Stupid Question About Bass String Gauge...

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ghetto3jon

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hi. i'm in a bit of a predicament. i have a bass guitar with wonderful action and feel. i need to replace the strings, but i don't want to screw it up...does anyone know if there is any way to identify the gauge of the strings that are on the bass right now? (i'm pretty sure they are medium scale GHS Boomers...but i have no idea about the gauge). the guitar is a fender mustang bass. i really can't think of any way to tell the difference between .100 or .105...
 
ghetto3jon said:
hi. i'm in a bit of a predicament. i have a bass guitar with wonderful action and feel. i need to replace the strings, but i don't want to screw it up...does anyone know if there is any way to identify the gauge of the strings that are on the bass right now? (i'm pretty sure they are medium scale GHS Boomers...but i have no idea about the gauge). the guitar is a fender mustang bass. i really can't think of any way to tell the difference between .100 or .105...
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Take it to your local guitar shop (not GC or a major chain, but a small place where they do repairs/setups and stuff). They should have some calipers to measure the string gauge. Call first and ask, of course.
 
calipers that can determine .100 from .105...that's wild. thanks for the advice.
 
ghetto3jon said:
calipers that can determine .100 from .105...that's wild.
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Calipers can typically determine .100" from .1005".

If you live somewhere near a Harbor Freight or other imported tool place, it's definitely worth a few bucks to get a .0"-1" caliper. It's not necessary to get a digital one, a standard barrel type will do fine. I use mine all the time for stuff, not the least often -- measuring string gauges.
 
ghetto3jon said:
calipers that can determine .100 from .105...that's wild. thanks for the advice.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...hard to tell if you're being a smart ass or not...that's wild...best to be smart first.
 
i'm not being a smart ass...i thought such a precise tool was pretty cool.
 
ghetto3jon said:
i'm not being a smart ass...i thought such a precise tool was pretty cool.
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O.K. my misunderstanding, then. It just sounded like you were dismissing the idea of calipers being that precise. They use them on guitar strings all the time and can tell the difference b/w .009 and .010, so bass strings should not be a problem.
 
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