Pow_22 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Ive been using the above strings for a while (recently been messing with Picato's however). A new problem ive encountered tho is that on my Squire Telebass (string thru body) the E strings bullet is too big to fit through the ferrule on the back of the body. All the other strings fit through fine its literally just the E string. I dont really want to be dropping a gauge just to fit the E string. Anyone know if its possible to take a ball end off one of my old sets G, D or A and fit it to my new E string? The G, D and A all fit fine its just the E i have a problem with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pow_22 Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Thought id update with an excellent (and very informative) response from Rotosound on this issue:- Unfortunately, whilst many Chinese made basses and guitars are of a good standard these days, many of the factories out there have waivered from the western standards and the Fender Squire is one. The item you refer to as the `bullet` is the `ball` which is located at the ballend of the string. Up until two years ago we used the standard ¼” bass ball which had been the standard in the industry since way back in the 50`s. In fact it is known as the Ernie Ball spec. As with Ernie Ball, we have all our brass balls made in Switzerland as most of the USA producers do. They are the best around. Now, everything went well for many decades until the Chinese started making musical instruments and selling them to the likes of us in the West. For some reason they went metric so the ferrules adopted for string through bodies would only suit a metric ball of 0.237” and not the original larger 0.250” ¼” version. The ferrules were just a tad too small. Being aware of this problem becoming more common some two years ago I changed all our ball sizes to the smaller metric as they would still work with the standard US and western built guitars/basses but more importantly suit all the millions of Chinese made instruments now flooding our markets whose players wanted Rotosound strings on them and nothing less! Like all things in manufacturing, obsolete parts need to be phased out during an interim period to make way for the new. Clearly from what you say, you have three strings with the smaller metric balls and one with the older ¼” which is why you cannot fit the `E` into your Chinese Squire. The set you have has probably been in stock some time now as we rarely ever get our players mention this problem anymore. Mind you flatwounds are not a quick seller and nothing like roundwounds. As a large company Paul we certainly cannot make `specials` or custom strings as these are made in their thousands every day on state of the art machines using standard stocked materials. We do not sell direct to the public either, only the trade through dealers, shops and the like. So, this is what I will do to help you. If you give me your address I will send you out a 105 `E` string with our compliments which will obviously have the smaller metric ball attached and will fit the bill. Excellent customer service from Rotosound i think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 This should be in 'daily awesomeness' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Yet again Rotosound come up with great customer service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yepmop Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Nice one Rotosound, excellent customer service (seems to be a rare thing these days). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 (edited) yes, I had a D string that the windings looked like they had a gap on them but the others didn't so I emailed Rotosound and got a brand new one through the post. Another long time Rotoflats user - that set of strings is now on my Precision and as still good as ever after 20 months and dozens of gigs Edited June 12, 2012 by Delberthot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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