I'd recommend changing the strings one by one instead of first removing all the old strings before putting on the new strings. That way you limit the drop in tension on the neck and prevent the neck to warp. Not a huge issue, but could prevent issues. Also, I'm not sure, but I think it's better to create a bend in the strings and cutting them right after the bend. This prevents the outer coil of the string from unwinding. Please let me know what you think!
I love this video because it shows you in real great detail of how to do it this will be my first time restringing a base it’s for my high school Music class i’m donating some strings thank you very much for the video hope to see more soon!!!
A great video. I've played electric guitar for years. But never a bass and changing bass strings. I was trying to do the wind first, then insert into string into the tuning peg hole. Now I know how to do it properly. Thank you
Yhis video helped so much i just recently decided to start playing bass at 40 i got a bass and a full repair kit fron Amazon but the kits full of tools i had no idea what they were and not labelled...now i know what the csble winder actually is it may as well have been a mayan artifact before for all i knew
I haven’t changed my bass strings yet and I’m not about to start now! That’s vintage tone right??? Ok maybe I should get a few sets. I’ve heard of boiling the old strings? but I don’t have a cauldron big enough to fit my bass in and wouldn’t that ruin the electronics?
You can boil your old strings. The reason why they start to sound dull in the first place after you've played them for a while is that when you play, little dead skin cells, dirt you have on your fingers, fat and so on will get stuck to the strings. I also have the theory that the parts of your string that you touch the most looking dull is also caused by this. What that residue on your strings will do is that it makes the mass slightly uneven across the string, so it won't vibrate evenly. However, these even vibrations are what causes the amount of overtones that are characteristic for the sound of fresh strings, so if you can't get the overtones because your strings don't vibrate evenly because there's residue from your skin all over them, they'll sound old and dull. The way boiling the strings helps with this issue is that this process removes a lot of that residue from the strings, allowing them to vibrate more evenly and sound better. And because skin cells and fat are kinda nasty, you want to use a pot for this that you don't use for cooking. Also, I kinda hope you were kidding with that whole sticking your entire bass in the pot part, to be honest. In case you weren't: You take off the strings before boiling them. You don't HAVE to take them off by cutting them even though it's usually preffered for convenience's sake, you can just take them off by reversing the process of putting on strings that is shown here (i.e. you unwind the string, you take it out of the tuner and you thread it out of the bridge). As taking them off this way won't damage them, you can then coil them up and boil them and put them back on like you would normal strings. It could just be a bit finnicky because the strings will be coiled up at the end from being coiled up on the tuner for so long. P.S.: it's spelled "déjà vu" as it's French for "already seen".
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses It is. I sucked at guitar for years. Got a bass and became actually good on it. Came back to guitar and I don't suck as much as I did before and I'm getting much better. True story.
Haha! I know and don't worry I was kidding with throwing the pick away. :) One of my favourite bass sounds is palm muted staccatos with a pick. Or with thumb. Or both. Haha! //cheers, Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses As long as Adam Neely says playing with a pick is okay, I'm okay with it! :) Actually, I do both, I use my fingers mostly, but for really fast things, I find it easier to use a pick. I'm just getting into muting. It's an interesting skill.
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses Great info Kris. Short & sweet. Actually there are Funk Songs, that I will use: fingers, a pick and occasional slap. It's all good. I know you were joking. I laughed. Happy Holidays brother. oNe LovE from NYC
i just got the bass i ordered from your website and instantly broke one of the strings like an idiot and i think this just saved me from dying of panic. now i juts gotta find a new string
today i just changed my first bass strings (got a squier contemporary active jazz bass with dual humbuckers soapbar style pickups, in shoreline gold). got this bass in january, came equipped with nickel flats, but since i play a lot of downtuned drop c metal i got 115 rounds, and this helped me quite a while, couldn’t figure out why there was a hole in the tuners (i’m not a stringy boi, my main instrument is drums)
After the stretch and before pressing them down at the bridge and nut do yourself a favour and do this: Loosen each string completely but without removing it from the tuning peg and allow the string to spin at the bridge. There is a twisting tension created when the strings are first wrapped on the tuning pegs, this will let that tension off. Once the strings sit natural follow the rest of the steps. Why do this? Often that twisting will make a string less bright or dead compared to the others. Some people think this deadness comes from the way you cut the end, it’s not. What you gain is a more balanced sound across all strings and they will stay in tune better.
