the bend it still on the string then start wrapping them... good idea to hit the fret board with a little 0000 steel wool and some lemon oil while the strings are off... just be careful not to get the dust near the pickups... good luck and have fun...

Do NOT use steel wool or lemon oil on your bass! Ricks have laquer on the fingerboard even though it is rosewood!

[s2y]

I usually leave roundwound strings on for 4-5 years as long as they sound ok and stay in tune.