Can Strings Suddenly Sound Dull?

[Dickie_uk]

Hi,
I've had a medium guage set of roundwounds on my bass since last spring, but have been hammering the crap out of them lately. I'm sure they've suddenly gone dull in the last few days?

Is this possible? I thought they'd go dull gradually?

[WilliamSandoval]

Most rounds die between 2-5 months. If yours has lasted 8 then... I don't know what to tell you!

It could be that you've had them on so long that the core has completely stretched to where it just sounds really... off. It's hard to explain.

[rockstarbassist]

Yep.

[Eublet]

Yes. I've had it happen many times. They'll sound great while I'm playing for a couple hours, then pick up the bass the next day and they're dead as a doornail.

[darkstorm]

Id say its rather unusual for roundwounds to still sound good to anyone after being on so long. But some like the dulled sound of rounds that are well past their prime. The last stage of dieing for strings can be more abrupt then the first in some cases where the final stage of top edge to the sound just vanishes quickly. And bass difinition fades out to mushy bleh.

[traxeman75]

I heard you can boil them, does that really work?

[SLaPiNFuNK]

Did the weather change much recently?

[WilliamSandoval]

Originally Posted by traxeman75

I heard you can boil them, does that really work?

DON'T BOIL YOUR STRINGS!!!

Water + Metal = Rust!!!

Let them soak in Denatured Alcohol overnight.

You can get DA from Home improvement stores pretty cheap.

[Darylw425]

There are a bunch of factors that can affect string life. Weather, if you wash your hands before playing, the acidity of your sweat, and wiping the strings down can all help or hurt.

I've definitely had the experience of strings sounding great one day, then many of the top end freqs are gone the next day.

[locriansharpsec]

I had a pretty new set of strings on my bass once and a friend of mine came over and played it for an hour. He didnt wash his hands first like I always do. I did notice his hands were real sticky when we shook hands as he left. Later that night I picked up my bass and I seriously thought something was wrong with it. It sounded so dull I thought the tone knob was broke or something- couldnt figure it out. I then remembered his sticky ass hands and ended up changing my strings all over again. For now on, if ya want to play my bass- wash your hands first dude!

[PerlNinja]

Yes, they can in fact go from one day to the next. My low E just went out right in the middle of practice, noticeably so. Was fine yesterday

[Arthur U. Poon]

I've had the same thing happen many, many times. I use nickel round wounds and regardless of brand, my strings will suddenly be dead after a few weeks of steady use.