I installed new strings, used same brand and model, different action?

king koeller

king koeller

Apr 20, 2005
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Dayton, Ohio
#1
I changed strings and now my action is different, But I used the same strings? How is this possible????? I have a japanese lawsuit CAMEO Precision Bass (Made in Japan) from 1971 or so...... My old strings were Fender 7150's Pure Nickel, round wound and the new strings were exactly the same Fender 7150's medium light, .045", .065", .085", .105". How can the action be different? It is much higher now, I did not touch the bridge or the truss rod? Is it possible that the tension is higher on the new strings? Did fender change string companys?, ( the packaging is different) old strings had yellow silk on the wrap, but new strings have no silk, they are just pure nickel with no wrap. the Intonation is off on the new strings....,How can the exact same strings be totally different?
 
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#2
Depending on when you bought the first set, Fender changed their manufacturing from in-house to having them made for them. So, my guess is that’s what you’re noticing; the old strings vs the new strings.

Without looking at spec sheets, I cannot be certain that the current strings are made to the old spec.
 
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#3
king koeller said:
I changed strings and now my action is different, But I used the same strings? How is this possible????? I have a japanese lawsuit CAMEO Precision Bass (Made in Japan) from 1971 or so...... My old string were Fender 7150's Pure Nickel,round wound and the new strings were exactly the same Fender 7150's medium light. , .045", .065", .085", .105". How can the action be different. It is is much higher now, I did not touch the bridge or the truss rod? Is it possible that the tension is higher on new strings? Did fender change strings, ( the packaging is different) old strings had yellow silk on the wrap, but new string have no silk, they are just pure nickel with no wrap. the Intonation is off on the new strings....,How can the exact same strings be totally different?
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Tell us more about your string install process. Failure to follow basic tenets can lead to the unsatisfactory results as described. Just ruling out the simple stuff.

Riis
 
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#5
king koeller said:
I changed strings and now my action is different, But I used the same strings? How is this possible????? I have a japanese lawsuit CAMEO Precision Bass (Made in Japan) from 1971 or so...... My old string were Fender 7150's Pure Nickel,round wound and the new strings were exactly the same Fender 7150's medium light. , .045", .065", .085", .105". How can the action be different. It is is much higher now, I did not touch the bridge or the truss rod? Is it possible that the tension is higher on new strings? Did fender change strings, ( the packaging is different) old strings had yellow silk on the wrap, but new string have no silk, they are just pure nickel with no wrap. the Intonation is off on the new strings....,How can the exact same strings be totally different?
Click to expand...

Simple: They are not the same strings.

Measure the old ones and the new ones. I guarantee they are different thickness.

Or just fix the setup on your bass and play it. As long as it sounds and feels good what does it matter?

PS: There is no such thing as a "lawsuit" bass. There are "cease and desist letter" basses, but yours isn't one of them. There was only ever one lawsuit, and that was filed by Gibson against Ibanez over a hollowbody guitar's headstock shape.
 
#7
I made sure to insert string tips in tuners, and have at least 4 wraps per post. That makes sense about Fender having an outside company making their strings now. I never touched bridge, but these new strings are tighter, I will adjust the action and make a truss rod adjustment. Fender has gone from the black box to a new white box with a giant 45 on the front.
 
#8
How long have they been on? The post earlier to set witness points at the bridge saddles is good info. New strings take time to settle at the bridge, if you don't manually bend the strings, and that will lower the action significantly.
 
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#9
king koeller said:
I made sure to insert string tips in tuners, and have at least 4 wraps per post. That makes sense about Fender having an outside company making their strings now. I never touched bridge, but these new strings are tighter, I will adjust the action and make a truss rod adjustment. Fender has gone from the black box to a new white box with a giant 45 on the front.
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Did you check your break angles and set your witness points at the nut & bridge saddles?

Riis
 
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#12
king koeller said:
quote ..."Did you check your break angles and set your witness points at the nut & bridge saddles" I have never heard of this. Is this something new?what are witness points???
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Ding-ding-ding! In a nutshell: strings, by nature, are resistant to bending (...the larger the gauge, the worse it gets) and have the nasty habit of forming "lazy loops" as they pass over the nut and saddles. Depress the string firmly on the leading (fretboard) edge of both the nut and saddles. This establishes a clean delineation of the vibrating string path and will most likely drop the action. Failure to do so can lead to wonky action, tuning, and intonation as you've already described.

Riis
 
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#14
I will depress them into the nut and bridge saddles but they are already down all the way.... I pull up and stretch them also , and keep retuning, then all of a sudden they are in tune and not changing any more, My bass has a massive Maple body and maple neck,so when in tune it stays in tune, I never have to tune it, I'll use a Korg tuner and it will be in tune...
 
#16

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#19
Rest assured that if you stretch your strings someone will pass judgement on you until you cry ;)
king koeller said:
I will depress them into the nut and bridge saddles but they are already down all the way.... I pull up and stretch them also , and keep retuning, then all of a sudden they are in tune and not changing any more, My bass has a massive Maple body and maple neck,so when in tune it stays in tune, I never have to tune it, I'll use a Korg tuner and it will be in tune...
Click to expand...
 
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#20
king koeller said:
I changed strings and now my action is different, But I used the same strings? How is this possible????? I have a japanese lawsuit CAMEO Precision Bass (Made in Japan) from 1971 or so...... My old strings were Fender 7150's Pure Nickel, round wound and the new strings were exactly the same Fender 7150's medium light, .045", .065", .085", .105". How can the action be different? It is much higher now, I did not touch the bridge or the truss rod? Is it possible that the tension is higher on the new strings? Did fender change string companys?, ( the packaging is different) old strings had yellow silk on the wrap, but new strings have no silk, they are just pure nickel with no wrap. the Intonation is off on the new strings....,How can the exact same strings be totally different?
Click to expand...
When you swapped the strings did remove all the old strings at the same time? Or did you replace one string at a time? Reason I ask is I do both at times for different reasons. Normally when I change my strings I just change one string at a time which keeps tension on the neck and keeps the action more consistent. But occasionally I like to remove all the strings to give the frets and the fingerboard a good cleaning. When I do that I pretty much always expect to have to tweak the setup afterwards. To add if you live anywhere with extreme weather it's pretty natural to have to set up the bass once or twice a year. Where I live we have a lot of humidity. I’ve had about 20 basses over the years and only one bass went a full year without needing a setup. And it was a 7 string bass with a massive neck and two truss rods. Could just be the truss rod needs a turn. To check this fret the f on the first fret of e string, use your right elbow to push the e string against the highest frets and using your right hand see how far the e string is off the 8th fret. If you can slide more than a single business card under the string at the 8th fret then you need to tighten the truss rod. To add, anytime you touch the truss rod you should tune the bass back to pitch and then recheck intonation because tightening the truss rod straightens the neck and increases the tension on the strings making them go sharp and also impacts intonation.
 
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