Your basses sounds so great! Have you make any video for bass action and string height? Looks like you use pretty low action and that tone is amazing...
Thanks a lot! Some bass episodes are coming up very soon. :) I haven't made an extra setup video for basses, but I definitely made sure to mention how to set them up in the "normal" setup episodes. Check out the Guitar Tech Tips playlist in the description box to find all the episodes. Cheers //Kris
Man, I really like your videos. Can you show us the proper way to string a Höfner violin bass? And maybe go over the proper stings that can be used? Thanks and I’m so glad I found you. Finally, someone with a clear and easy yet, professional approach to the upkeep and maintenance of my babies.
That's also great! These "rules" I'm mentioning in Guitar Tech Tips videos are basic guidelines. Nothing more. If 3-4 winds work better on your bass, do it that way. I also have instruments where I have to do 4 winds on one of the strings for enough pressure on the nut. //cheers, Kris
Thanks Kostas! Most dark fretboards (rosewood, ebony, blackwood, roseacer, etc) are not finished. Maple on the other hand is almost always finished. You can also test it: put a drop of fretboard oil (or even a drop of water) on it and wait a little. If it stays on the surface, it's finished. If it gets soaked in, it's not finished. //cheers, Kris
Hopefully someone might see this. I got my partner a Sterling bass and the tuners look just like the ones on this bass. They have the gears on the back of the headstock and everything. Anyways, I restrung her bass for her and I’m experiencing a lot of tension on the tuners. Luckily all the strings are in tune now, but I was worried of trying to tune any higher (currently in D standard tuning on a 4 string bass) because the force I had to use to tighten the strings scared me I’d break the tuners or something. What causes this issue? Or is this normal? Any fixes to make tuning easier? Excuse my ignorance, I am a drummer 😂
Those Sandberg basses are sooo mean! A small addition to this video. If you don't want to readjust the truss rod after changing the string, replace the strings one at a time, starting with one of the middle strings and then one of the non-adjacent strings (For instance, in order: A-G-E-D-B in case of five-string bass). That way, the tension in the neck will remain the same. This is especially important for newer, cheaper guitars that use lower quality wood, which, in addition, has a higher percentage of moisture in it. And it's good to know that when you change the gauge of the strings, there is a very high possibility that you will have to redo the guitar setup, action, intonation, maybe even to file the nut a little according to new strings thickness.
Hey, if we were using HBs everyone would focus on that fact and some would even assume that "we only want to push the brand". Also, we (the video team) are not involved in Harley Benton and luckily no-one tells us what instruments we should use. We should all be happy about that because that makes this channel more authentic and less sales-y. I hope that makes sense to you. :) And yes, we use HBs every now and then, when it feels right to do. //cheers, Kris
wrooong all the way. Strings should be bend to 90" degreefirst to not cause buzzzz.then only cut ..defo no pulling them. Pretty much every single manufacture have it these days on package..the only correct thing is to press before bridge to help intonationsss...gosssh
Dont believe the hype. I take all my strings off when I clean my fretboards (currently on 7 basses) and the only time I really have had to adjust my neck is when I buy a used bass
Hey man, have you watched our video on that subject? We have it linked at 1:02. That explains everything. But hey, what's up with those who only change strings one time a year. They definitely should oil the fretboard every time they change them. :) //cheers, Kris
![YoungBoy Never Broke Again - Sneaking [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1ILUps2zDFU/mqdefault.jpg)
Timely Kris. I needed this as I just ordered a bass. Thank you sir!
