String won't fit.

[Farfetched]

I got a free pair of "Austin City Strings" the other day. Having never heard of them I decided to try them out on my mim fender jazz 5. Everything seemed fine however, the B-string which was a .130 didn't go all the way through the bridge (the 'ball' part of the string stops about 2-3 inches from the bridge. The For some reason it seemed to be thicker at the end than the middle of the string. Does it just need a little more force or is there something wrong with the string?

[jeremy c]

Strings are always thicker at the ball end.

 

If there are thread windings around the string, try peeling them off.

 

Otherwise just jam the string in there but don't break anything.

[Fred TBP]

A free pair of strings but the B string doesn't fit? Send an e-mail to the company or just toss the set. You shouldn't need to dissect a production string to fit your bridge, nor should you modify your bridge. Who knows, they may appreciate the info and send you another set or three.

[Scoot]

I had the same prob w/ a 4-string that I tuned BEAD. I had nothing to lose, so I took some pliers and squeezed the ball end a bit, worked fine. You might want to put something over the "teeth" of the pliers though so you don't damage the windings more than the squeezing will.

[Nicklab]

You might want to invest in a small file. Just head out to your local hardware store, and you may even want to consider bringing your bass. See if they have a small, round file that you can buy that will enlarge the hole for the B-string in your bridge. I've run into the same circumstances with thick B-strings being ill-fitting in the string ferules of my Fender Roscoe Beck 5-string. Give the file a shot. Your bridge probably won't need that much filing, and it should widen the opening enough to slide a .130 B-string through.