Chromes: how to age them quickly?

[KoalaBass]

My problem is that i dont like the sound of my fresh chromes so i dont play the bass they're on but if i dont play that bass they'll take years to go dead. Any of you has got an idea? Bbq sauce like stephen stills? Boiling them like tim drummond? Something that works without destroying them? Many thanks in advance (and sorry if my english isn't as correct as i wish it was)

[elgecko]

Tone knob?

[JimmyM]

Eucerin cream always does it for me.

[VanillaThundah]

You could go the Jaco route and use your strings as a napkin after eating greasy fried chicken...definitely the most delicious method

I had luck with sweating (by either exercise, mowing the lawn, moving furniture, or w/e makes you really work up a sweat) and then wiping the sweat on the strings as much as I could. Most of the guys whose strings die really quickly on stage/tour, it's because they sweat a lot while playing a show. Justin Meldal-Johnsen cited that his strings die pretty quick because his hands sweat at shows a lot (this was in a video about Chromes on Youtube). It worked for me, give it a try...it's definitely the CHEAPEST option lol

[Derio]

I hate the sound of new strings as well,

I just push through it for a few days of jamming with the band and they start to sound more like I prefer.

[seang15]

Why do people want to age strings??

[samtastic]

Why not try different strings?
Have you tried nickel instead of chrome?

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by seang15

Why do people want to age strings??

Because flats don't sound as good until they're way dead.

[KoalaBass]

Thanks for the answers! So hand cream works? I should try!

[Technotitclan]

Send them my way. I'll kill them in a few weeks

I personally love fresh strings. Even started a thread about finding cheaper steels because my DR Hi Beams only last me a month. Those last most other people 3 to 6. If I use nickles.... forget about. One week, its done. Two weeks is over kill.

[KoalaBass]

Just to be clearer, i'm talking about daddario chromes flatwounds. I know they're "bright" flats, but I've been told they sound really good once they're dead.

[4-string]

If there's one thing that will always gross me out, it's threads about making strings go dead. And that Jaco myth just refuses to die...

Play the strings, flats that sounds broken in have to be earned.

[Duckwater]

Originally Posted by 4-string

Play the strings, flats that sounds broken in have to be earned.

I agree with this, I think the real dead sound comes from the cores of the strings being worn out and not the wraps getting dirty. My current Chromes are nearly a year old and have a decent amount of playing time on them(guessing around 200 hours of aggressive right hand playing) and don't sound THAT different from when they were new. They lost their ringing sound and gained some thump, but they are still very bright. Who knows when they will completely die.

[Mushroo]

Learn good right- and left-hand technique so you can dial in the sound you want using your fingers. If the strings are too bright then pluck a little closer to the neck, or use heavier muting, or roll off the tone knob, or turn down the treble on the amp, or _____.

[seang15]

Originally Posted by 4-string

If there's one thing that will always gross me out, it's threads about making strings go dead. And that Jaco myth just refuses to die...

Play the strings, flats that sounds broken in have to be earned.

+1, especially the Jaco part. Jaco changed his strings every set at times in his career! Dead strings don't pop harmonics.

[JimmyM]

Flats players by and large couldn't give a rat's ass about popping harmonics, Sean

[jamersonburton]

Play 'em.
#jamerson


O.o

[FourBanger]

Who is Jaco? Is he a basserist? Somebody played me a song by a guy named something like that once and it sounded like he was playing a fretless ukulele or some sort of trombone even.

[Spaldo]

Play, play, play. And then play some more...

[bassbully]

I age mine by using my fingers.