Perfect timing I guess.:) Have fun with it!
//cheers, Kris
I'd recommend changing the strings one by one instead of first removing all the old strings before putting on the new strings. That way you limit the drop in tension on the neck and prevent the neck to warp. Not a huge issue, but could prevent issues. Also, I'm not sure, but I think it's better to create a bend in the strings and cutting them right after the bend. This prevents the outer coil of the string from unwinding. Please let me know what you think!
Makes sense to me
I love this video because it shows you in real great detail of how to do it this will be my first time restringing a base it’s for my high school Music class i’m donating some strings thank you very much for the video hope to see more soon!!!
A great video. I've played electric guitar for years. But never a bass and changing bass strings. I was trying to do the wind first, then insert into string into the tuning peg hole. Now I know how to do it properly. Thank you
Yhis video helped so much i just recently decided to start playing bass at 40 i got a bass and a full repair kit fron Amazon but the kits full of tools i had no idea what they were and not labelled...now i know what the csble winder actually is it may as well have been a mayan artifact before for all i knew
Such a cool video and simple video. thomann team is the best..
No no no! YOU'RE the best! :) Thanks a lot!
//cheers, Kris
as a beginner, this video is immensely helpful. cheers
I haven’t changed my bass strings yet and I’m not about to start now! That’s vintage tone right???
Ok maybe I should get a few sets.
I’ve heard of boiling the old strings? but I don’t have a cauldron big enough to fit my bass in and wouldn’t that ruin the electronics?
Deja view 😂
@@PooNinja It's almost like history repeating itself, right? Haha
//Kris
@@PooNinja Me2, shouldn`t have put a flux capacitor into my guitar ;-)
You can boil your old strings. The reason why they start to sound dull in the first place after you've played them for a while is that when you play, little dead skin cells, dirt you have on your fingers, fat and so on will get stuck to the strings. I also have the theory that the parts of your string that you touch the most looking dull is also caused by this. What that residue on your strings will do is that it makes the mass slightly uneven across the string, so it won't vibrate evenly. However, these even vibrations are what causes the amount of overtones that are characteristic for the sound of fresh strings, so if you can't get the overtones because your strings don't vibrate evenly because there's residue from your skin all over them, they'll sound old and dull. The way boiling the strings helps with this issue is that this process removes a lot of that residue from the strings, allowing them to vibrate more evenly and sound better. And because skin cells and fat are kinda nasty, you want to use a pot for this that you don't use for cooking.
Also, I kinda hope you were kidding with that whole sticking your entire bass in the pot part, to be honest. In case you weren't: You take off the strings before boiling them. You don't HAVE to take them off by cutting them even though it's usually preffered for convenience's sake, you can just take them off by reversing the process of putting on strings that is shown here (i.e. you unwind the string, you take it out of the tuner and you thread it out of the bridge). As taking them off this way won't damage them, you can then coil them up and boil them and put them back on like you would normal strings. It could just be a bit finnicky because the strings will be coiled up at the end from being coiled up on the tuner for so long.
P.S.: it's spelled "déjà vu" as it's French for "already seen".
😂 Yes I was joking . It’s the 12 year old in me class clowning around. But great info from ya Char 🤘🏽Rock on 🤘🏽
Why am I watching this? I don't even have a bass 😆
Well you should get one now. Haha! Honestly, learning bass is a lot of fun. So different then guitars.
//cheers, Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses It is.
I sucked at guitar for years. Got a bass and became actually good on it. Came back to guitar and I don't suck as much as I did before and I'm getting much better. True story.
The comedy haircut???
@@henrychinaski2890 same. maybe we were lead astray by billy gibbons, and should have worhsipped bernard all along...
@@C0zyDunt Charmains eh
Thank you for the tutorial, I either cut mine too long or too short. Also, picks or fingers are both ok to play bass with.
Haha! I know and don't worry I was kidding with throwing the pick away. :) One of my favourite bass sounds is palm muted staccatos with a pick. Or with thumb. Or both. Haha!
