Which way should the string go in?

[pinto79]

I've spent some time working in a guitar shop and have a number of friends who play guitar. So needless to say I have played a lot of guitars and looked at a lot of guitars.

One thing that erks me more than anything else is the way some people put strings on a Floyd equiped guitar. A good friend of mine and my boss at the music store string them up so that the ball end is at the machine head. They both use D'addario strings so it's probably just to see the pretty colours on the ball ends

But honestly, am I crazy? I'm a firm beliver that the string is designed to go one way. Here's my evidence. On a Steinberger Trem, (double ball end) they have brass balls on one end and silver balls on the other. The Packaging clearly states that one end is for the bridge, the other for the nut. (I can't remember exactly which end is which, it's been a while since I have seen one.) Also, GHS make Lock-end Strings for Floyds with a marked end for the bridge.

So, anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks.

Trevor

[cerealk]

in ten years of rigorous testing i have seen no difference between the 5 years I cut the ball end off on my Jem and the last five where I can see the ball colours on the headstock (an idea of which I got from a Joe Satriani pic)

Cheers

Simon

[Dave Goodland]

should make no difference as the floyd's lock at the nut anyway.

[ScottRosenberger]

The only difference is if you leave the ball on there is absolutely no chance of you stepping on a clipped off ball end that got away in your bare feet.

[EKG]

Originally Posted by ScottRosenberger

...stepping on a clipped off ball...

[Rich]

On a floater I *always* leave the ball at the tuner. No chance of slippage on the unwounds when stretching them in, and no chance I'll be bleeding like a stuffed pig from a G string puncture. Plus, I only have to snip the string once

[ScottRosenberger]

Originally Posted by Rich

Plus, I only have to snip the string once

A model of efficiency

[frankfalbo]

I remember getting an insert with DR strings, back when they first went into business. It recommended you cut the ball end off within 1/4" or so from the wraps, because there was something about the string manufacturing process that made it right. On many single strings, there looks to be almost a burnishing mark right there. The DR insert told of something in the core wire that kept the windings tight. It was probably all propaganda, but I've always cut the ends off right at the end of the wraps since. I thought I remembered some other manufacturer confirming it.

As for the ball ends reducing slippage at the tuners, the lock nut takes the tuners out of the equation. But I still don't want slippage at my tuners, and lots of times I play unlocked. Feeding the ball end first makes the wrapping travel around the tuner. That makes the revolutions around the tuner asymetrical. I found the best tuning stability and the least movement after stretching comes from a perfectly coiled 3 to 6 revolution wind. You may not have slipping through the hole when you use the ball end there, but you should experience more slippage within the coil. Unless you do it like locking tuners, and snip so much string off that you have less than one rotation. I've done that before, but it takes too much time to get it the right length. Besides, I want plenty of rotation, so I can slack the string and re-lock it into the bridge when it breaks at the saddle.

[Zeek]

Originally Posted by Rich

On a floater I *always* leave the ball at the tuner. No chance of slippage on the unwounds when stretching them in, and no chance I'll be bleeding like a stuffed pig from a G string puncture. Plus, I only have to snip the string once

I'm'na try this next string change on the 520. How much of the string are you snipping? Are you leaving enough for a few turns at the tuner or do you need any turns?

Oops... somehow managed to miss frankfalbo's post... guess that pretty much answers my Q.

[Rich]

The tuners may be out of the equation when locked, but you don't stretch strings with it locked. And I never get any slippage that I know of out of the wounds, otherwise they'd just keep stretching and never stop

I slip the string through the tuner toward the end of the head so it's already kinked when I pull it to the bridge, then cut about 1" past the saddle block.

There is no right or wrong way to string a guitar, any way that works is just fine, anyway that doesn't isn't

[Rich]

Always hold the string taught as you wind it and you'll get perfect wraps at the tuner

[frankfalbo]

That's really the key to every string method. If you wind them under pressure, they will hold. With the ball end in there first, what I'm talking about are those big fat wraps on the wound strings not wanting to lay down and curve around the post. There was a guy a long time ago that did that at the shop, and I remember a couple of strings breaking at the tuner, because of the extra kinks there. If you have good tension right from the start and never let up, not much else matters. But the theory of the fat wrap starting your wind is that it won't lay down completely until the string is at pitch, and then some. In practice, it could be totally false. Plus, because if you start with the ball end at the tuner, you can wind with greater pressure, because you can really pull on it hard.

You get into these habits based on the perceived physical relationships and you can't make yourself think differently sometimes. There's a string method out there, and I think Dan Erlewine does it, where you twist-lock the string. Sort of an "over-under" thing. Do you know how hard it is to get the string off thats been kinked up like that?! And there is no advantage in practice. Oh sure, in theory, he's got it all figured out, how the string couldn't slip in the tuner hole. But I've never had a string slip there. And the awkwardness of the wrap you get as a result would only add to tuning problems in non-locking bridge guitars. Especially non locking trems, where you need the string to return to the same tension around the tuner. That method can cause overlapping of the winds, as well as increased friction. I like to over-analyze everything, but sometimes it defeats the purpose. The moral of the story is that sometimes I am so smart, it makes me wrong.

[Rich]

Long ago, and I mean so long ago I've forgotten how to do it, I used to use one of those kink locking methods, and yes they're a pain to take off and usually end up with a poked finger. But it did lock very well, but I do remember that if you didn't kink it after pulling the string tight it would break at the kink.

Considering how hard I stretch the strings not even a 46 won't lay smooth as a babies ass. I originally started doing this after my son got a bleeder by poking his little finger, and not like my wife didn't get bit enough herself. Whatever disadvantages it may have [and I really can't analyze it phisically and come up with any] the benefits of just this one thing are paramount. Everything else is just a perk. If you've got little children that will be around your guitars, curiosity will keep their paws all over them. Can't recomend it enough

[BluewookieJim]

I used to always string my guitars this way (with the ball end in the machine head) and I had so many people tell me that it wasn't right, that I stopped doing it a couple years ago.

Now I think I'm gonna have to start again.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Rich

Considering how hard I stretch the strings not even a 46 won't lay smooth as a babies ass.

Of course this was overexageration, you'd probably rip the tuner off the head before you got a 46 to wrap smooth as a babbies ass. But a good stretch is more tension that playing will ever put on it so there's no more you could take out of it [even though it is behind the nut anyway]