Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Owning an Alembic => Troubleshooting => Topic started by: Notachemist on January 03, 2025, 07:37:50 AM
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........... Please don't laugh (chuckling is fine ;D), but I made the classical mistake of measuring one of the strings in the wrong way, while putting on a new set of strings, resulting in my E string only having 1 complete wind - it seems to be stable tuning wise so far, but since it's my first time making this mistake, my question is if the neck will be fine until next week, when I am able to get a singular replacement string. All the other strings have the typical 2-3 winds and it's a 5-string bass I made the mistake on. My intuition tells me that winds on the tuning peg don't matter, in relation to tension provided by the string for the neck, but for my own inner peace, and since I have a tendency to overthink stuff like this, I thought I would consult with people much more knowledgeable than me, just so I could rest easy.
Thanks in advance
Edit: And I apologize if a question of this nature is not appropriate on this board - in that case, please let me know.
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I believe your intuition is correct in that the number of winds around the tuning peg don't matter. The only thing that matters is that the string is through the slot and secure. For the past ... 48 years (OMG) ... I have wound the top of the string around the peg 1-1/4 turns, bent down into the slot, bent the remainder the other direction, and then cut off the excess. I've never had one pop off so that method seems sufficient to lock it into place.
Don't waste that new string unless it starts to slip somehow. Just play!
Jimmy J
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I also kinda think that the more extra winds you use, the less stable the bass tuning is.
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I haven't found that to be so. My Alembic seems very stable with 2-3 turns around the post. If I keep it in the same temperature/humidity environment, it stays within a few cents for days.
I've gotten into the habit of using more wraps around the post on all my basses because 1) it lets me swap strings between my Alembic and my other basses with 2+2 headstocks; and 2) it improves the break angle at the nut, not so critical on the Alembic because of the way the headstock is angled, but makes some difference on other basses.
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For what it’s worth, I always measure the width of my 4 fingers across after lining the string up with the tuner post. So the width of 4 fingers above the post. Cut, put down the center hole, bend to the side I’m turning, then tune, pull to stretch out the string, then tune again.
Currently, I’m doing a clean, adjust, oil and restring on my custom 10 string.. that is the hardest to get dialed in for me. Don’t feel bad Notachemist.. many of us have been there at some point in our lives.
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Hey again guys
Thanks for the many replies. Fingers crossed it won't pop off, but it seems fine so far. Interestingly enough, it actually seems like the string in question, is the one that is the most stable, tuning wise, so far. I did read up a bit after playing last night, and having 1-2 windings like on the picture Jimmy posted was argued by some to be the most optimal. To elaborate, it was argued that "too many wraps" (3 or 4, I assume) around the tuning peg, would decrease tuning stability, because it would allow for very small movements at the tuning peg, while playing. Just wanted to share, since I found it to be interesting. But it does look a bit strange, to see 4 tuning pegs covered in winds, and an almost bare singular tuning peg ;D.
Danno - my approach is actually similar to yours, but I measure two tuning pegs worth of distance from the peg in question, cut off the excess and tune it up accordingly. The mistake I made yesterday, was that I kept measuring the distance from the B string, when I got to the E string, resulting in a much shorter string :o. Kind of funny now, but I was a bit nervous, when I made this post (and in general when working on my Alembic), so I appreciate you guys reassuring me.
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I cut it twice it is still too short!
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Notachemist,
Glad thing are working out!
Appreciate your bold move of posting a ‘vulnerable’ concern here. This Community is very supportive and understanding. It keeps getting better.
On my Distillate, I go for 3 wraps from top to bottom (to insure angle break over nut), avoid string on string wraps and regularly have to cut the E-string more than once. Hipshot D-tuner has a shorter shaft, lucky to get two wraps without the string on string event occurring.
The patina on Jimmy’s logo is nice.
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Like Paul, I go for 2-3 wraps. I also stick the end of the string down into the hole in the center of the shaft to anchor it in place.
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i oncew miscut a G-string so it had only one wrap around the peg. it wouldn't stay in tune, i suspect because that string gets popped alot more than the others.
i use the old string to measure out the length of the new one. saves me a lotta fiddling around when it's string changing day plus i get more consistent results. been burning out a lotta of string sets on the fretted basses lately because of increased band activity. they go dead a lot quicker on the SII than thay do on the MKD, i suspect because the SII has much higher sonic resolution. once they stretch out, i don't have to tune them much.
here's what i wind up with (pun!):
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oops forgot the attachement ::)