//cheers, Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses As long as Adam Neely says playing with a pick is okay, I'm okay with it! :) Actually, I do both, I use my fingers mostly, but for really fast things, I find it easier to use a pick. I'm just getting into muting. It's an interesting skill.
@@ThomannsGuitarsBasses Great info Kris. Short & sweet. Actually there are Funk Songs, that I will use: fingers, a pick and occasional slap. It's all good. I know you were joking. I laughed. Happy Holidays brother. oNe LovE from NYC
i just got the bass i ordered from your website and instantly broke one of the strings like an idiot and i think this just saved me from dying of panic. now i juts gotta find a new string
today i just changed my first bass strings (got a squier contemporary active jazz bass with dual humbuckers soapbar style pickups, in shoreline gold). got this bass in january, came equipped with nickel flats, but since i play a lot of downtuned drop c metal i got 115 rounds, and this helped me quite a while, couldn’t figure out why there was a hole in the tuners (i’m not a stringy boi, my main instrument is drums)
Great video, thanks.
Your demo is better than my primo. What are the tabs on the demo riff?
After the stretch and before pressing them down at the bridge and nut do yourself a favour and do this:
Loosen each string completely but without removing it from the tuning peg and allow the string to spin at the bridge. There is a twisting tension created when the strings are first wrapped on the tuning pegs, this will let that tension off. Once the strings sit natural follow the rest of the steps.
Why do this? Often that twisting will make a string less bright or dead compared to the others. Some people think this deadness comes from the way you cut the end, it’s not.
What you gain is a more balanced sound across all strings and they will stay in tune better.
Very helpful, thank you.
Is that a Harley Benton rack tuner? I didn’t know they sold them. Are they still available? Thanks
Your basses sounds so great!
Have you make any video for bass action and string height?
Looks like you use pretty low action and that tone is amazing...
Thanks a lot! Some bass episodes are coming up very soon. :) I haven't made an extra setup video for basses, but I definitely made sure to mention how to set them up in the "normal" setup episodes. Check out the Guitar Tech Tips playlist in the description box to find all the episodes. Cheers //Kris
Man, I really like your videos. Can you show us the proper way to string a Höfner violin bass? And maybe go over the proper stings that can be used? Thanks and I’m so glad I found you. Finally, someone with a clear and easy yet, professional approach to the upkeep and maintenance of my babies.
I tend to wind my strings 3 to 4 times around on the pegs to get the real positive downward pressure on the nut.
That's also great! These "rules" I'm mentioning in Guitar Tech Tips videos are basic guidelines. Nothing more. If 3-4 winds work better on your bass, do it that way. I also have instruments where I have to do 4 winds on one of the strings for enough pressure on the nut.
//cheers, Kris
Wonderful video ! I have one question.... how can I understand if my fretboard is finished ?
Thanks Kostas! Most dark fretboards (rosewood, ebony, blackwood, roseacer, etc) are not finished. Maple on the other hand is almost always finished. You can also test it: put a drop of fretboard oil (or even a drop of water) on it and wait a little. If it stays on the surface, it's finished. If it gets soaked in, it's not finished.
//cheers, Kris
Looking forward to the electric guitar video
It's coming up soon!
//Cheers, Kris
Can you help me I’m trying to wind back up my broken string but it’s just going in a circle and not winding
Hopefully someone might see this. I got my partner a Sterling bass and the tuners look just like the ones on this bass. They have the gears on the back of the headstock and everything. Anyways, I restrung her bass for her and I’m experiencing a lot of tension on the tuners. Luckily all the strings are in tune now, but I was worried of trying to tune any higher (currently in D standard tuning on a 4 string bass) because the force I had to use to tighten the strings scared me I’d break the tuners or something.
What causes this issue? Or is this normal? Any fixes to make tuning easier? Excuse my ignorance, I am a drummer 😂
Some say its 2 machine heads some say 1 n a half which one should i follow?
