Determining string guage

T3

T3

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Hi Warwickers, I'm a newbie to Warwick basses awaiting arrival of a Thumb BO6. I purchased it used, and the seller didn't remember the make or guages of the strings. The bass was setup specifically for those strings so, unless I really dislike the existing strings, I would like to stick with them. How can I determine the string guage? I was going to use a micrometer to measure their diameters, but does, for example, an E-string of size 40 = 0.040 inches?

Thanks!
 
oops, sorry, I meant *G* string of size 40...
 
Yup. A 'G' advertised at 40 is .040". They'd have to be some oddball strings to force the setup to be changed specifically for them... Are they all tapered or something? I had a set recently that were like that and they played hell with my setup. Luckily, they wore out quick and I didn't really like 'em too much so I switched back to more normal strings... ~M~
 
Avionix,
Thank you for your reply. Because the Thumb is still in the mail, I'm not certain about the nature of its strings. But your reply brings up something interesting: I had always heard that if you change the string guage, you should at least check, if not adjust, the bow of the neck, the intonation, and string height. Perhaps this isn't necessary.

T3
 
I'd agree with Avionix. I think both my basses came with 45-105s, I've changed both to 45-100s and not had to make any adjustments... not even to the intonation for fretless playing. Small differences should be OK. But I always re-check everything when I change strings... action, intonation, neck relief, just to be sure. I'm sure the details are all in the Warwick manual... if you don't get one with your bass, you can download one from the Warwick website. Also have a look at the entries under "tips and tricks" (I think it's called that) on this forum.
 
The only set-up changes I've had to make were going from tapered to non's or something drastic like .135's to .125's (B).

FWIW, Seth's tips and tricks set-up notes are MUCH better than what's in the manuals.
 
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