String allergies [HELP PLEASE]

[Hobohodou]

Hi there, first real post on the forums I guess, but was wondering if anyone could help, i've been playing on and off since I was 12 years old, i'm now 21, nearing 22 at the end of the year, so nearing 10 years on bass, but never advanced as much as i'd have liked because

I'm allergic to strings, most times I play, within 24 hours I gain blisters/irritation on my fingers between my middle and ring finger, and sometimes worse if i pay for more than about 3 hours, sometimes it's blisters, sometimes it just develops into open sores, and, well...I know i'm allergic to some kind of metal the strings use, as i've always been allergic to watches/belts etc etc etc, and I'd love to ask for some help from a real bass playing community.
Y'see, I love bass, and I've loved bass playing for a long time, in the past couple of years, I discovered Justin Chancellor, Tony Levin, and Les Claypool, and as much as i'd love to learn a lot more of their stuff, everytime I play I end up in pain. which means I have to limit myself to playing 2-4 hours maximum per week.
This always happens when playing bass, and is worse if i pick up electric guitar, I'm guessing it's the material the strings are made of, which I'm also assuming is Nickel, so I ask for help finally, I went to the doctor after I discovered I was allergic and was given a steroid cream which did well.....nothing at all pretty much, pain was still there, still broke out in blisters and gave up playing bass for a year or so when younger, at this moment in time I really want to move on to recording, perfecting songs and hopefully joining a band if I can, but the one thing that always holds me back is my allergy.

So I beg of you community, do you know of any strings that may help me out? Does anyone else here suffer the same problem? and if you know a specific type of string that's helped you out could you link me to a place to buy it if at all possible?
(finally, this one is less important, but if anyone knows of any Standard electric guitar strings which fit the profile too, i'd love to know, as I love music to death and would love to play more, but I always feel limited as I can't play for very long without an outbreak)
Even if anyone knows of a way to treat strings if possible to stop this from happening it would be a great help !!!!

Many many thanks in advance to anyone who can help me, and sorry if this is in the wrong section !!!!

also before anyone asks if i can just wear gloves, I tried that when I first started, and it didn't work out :P

EDIT: forgot to mention, I know i;m also allergic to Bronze/copper as well, I was born with fail-genes that caused me to be in pain when i have a long exposure to metal :P !

[droberts444]

Have you considered nylon tapewounds? Maybe the nylon might help. Hang in there and good luck.

[ugly_bassplayer]

+1 on trying nylons

[Thunderitter]

Have you tried coated strings: Elixirs, DR Strings?

[arsie]

Try to isolate the allergy. Based on your experience with watches, it would probably be the metal.

Does it happen on all types of strings? Stainless Steel, Nickle, Coated, etc etc?

I would even hazard for you to try a fretless because the allergy could be caused by the frets.

[Hobohodou]

this is going to be very n00bish, but will nylon strings1 work with electric bass?

also, not had a chance to try any of those strings out as i've seen them nowhere local ! Looking for something that can solve my problem and get me back into playing properly.

Also, this is a bit unrelated but is there anything similar to these strings for 6 string electric guitar? I sometimes play with my GF but that causes me to breakout worse (full bleeding usually if i play with her guitar, instead of my bass).

As I said, looking for the internet's and TB's expertise on thiss, as i'd love a chance to play more, but I use my fingers a lot in work :P and having hands that bleed/breakout/itch is not helping me...i've been cutting back so I can keep my job, but I really need a solution.

Thanks for the help so far ! and sorry again if this is out of place, but not sure if many others have the same issue !

[zephyr_words]

Try coated strings like everyone said instead of nylon.

Buy them online since you don't know what you have local, juststrings.com

[arsie]

Originally Posted by Hobohodou

this is going to be very n00bish, but will nylon strings1 work with electric bass?

also, not had a chance to try any of those strings out as i've seen them nowhere local ! Looking for something that can solve my problem and get me back into playing properly.

Also, this is a bit unrelated but is there anything similar to these strings for 6 string electric guitar? I sometimes play with my GF but that causes me to breakout worse (full bleeding usually if i play with her guitar, instead of my bass).

As I said, looking for the internet's and TB's expertise on thiss, as i'd love a chance to play more, but I use my fingers a lot in work :P and having hands that bleed/breakout/itch is not helping me...i've been cutting back so I can keep my job, but I really need a solution.

Thanks for the help so far ! and sorry again if this is out of place, but not sure if many others have the same issue !

They are not nylon strings ala Classical guitars. They are normal nickle or steel strings with a nylon outer coating.