Hi!! Anybody knows what bass strings comes with the black balls end?
I love how you throw away the pick XD
Pure bassist
Those Sandberg basses are sooo mean! A small addition to this video. If you don't want to readjust the truss rod after changing the string, replace the strings one at a time, starting with one of the middle strings and then one of the non-adjacent strings (For instance, in order: A-G-E-D-B in case of five-string bass). That way, the tension in the neck will remain the same. This is especially important for newer, cheaper guitars that use lower quality wood, which, in addition, has a higher percentage of moisture in it. And it's good to know that when you change the gauge of the strings, there is a very high possibility that you will have to redo the guitar setup, action, intonation, maybe even to file the nut a little according to new strings thickness.
thank you very much. I ve never knew how to cut them. most of the time the strings were to long.
Any time man, happy you learned something new. :)
//cheers, Kris
Hey, why so little love for a pick? 💔
Oh wait, just watched till the end of the video, lmao
4:16 Hahaha, I love you man! :D
It cracked me up XD
It just had to be done. :)
//cheers, Kris
does the truss rod need adjustment if you change the strings?
It normally doesn't if you liked the setup with the old strings and put on the exact same strings (brand and gauge). //Kris
@@ThomannsGuitarsBassesthanks Kris. I intend to use thinner strings.
As a thomann channel, I'm surprise you (nearly) never use HB instuments. It would make sense, no ?
Hey, if we were using HBs everyone would focus on that fact and some would even assume that "we only want to push the brand". Also, we (the video team) are not involved in Harley Benton and luckily no-one tells us what instruments we should use. We should all be happy about that because that makes this channel more authentic and less sales-y. I hope that makes sense to you. :) And yes, we use HBs every now and then, when it feels right to do.
//cheers, Kris
ty
If only bass players were actually smart enough to watch this video. Rule# 2!
Thats the same smile I have whenever I play on new strings.
Yes definitely the bass is the way oh yeah kick it oh yeah..
wrooong all the way. Strings should be bend to 90" degreefirst to not cause buzzzz.then only cut ..defo no pulling them. Pretty much every single manufacture have it these days on package..the only correct thing is to press before bridge to help intonationsss...gosssh
Deja Vu? I think I saw this video couple of days ago.
What? No... You definitely didn't. ;)
//cheers, Kris
4:14 that pick was never found
Davie504 approves
👍🤘🏼
Nice funny (real bassist) moment 4:14. Pick it
Hey, I was told not to take all your strings off at one time as it makes your neck uneven(twisted).
Even if you replace one string at a time the neck will bend (more concave) a bit and you'll have to adjust it anyway.
Dont believe the hype. I take all my strings off when I clean my fretboards (currently on 7 basses) and the only time I really have had to adjust my neck is when I buy a used bass
Another "purist" putting down bassists who use picks. What a surprise.
I hate that. Its like u throw away a completely new sound to your bass. As a rock bassist, i love picks. I love the metallic gritty sound picks give.
Womp womp
@@FaD3_KASHESyou must be really happy in your life huh
Using the pick is something I personally prefer not to do but I do like the sound of pick bass in a lot of music
One of the greatest bassists of all used a pick…Ms.Carol Kaye
Nah, haters won't hate. They've all been shot by Davie504 for talking about picks...
Haha! Fair enough! Epic.
//Kris
Holy guacamoly... Haircut, crash course in brain surgery or should that be so?
I be never had to clip any string past the next tuner or stretch or,press down anything. It’s not this hard.
I know bass players need even basic help with most things in life, but isn't this a bit too technical for them?
How to Change Strings on Bass?!?! Are you serious?)
You don't need to oil the fretboard every time you change strings. Don't do that people.
Hey man, have you watched our video on that subject? We have it linked at 1:02. That explains everything.
But hey, what's up with those who only change strings one time a year. They definitely should oil the fretboard every time they change them. :)
//cheers, Kris
Not what i needed