removing silks?

[unclebass]

Has anyone here ever successfully removed silks from their strings? Is it possible without messing up the strings? I know that some strings come without silks, wondering if they are absolutely necessary? I have a set of roto77s that I might use, but prefer the look of a silkless string.

[salcott]

If the manufacturer puts silks on, I leave them on. I don't care what they look like.

[mjac28]

Originally Posted by salcott

If the manufacturer puts silks on, I leave them on. I don't care what they look like.

+1 but I'm a fraidy cat

[hover]

Ernie Ball strings: silkless. Sure there are others. Don't bother removing existing silk, that's a waste of effort. Now the D'Addario color-coded ball ends...urg! (just kidding, I use chromes all the time...)

[Ian_Flash]

It IS possible to remove the silks from SOME brands, it will not mess up the string. Just be careful, as some brands wind the silk at the top of the string UNDER one of the wind layers. DO NOT loosen the winds, just cut the silk using a fresh razor blade, some alcohol for the strings and some for your glass!

[3234718]

I moved a set of roto 66’s from one bass to another a few times and silk came off the a string and the it started unraveling.

[gard0300]

Not recommending this but I had some silks fraying out on me. So I grabbed the nearest lighter and the flamed up pretty quick. I'm sure this isn't very safe not to mention possible temper issues. But I thought I'd pass it along.