how should i keep strings clean, fresh, new?

stewlyons · #1 10-10-2010, 12:40 PM

recommendations? what should i do after playing a set, or practicing? i like that product called fast frets, but it's very expensive...i go through an applicator in about a week...i have been using a "rod and reel" cloth (available and hunting and fishing stores) to clean off/wipe down the strings after each session (someone recommended this to me)...it's basically a piece of cloth impregnated with silicone...seemed to work okay...but i've been told silicone is impossible to get off a guitar finish or wood, so even though i wasn't wiping the body of the bass with the "rod and reel" cloth, i don't know maybe i shouldn't have even been putting silicone on the fretboard...so, what's the best thing to wipe strings down with? i've been told a microfiber cloth is what i should use...good idea? any particular brand or product for a microfiber cloth? and remember being told a while ago that plain old motor oil is the best thing to put on strings...and then what about soaking strings in methyl alcohol after they've gone dead? what is everone's experience with this? it sounds like if you do this you'll never need to be another set of strings...so you get the idea...i sure would appreciate any suggestins...thanks...

kesslari · #2 10-10-2010, 12:50 PM

The best way to keep strings new is to not play your bass.
If you play it, they'll get used over time, but that's a worthwhile tradeoff, isn't it?

With that said - I don't use any crud on my strings, and wipe them down after every use with a relatively clean cloth. The acid and oils on your fingers is the main culprit, so just wiping them down will do a lot.

Many people swear by taking them off and soaking them in denatured alcohol for a week or so (put on a new set, soak the old, then reverse the process putting the cleaned set on and soaking the other, etc.) Denatured alcohol definitely does a nice job of cleaning the strings.

MNAirHead · #3 10-10-2010, 12:57 PM

Silicone is tough to remove..

Clean cloth.. old diapers or felt shirts work well.

pstyle · #4 10-10-2010, 01:00 PM

+1 on denatured alcohol... I can't remember the last time I actually put a new on of strings on.

oggdawg · #5 10-10-2010, 01:01 PM

I used to boil my strings every couple weeks until I realized that they sounded better with all the grease and crud on them. To each his own.

John Wentzien · #6 10-10-2010, 01:06 PM

Zippo lighter fluid..Put a dab on the corner of a wash cloth and run it down each string...really cuts the "peanut-butter" off!
Evaporates very quickly...won't rust the string core.

(edit) Stanley Clarke uses "Skin-Bracer" aftershave to clean them!

crucislancer · #7 10-10-2010, 01:15 PM

Wipe them down after you play, including under the strings, with a soft cloth, then rub down with Fast Fret. My strings keep the broken in sound, but that's what I like.

selowitch · #8 10-10-2010, 01:27 PM

If lighter fluid works, I assume anything with naphtha in it will work. Just don't try it around anything flammable, for goodness sake!

pedroims · #9 10-10-2010, 01:42 PM

Wash your hands before playing, dont eat while playing, wipe the strings after your play, I use fast fret once every two weeks. Thats all I do and works for me.

Thunderthumbs73 · #10 10-10-2010, 01:49 PM

Since I like some slappity zing to strings, and also I can't keep on spending boucoup $$ to replace them everytime I perform, I boil a set of strings on the bass I want to use, the day of the gig. Much of the zing is brought back, enough to get me through the gig. and I let those strings be, until the next gig, aside from just wiping down the bass and strings after each time I play. Saved major $$$ doing it that way.

Eventually, you will need new strings, as breakage will occur, as rust will happen around the windings of either/both ends of the string, but you could still get perhaps a couple years good use out strings this way. Once one of the strings in my sets breaks, I just go ahead and bite the bullet, and buy a new set, as the others are sure to follow...

behndy · #11 10-10-2010, 01:53 PM

hurm. i was under the impression that low B strings "die" after awhile. something about the core only lasting so long? i could be talking (writing) out of my *** tho. but i do know that the B on my sixers goes all thwuddy instead of pop-blinkety before any of the others.

is this something that can be fixed by cleaning them?

John Wentzien · #12 10-10-2010, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by selowitch

If lighter fluid works, I assume anything with naphtha in it will work. Just don't try it around anything flammable, for goodness sake!

NO SMOKING!

SnakeKappele · #13 10-10-2010, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewlyons

i like that product called fast frets, but it's very expensive...i go through an applicator in about a week...

NOTE: I use flatwounds!

I play for 3 or more hours almost every night and when I finish playing I always polish up my bass with a Dunlop finish cloth, clean the back of the neck well with the finish cloth, and then I do the strings...

I use "The String Cleaner" for bass (http://www.amazon.com/String-Cleaner...6741366&sr=8-2). I keep it closed and run it up and down the strings basically scrubbing them. Then I clamp it on and run it up and down the strings some more. Then I lightly run the Fast Fret applicator down the tops of the strings, the upper side of the strings, the lower side of the strings, and then the tops again. Then I gently run the cleaning cloth over the strings once.

My strings stay like new and I can go for 6 months or more with the Fast Fret.

phatbass · #14 10-10-2010, 02:26 PM

Wash hands before playing and at breaks. Wipe strings down properly, with a CLEAN and DRY lint-free cotton cloth, at any opportunity.