Homemade Coated Strings?

Precisionb87 · #1 12-15-2010, 04:44 PM

Hey everyone!
Has anyone thought about attempting to make their own coated strings?
There is a significant price difference, but aren't they just normal strings with a mysterious coating on them? For all I know, this could just be something you can find at the home depot. Anybody have any clues as to what companies are using?

Thanks!

p.s. sorry if this has already been discussed...

darkstorm · #2 12-15-2010, 10:51 PM

There once was this little kid. Who knowing his dad had dreamed about colored coated strings. Decided to help him out. So he got his crayolas and went at it. Only getting a little bit on the basses body. And doing his best to color in all the little nooks and crannies of the thicker strings roundwoundedness.

Unfortunately the strings didnt sound so good all crayolod up.

trowaclown · #3 12-15-2010, 11:01 PM

True story.

Shoewreck · #4 12-16-2010, 12:38 AM

I tried applying acrylic sealing compound. Strings gone instantly dead. Flatwound/tapewound guys would probably dig the tone - it's punchy, somewhat DB-like.
I experimented with sealing amount a little and found that the effect varies with coating amount. I'm sure that major string manufacturers use a different compound and apply truly thin layers, unachievable at home.

Precisionb87 · #5 12-16-2010, 07:51 PM

@Darkstorm: was this little kid you?

@Shoewreck: "Unachievable"? common man... These string manufactures aren't magical, they either dip the stings, or spray them. These are guitar strings, not spaceship parts!

I think what it all boils down to is the substance they are using. Anybody have any other thoughts or ideas?

One Bad Monkey · #6 12-16-2010, 08:00 PM

I would think that doing it at home as opposed to at a string company would be that they have the manufacturing capabilities to do it safer, and more uniform. I would think that an uneven diy coating on a string would affect the sound and leave an undesirable tone.

Luckydog · #7 12-16-2010, 08:10 PM

Elixir uses goretex. This is a wiki entry for goretex: "Robert Gore was granted U.S. Patent 3,953,566 on April 27, 1976, for a porous form of polytetrafluoroethylene (the chemical constituent of Teflon) with a micro-structure characterized by nodes interconnected by fibrils.". I think youd be better off laying out the bucks for the real deal, rather than dipping your strings in some kind of goop yourself.

elgecko · #8 12-16-2010, 08:23 PM

The primary property of Goretex is it's waterproofness. How about a liquid waterproofing product like Nikwax?

thetawaves · #9 12-16-2010, 08:26 PM

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Ernie Ball coated strings have enamel on them

darkstorm · #10 12-17-2010, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Precisionb87

@Darkstorm: was this little kid you?

@Shoewreck: "Unachievable"? common man... These string manufactures aren't magical, they either dip the stings, or spray them. These are guitar strings, not spaceship parts!

I think what it all boils down to is the substance they are using. Anybody have any other thoughts or ideas?

Nope. But did crayola color some goldfish once. Lol. Was a friends kid yrs ago. Dad didnt punish the kid cause did do a good careful job and meant well etc. Lol. But did have to replace the strings with new set. And clean off some crayola off the fretboard. From fretting strings. Lol Dad and kid had a laugh about it and all turned out well.

Pilgrim · #11 12-19-2010, 04:27 PM

Sounds like a good way to make dead strings without resorting to fried chicken grease!

trowaclown · #12 12-19-2010, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Precisionb87

These string manufactures aren't magical, they either dip the stings, or spray them. These are guitar strings, not spaceship parts!

I think what it all boils down to is the substance they are using. Anybody have any other thoughts or ideas?

I think that's simplifying the tech behind it A LOT. You're looking at a coating as thin as a few micrometers, applied consistently to the wrap wire, before the wrap wire is wound around the core wire. And the stuff is exotic. The goretex example above is one.

Applying a finish to an existing string is not gonna work the same. You'll likely get more of your 'stuff' in the valleys between the wrap wires, and inconsistently at that.

SurferJoe46 · #13 12-20-2010, 09:09 AM

I used carnauba wax on a set of 7250s once to dull them down and it worked.

What I can't say is that anybody on TB appreciated it and some even called it lame (there were other terms, but I'll not repeat them here).

The thing that got me intrigued with the idea was that the 7250s were just too harsh and bright in my opinion and they needed a little help and I was going to toss them anyway.

Needless to say, they worked for what I wanted although the coating had to be repeated ever so often to keep it working.

No problem - as I use the same wax for the body anyway, so I could just give them another casual wipe every wax day.

MikeBass · #14 12-20-2010, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckydog

Elixir uses goretex. This is a wiki entry for goretex: "Robert Gore was granted U.S. Patent 3,953,566 on April 27, 1976, for a porous form of polytetrafluoroethylene (the chemical constituent of Teflon) with a micro-structure characterized by nodes interconnected by fibrils.". I think youd be better off laying out the bucks for the real deal, rather than dipping your strings in some kind of goop yourself.

A company I used to work for did a lot of business with Gore (who makes Elixers)
http://www.gore.com/en_xx/products/cables/index.html
The used the coating on wire and cables etc...well as you know musicians are EVERYwhere and some musician/engineer type at the company decided to coat his guitar strings and the rest is what we have now......

I got quite a few free sets of strings from their rep.
Hated the first Elixers, but dug the NanoWeb ones.

Precisionb87 · #15 12-22-2010, 12:20 AM

To trowaclown:
Are you sure that the wire is coated before it is wrapped? How can you be sure?

FunkMetalBass · #16 12-22-2010, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Precisionb87

To trowaclown:
Are you sure that the wire is coated before it is wrapped? How can you be sure?

I was under the impression that coating them before wrapping is how it was done. By coating the wire before wrapping, you don't risk as much loss in flexibility and tonality as you would if you just filled the cracks on a wrapped string.

I could be totally mistaken, but that's how I figured they did it.

etoncrow · #17 12-22-2010, 08:58 AM

I have used a spray Teflon on 22-250 caliber bullets when reloading my own ammunition. It will make a bullet hit 2" above the impact of an uncoated bullet due to reduced friction coefficient and increased velocity. Therefore it might be a good string coating if you are playing metal....

kenfxj · #18 12-22-2010, 09:07 AM

It's Goretex.

ehque · #19 12-23-2010, 01:12 PM

To get an even, thin, coating, they are probably spraying it like with car shops.

DRs are coated before being wrapped. The coating also covers the inner parts of the wrap wire, but not the core wire, to my knowledge.

trowaclown · #20 12-24-2010, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Precisionb87

To trowaclown:
Are you sure that the wire is coated before it is wrapped? How can you be sure?

I'm quite sure I've read about it before, but the last 15min spent googling brought nothing up.

And that was an interesting question you raised. From what i understand, Elixer strings are coated AFTER wrapping. This came up during googling, and is supposedly done to keep gunk out of the valleys between windings. Done improperly, I think homemade coating will have the same effect as gunk.

OTOH, DR strings are coated before wrapping, and I think it's done more as a protection against sweat and acids from the hand. Don't we have a DR representative on this forum? Perhaps he could chip in.