Deadening Strings

[frontroom]

Okay, I've gone the routes of cleaning strings(rounds) to make them brighter.Boiling, alcohol, even soap and water. But what about trying to "kill" a set of flatwounds. Tim Drummond once said you had to play them every day for a year before they sounded good. Stephen Stills, who played a lot of bass on his solo releases, said he used barbecue sauce!! Anybody have any tried and true methods?

[SLaPiNFuNK]

I was talking about this with a friend of mine the other day... We are going to experiment with soaking strings in different oils...

We will see what happens,

[FretlessMainly]

Yep, BBQ sauce will do it. Fried chicken - which is also good eatin' - just before you play will do it too. Really good for when you break a string and don't want to replace the whole set because they're nice and broken in.

[PastorofMuppets]

The whole concept seems silly to me. No offense.
Might as well put in the time deadening them naturally.
Your improved playing will be a nice by-product of your efforts.

[SLaPiNFuNK]

(personally I like the sound of new strings, I used to change them like once every 2 weeks when I was younger)((and gigging regularly)).

[grendle]

Use ethel alcohol (nail polish remover) to kill them. It does the exact opposite of isopropil or denatured alcohol. I learned that one the hard way.

[vincentpghpa]

Cheetos while playing (a lot) would probably work.

[frontroom]

For the record, I have a session in two days and the artist has requested that old flat wound, thuddy tone. Thank you to all who have answered seriously, others should consider contributing when you actually have a contribution.

[zarigunn]

ieuw

why chould you want a dead sound?
But if you really want that;

just go to the mc. donalds get a big tasty menu, don 't wash your hands and play the bass.
after that, take a crap, don 't wash and go play.
Do that for a week or 3.
And buy the worst bass with the less sustain for about 90$.

You have what you wan 't

[stflbn]

Put foam under the bridge and pull off the treble on a new set of flatwounds will work wonders to make them sound broken in.

[frontroom]

Hey Zari, Check out some Motown, Stax/Volt, Hi Records ,Joe Osborn's work in L.A. Do some research before you make stupid remarks!!

[Jay2U]

There are other threads around with basically the same topic. To my experience it is often one string in a set, which starts sounding and feeling 'old'. After a while a second one becomes 'mature'. There must be a way to 'burn in' a set of strings in a relatively short period of time. It would be nice if some manufacturer could offer pre-worn strings. There must be a way. I'm thinking of a device which over-tensions the strings slightly, at an elevated temperature, agitating them continuously. Maybe a nice project, if I can find some time.

[guroove]

Play a lot, sweat a lot, eat greasy foods, don't wash your hands, make sure to play the whole length of the string, especially up high. If you only play down low, the high notes will still have newness and clarity. I've tried slathering on chicken grease. It doesn't work. At least not as well as playing a lot. FWIW, I don't think you'll get very far in two days.

[Ewo]

Originally Posted by stflbn

Put foam under the bridge and pull off the treble on a new set of flatwounds will work wonders to make them sound broken in.

Yah, I was thinking along the same line.

And maybe experiment a bit with different materials: kitchen sponge, weatherstrip (fold so adhesive is inside!), foam pillow, whatever. I'd figure they'll have different effects on both the envelope and the freq response.

[frontroom]

I know...I think I'll go the foam mute method (I once knew a guy who used Dr. Scholl's foot pads!)

[makkE]

I thought dirt played a minor role in breaking in flats?
I wipe mine down with alcohol from time to time, and ocasionally use fast fret.
Will this delay the aging?

I always thought flats age from simply being played and the metal becoming softer?

[EricssonB]

If you want to buy me a new set of lite-gauge flat 5er strings, then I'll be more than willing to send you my old, dead rounds. They're from 2003.

[Newfirstbass]

New guy question, I have flatwounds on my cort curbow4- I love the sound- I also know they are only a month or two old and not played a lot since new..Now then, it seems some guys like them to stay on a bass for years?
Some change them often?
Some boil, sauce, or treat them?
How do you know when they are dead...........The sound I get from mine is a kinda Jameson cream smooth flowing dark tone- thats what I love about flats?

[Jay2U]

Originally Posted by frontroom

I know...I think I'll go the foam mute method (I once knew a guy who used Dr. Scholl's foot pads!)

I sometimes use foam muting. In order to have maximum effect, you should try little dice of dense foam per string, so the foam doesn't couple energy from one string to another. The dice I use are just over 1/4" wide and long. The initial hight depends on the action and the bridge construction. Try making them 1/8" higher than the string height. For my Ibanez this absolutely works.

[Jay2U]

Originally Posted by Newfirstbass

New guy question, I have flatwounds on my cort curbow4- I love the sound- I also know they are only a month or two old and not played a lot since new..Now then, it seems some guys like them to stay on a bass for years?
Some change them often?
Some boil, sauce, or treat them?
How do you know when they are dead...........The sound I get from mine is a kinda Jameson cream smooth flowing dark tone- thats what I love about flats?

You can smell when they are dead (lol). Less high harmonics and less sustain are typical for what I like to call mature strings.