Doing Things Wrong

Alice Bass Strings

Today I got my set of Alice bass strings, 105-85-65-45. They were packed in individual sealed plastic sleeves, similar to every other kind of string. The diameters are all within 0.001" of spec. The lengths are as follows:

  • E: 37-1/2" ball to leader, 42-1/2" overall
  • A: 37-1/8" ball to leader, 44-1/2" overall
  • D: 46" overall
  • G: 48" overall

This should fit almost all instruments. The strings are bright and shiny. So far, so good.

The strings went on with no problems, and seem ok unplugged - no buzzing or dead ones.

To be continued ...


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Here I am getting ready to cut fret slots. I have marked the fret locations along the centerline, just to confirm that everything is right. Below that is my fret slotting guide. It is a 1" piece of aluminum, precisely drilled with a series of holes based on the standard mathematical formula for fret locations, which you can look up, or use one of the online calculators. I made a spreadsheet of it. The holes are numbered along the top, with the corresponding scale length below. The interesting ones are: (rounded-off)