Are LaBella DTB flats supposed to be oily?

bigbajo60 · #1 07-16-2010, 12:54 PM

I've just ordered my 2nd and 3rd sets of DTB's ever, and noticed this time around that some of the envelopes the strings are in have oily stains (both sets), and the strings themselves feel and smell oily. Can any regular LaBella user tell me whether this is normal or not? And if it is, should I wipe the strings down before loading them up?

Thanx for your expertise!

Craig_S · #2 07-16-2010, 02:58 PM

I've never noticed oily residue in string packaging. I'd send them back, I think.

SMW17 · #3 07-16-2010, 07:18 PM

I've never noticed this either. Sounds like something may have happened to your set?

bigbajo60 · #4 07-16-2010, 08:07 PM

Both sets?

They're from Just Strings... I'll try shooting them an email.

Craig_S · #5 07-16-2010, 08:11 PM

Send them back and buy them here:
http://elderly.com/brand/STBS_labella.html

They're around $12.00 cheaper.

bigbajo60 · #6 07-17-2010, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig_S

Send them back and buy them here:
http://elderly.com/brand/STBS_labella.html

They're around $12.00 cheaper.

Thanx for the heads up! I'm still curious about the oilyness though...

Mastermold · #7 07-17-2010, 11:29 AM

Sometimes they may have a little coating on them but not oil.

jasper383 · #8 07-17-2010, 11:58 AM

It's probably some kind of coating to prevent corrosion in shipping, or something left over from manufacturing.

Put the strings on, wipe them down, and play.

Nashrakh · #9 07-17-2010, 12:02 PM

Hmm, haven't noticed this on my La Bellas, but had this with other strings. It was just a thin film, but it left small black stains on my left hand. After some playing, that film was gone though.

bigbajo60 · #10 07-17-2010, 12:41 PM

Yeah, I'm figuring some residual lubricant from the manufacturing process or an "anti-corrosive/preservative" treatment... I just had never noticed "greasy spots" on the individual envelopes. I've sent an email to La Bella; if I get a reply, I'll share here with my fellow TB'ers. All in the name of knowledge!

bigbajo60 · #11 08-02-2010, 01:16 AM

Well, the month ended without any sort of a reply from the factory... and I've gone these past few weeks with the strings loaded up on my Yamaha BB1200. I wiped the "oil" off as best I could beforehand with some paper towels (left some really black and oily swipe marks...), and the good news is that the sound is all there!!!

All in all, I guess it's a matter of "no harm, no foul"... but I'd still personally like to know what the mystery coating is.

onestring · #12 08-04-2010, 10:46 AM

I just put on my first ever set of La Bellas last weekend and the same experience. The paper packets were a little oily, and after I put the strings on my apartment smelled like someone was fixing cars in my house.

I wiped them down as well and rubbed some food grade coconut oil on 'em (I was looking for thud anyway) and that masked the smell.

Maybe someone spilled a little oil while lubing the winder? It wouldn't take much to leak a film over a few hundred strings. A little sloppy, but no harm done.

platformstrange · #13 09-08-2011, 06:38 AM

Had two sets of HRS one 5str and one 4str.
BOTH had BLACK OILY residue. VERY smelly too.

@@@ ISSUE SORTED @@@

PROMPT POLITE AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSE. NEW STRINGS EN ROUTE!

THANKS, LA BELLA

LaBellaStrings · #14 09-08-2011, 08:25 AM

Hello TalkBass Forum Members,

First off, thank you to everyone on the thread for using La Bella Strings.

I wanted to clarify the specific problem with this set of strings. Unlike many other string manufactures, La Bella uses the highest grade stainless steel wire to make our strings. We go to great lengths to get the finest 430 stainless steel from American wire mills. These wire mills use a high temperature resistant lubricant while extruding wire from the dye. This lubricant also prevents the wire from tarnishing. Unfortunately in this case, the specific gauge wiring we used to wind the strings had an excessive amount of lubricant.

We apologize for this incident but we assure you that we've rectified this issue. We'd reached out to the musician who had the issue and we're replacing this defective set.

Thanks for your time,
Richard Cocco
President, La Bella Music Strings

bigbajo60 · #15 09-08-2011, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaBellaStrings

Hello TalkBass Forum Members,

First off, thank you to everyone on the thread for using La Bella Strings.

I wanted to clarify the specific problem with this set of strings. Unlike many other string manufactures, La Bella uses the highest grade stainless steel wire to make our strings. We go to great lengths to get the finest 430 stainless steel from American wire mills. These wire mills use a high temperature resistant lubricant while extruding wire from the dye. This lubricant also prevents the wire from tarnishing. Unfortunately in this case, the specific gauge wiring we used to wind the strings had an excessive amount of lubricant.

We apologize for this incident but we assure you that we've rectified this issue. We'd reached out to the musician who had the issue and we're replacing this defective set.

Thanks for your time,
Richard Cocco
President, La Bella Music Strings

Great to finally find out what the 'deal' was! And straight from "The President", no less!

(((I wonder if the "musician who had the issue" is me?)))