String 3 - plain or wound? On guitar, string 3 stays plain up to a .019 gauge. Once your tuning calls for anything thicker, the calculator switches you to a wound 3rd and bumps the target from 15.5 to 16.0 lbs. Wound strings of similar gauge feel a touch softer at the same tension, so the small lift keeps them even with the rest of the ladder.

⚹HEAVY GAUGES & TUNER POSTS

.062″–.073″	1.5mm
.074″–.083″	2mm
.084″–.094″	2.5mm
.095″+	3mm

Stock tuning pegs are drilled for typical gauges, generally up to about .062". Past that, the string may not fit through the post without the hole opened up. A 1.5–2mm bit covers most of what you'll run into here, 2.5mm for the heaviest low strings. We can do it in shop if you'd rather not.

Past .090 there are no guitar singles, so the lowest string can take a bass single (marked "bass" in the gauge list). Those need a 3mm hole, a wider nut slot, and have a bigger ball end, so check it seats in your bridge or string-through ferrules.

⚹INTONATION AT LOW TUNINGS

Most guitars leave the factory set up and intonated for standard tuning. Drop far enough below that, usually Drop C / C standard or lower, and the low string can run out of adjustment room on stock hardware. Often fixable by pulling the spring under that saddle's intonation screw and running the saddle to its rearmost travel. Past that point the bridge or saddles need modifying, that's a shop job, bring it in and we'll sort it.

Reading the bass part numbers — example: a .125

• XLB125 — Long Scale, regular (full winding right to the ball end).
• XLB125T — Long Scale, Tapered (winding steps down to bare core at the ball / bridge end).
• XB125SL — Super Long Scale, regular.
• XB125TSL — Super Long Scale, Tapered.

Decode it: XLB = Long Scale · XB…SL = Super Long · …S = Short · …M = Medium · T = Tapered.

Which scale? (measure from where the ball end sits in the bridge to the top of the nut)

• Long — about 34–35″ basses.
• Super Long — about 36″+ basses (e.g. many Dingwalls).
• Short ≈ 30″ and Medium ≈ 32″ cover short-scale basses.

Tapered (T) vs. Regular

• Tapered — the winding steps down to the bare core at the ball / bridge end. The thinner core lets a heavy low string seat on the bridge evenly with the rest and tightens the fundamental for cleaner intonation. Standard on the heaviest low strings; ideal for top-load bridges.
• Regular — full winding to the ball end. Best for string-through-body basses and a warmer, vintage thump.