There are coated strings for guitar as well. My guitarist has sweaty palms and he gets them because they last longer.

[PazzoBasso]

I think stainless steel is hypo- allergenic. Most "surgical" steel & body jewelry is SS. But coated strings might work.

It's unfortunate, but electric basses need ferrous strings to work with magnetic pickups. If no metal is your only option. You'll need some other technology - like lightwave pickups. But I'm not sure anyone makes electric string that don't contain metal.

Good luck

[Syco_bass]

Have you spoken to an alergist? He/she might be able to prescribe a cream to use prior and after you play.

If it is the nickel strings you are alergic to, you might need to switch to SS frets as well.

definately try the coated strings. Elixer, DR, etc. + 1 on juststrings.com

Good luck.

[Staredge]

For guitar....have you considered slide???

[tooley]

a lot of people are allergic to nickel, which for some reason (its cheap) is used in watches, jewelry. i don't get any reactions to nickel but always avoid them and so should everybody

this has a brief description of the toxic effects of nickel
Nickel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ixlramp]

Originally Posted by Hobohodou

I know i'm allergic to some kind of metal the strings use, as i've always been allergic to watches/belts etc .....
This always happens when playing bass, and is worse if i pick up electric guitar, I'm guessing it's the material the strings are made of, which I'm also assuming is Nickel, so I ask for help finally, I went to the doctor after I discovered I was allergic .....

Whoa! ... hang on, 'discovered you were allergic to' ... what exactly?

If you are allergic to nickel then use stainless steel bass strings, stainless steel guitar strings are available too (D'Addario). You could always buy a single st. steel string to rub for a while to test it. Frets are usually made of nickel too so have your instruments refretted with st. steel frets, this is a good move anyway since st. steel frets last longer and are higher quality material.

[Jensby design]

If you think you may be allergic to nickel try this
» Nickel Allergy

[tylerwylie]

Yes, find out if it's Nickel or not... if it is you can switch to Stainless Steel.

[magic papa]

Rotosound also make Nexus strings, they are quite well coated and sound great.

However as many people pointed out - it is pivotal that you estabilish what you are allergic to.

It may be nickel, rather not stainless steel (very unlikely), but it could also be alloy additives such as chromium, manganium, God knows what else.

Also - how do you know it's the strings that are the problem? I.e not wood or some finish on the bass.

[Hobohodou]

Originally Posted by magic papa

Also - how do you know it's the strings that are the problem? I.e not wood or some finish on the bass.

I know it's definitely the strings due to watches/belts etc etc over the years.

Originally Posted by ixlramp

Whoa! ... hang on, 'discovered you were allergic to' ... what exactly?

Discovered, as it took some time to figure out it was playing bass that caused it specifically ! lol, when I went to the doctor, not much was done other than giving me a steroid cream to help the skin regrow (which did not really work too well), when I asked what metal I was allergic to I was told he couldn't tell me and that there was nothing more than he could do ! the NHS are awesome !!!
There's a large chance it's nickel as it does get worse if i play standard electric, and I KNOW the strings are nickel with that (with playing that my hands are very bad in a short space of time, usually leading to full on burning and bleeding!)

Allergy aside for now !

Wondering about the Nylon wound strings though, as i'm wondering exactly how much it affects the sound? I play a lot of Tool as JC is my hero ! and just wondering if Nylon wound strings sound very dark and bassy? do they have the same sort of bright punch that regular strings do? or is it more dull?
I know that Elixer's etc or coated strings should still have the same tone, just wondering about nylon wound !

Thanks for the help though guys, going to pop out today and see if there's any nice strings local, if not the net is my friend.

[HMZ]

Originally Posted by Thunderitter

Have you tried coated strings: Elixirs, DR Strings?

Try the Elixirs...

I had the same problem but I was allergic to Stainless steal strings.
The skin on my hands would peal and crack. The dermatologist had no idea what was causing this and it went on for about five years. One day I switched to nickel strings and I have been fine ever since. My situation was weird because most people are allergic to nickel not stainless....

[tylerwylie]

Nylon Tapewounds will be hard to get that sound you are looking for. I really think you should try Stainless Steel strings and see if you still have allergic reactions.

[DosiYanarchy]

+1 on coated strings - they sounds like regular rounds, but have an enamel coating, so actually you wouldnt be touching the metal itself.

++1 on finding out if its nickle or steel specifically.

by the way, coated strings are available for bass and guitar, and from most music stores these days.

Failing that - ebay.