How do you clean your strings?

[andrewd]

Originally posted by TheBassmeister
I never have strings around long enough to need to clean em . They always break.

i think youre playing too hard! take it easy

[ogwa]

I've had lengthy chats about fast fret with a luthier friend of mine;

He said the stuff is very bad for fingerboards, + somehow rots them. As he'd just made me a fretless, I was inclined to take his advice.

take caution putting stuff on your strings.

[Airsick Pilot]

Originally posted by ogwa
I've had lengthy chats about fast fret with a luthier friend of mine;

He said the stuff is very bad for fingerboards, + somehow rots them. As he'd just made me a fretless, I was inclined to take his advice.

take caution putting stuff on your strings.

A friend of mine has been applying fast fret on his strings for a few years now and the last time I saw his BB1500A, it had these greyish white stains on the fretboard. He told me that he had tried everything to get them off but he couldn't.

[Stingraymund]

I never clean my strings. But I do make sure to wash my hands before playing or practicing.

[Matthew Bryson]

I've never cleaned a set of strings in my 3.5 years of playing. I've never broken a string either. I just usually play dead strings until I get a wild hair to get the zing back. I'm thinking that tomorow I may clean my string by soaking in alcohol for the first time ever. I don't think I'll ever boil any strings, unless somebody that I really don't like is coming over for tea.

[dave_clark69]

Originally Posted by carl-anton

Why is that? Does it affect the sound?

I believe it has something to do with the core. When it gets twisted it sounds like your playing an old donkey. I did this once with a 20 year old string. I then tuned it back up and ping snap crach bang wallop. String breaking sound everywhere, so i just said oh what the heck i deserve some strings that arent older than me!

[mnadelin]

Originally Posted by Stingraymund

I never clean my strings. But I do make sure to wash my hands before playing or practicing.

Same here. I always hate it when these guys on their gigs take a break, go eat some pizza and popcorn, maybe wipe their hands on a napkin and go back up there and play their bass. Personally, I can't stand getting grease and dirt on my strings.

[nashvillebill]

I keep my hands clean and my bass clean. I don't sweat profusely. I buy good quality flatwounds and leave them on for years and years, and have never broken a bass string. Oh well, i'm weird.

I agree with the philosophy that it's not really a good thing to detune a string, take it off, then tune it back later.

[carl-anton]

Originally Posted by nashvillebill

I agree with the philosophy that it's not really a good thing to detune a string, take it off, then tune it back later.

It's funny. I asked D'addario if it would hurt the string to be removed and put back on, and they said it would be ok for a couple of times. The construction of the string shouldn't be affected by this and neither should tone. I then took of my 2 week old XL's to a/b them with DR Sunbeams. When I put the XL's back on (they had been stored in alcohol in the meantime) the b, e and a strings were almost completely dead! The DR's on the other hand seems to be unafected by this procedure (I've done it lots of times with up 1½ year old strings). And mind you that the DR's I use is roundcores, which in theory should be the most fragile as to the wrap slipping from the core goes. I some strings can take being removed, and some can't.

[mike ranger]

i agree w/ stingraymund,keep your hands clean. i use flatwounds that don't grab the dirt like roundwounds
i wipe them off occasionally (like once a year maybe) w/
a dry rag

[iareplaythebass]

Maybe I'm one of the fortunate few, but for some reason, my skin oils don't kill strings! I can leave a set on for a year, with heavey playing even and they'll be nearly as bright as the day i first strung them. Sadly, my neighbor has the opposite problem as I found out when I let him borrow my bass a few months back... after one night of him playing it, my strings were DEAD.

I have also heard that boiling strings may cause some rust since it involves water. A freind told me that to avoid this you can bake them in the oven and them beat them on the floor and it does the same thing.

[ERIC31]

I boil them right on the stove. It's always worked for me. Really cleans up the sound too.

[phat5]

I use a 35" piece of 1" i.d. pvc pipe. Capped off on one end and screw capped on the other..filled with alcohol. shake it and let it sit for 1-2 hrs. shake and dry.