That is stretching your strings. There is not much to it, but usually, you need to do that a few times for the strings to keep tune. Apparently you can’t do that with Labella’s
So they keep tune. Otherwise they will go out of tune every time you play it.
My basses don’t go out of tune often, after stretching them 2-3 times.
You have every right to not stretch, I support you, and apparently, so does your string of choice, but it is most certainly not a myth, sorry to say.
Bingo!
This might be the confusion. You do not pre stretch strings OFF the bass.
It is common place to put strings on.
Tune
Stretch them a little by running your finger under the string from the body up to the nut.
Re-tune
Run your finger under again
Re-tune
Thats it.
Instead of running your finger under, you can just bend the strings up and down like playing bent notes. Re-tune, do it again, and re-tune.
It really doesn’t take any extra time, so it is hard to see it as a waste of time.
Again @pam, you are still off the hook, because your strings of choice said not to stretch them. But that is a Brand thing, more then a Flat / Round / coated / tape / half round, etc… thing
My guess is this is just a CYA move as they don’t want to deal with customers calling support and asking why their string broke, and has nothing to do with their strings at all.
Maybe they do some pre-stretching in the factory? Dunno tbh, I stretch my LaBella strings sometimes and never had any issues. Don’t have to stretch super hard either.
It could also be a storage/temperature issues. Maybe the new strings were super cold so the core wire was already a bit tight?
That advice specifically references stretching before installation, where as pre-stretching involves gentle stretching during installation with the strings already installed on the instrument.
I’ve never heard of anyone stretching strings before installation so again, this advice seems a bit off.
Do I need to tug or stretch my bass strings before installation?
No, please don’t tug or stretch strings as you run the risk of breaking the string. A few hours of playing will break your strings in tonally and physically
It feels really weird that he could pop the ball off the string by stretching it by hand, since the tuner would be putting a lot more force on it than that.
I have never pre stretched strings, and they stay in tune just fine. And I’ve changed many sets of strings, including Ernie Ball, D’Addario, and LaBella.
If you want to to take this extra step, that’s fine, I’m just saying it’s unnecessary IMO. Just the act of tuning them after putting them on is all the stretching they need.
I have to agree that I never had tuning issues without pre-stretching strings either. To be honest I only did it with my LaBellas lol. Maybe it’s a thing from the past when strings were more rigid?
Just put my first set of flats on my Jaguar, and man does it feel different. Not sticky at all, smooth, but very different. Big change in sound. So far so good.
Not sure why some of us think they feel sticky and others don’t. Fretting hand specifically for me, definitely sticky. Rounds feel way more frictionless to me.
I have super dry skin, not sure if that might be why. Could be technique as well.
Feels like glass to me. Fender rounds chew up my fingers, the friction on them kills me. D’addario to a lessor degree, but still slide downs are like sandpaper. Curious.
Glad I did it, the fretboard was visibally dry when I bought it a couple weeks ago and this gave me the chance to apply some F1 oil.
I have never played Fender Rounds that I am aware of.
I usually go with EB Slinky’s, but they are as round as can be. I have built up enough callouses on my fingers that I don’t get pain from playing or sliding.
Also
Because of the callous, is probably alot of the reason I hate flats. They are almost like I can’t feel them, and I like to know my string is under my finger, especially for bends and slides. I don’t get that comfort of feeling the strings with flats as much, so it just doesn’t feel right to me.
If I had smooth fingers, and then started with flats, It might be a whole different story.
