Hey y'all with sweathy hands

[Danko]

What strings do you use?

I've talked to Velvet, since I wanted to try Animas. They said too much sweath can ruin them.

I've already damaged Spiros (rust).

Pirastro has worked fine for me (flexo and Obli).

I'm talking about that gunky sticky type of sweath that damages a set of guitar strings in 3 weeks. And alot of that on the strings after each set.

I do wipe the bass regularelly - every 30 mins of play, and even more thorrough in breaks.

Danko

[M Ramsey]

Morning all,

I have a son (21 years old) who has the distinction of being a wonderful bassman (upright, EUB and slab) in additon to playing mandolin (contest champion, currently doing some recording in Nashville) along wih banjo, acoustic guitar and dobro. He has his own recording setup here at home as well.

He can kill a set of brand new strings in 30 minutes! Now, mind you, that's on banjo, dobro, mandolin and guitar. He's been playing on my American Standard bass some this summer and there seems to be NO effect on the strings (other than being gunky). Periodically, we'lll take some steel wool and remove the gunky buildup on the fingerboard. He has to do the same to all of his other instruments as well.

If ever a company comes up with some strings that HE couldn't kill, they'd really be onto something worth buying.

To sample his recording and a short bit of video of him on the bass, go here:

www.myspace.com/aaronthrashramsey

and see the YouTube clip partway down the page to the left.

Anyway, the Velvets seem to be holding up pretty well. They are wrapped in copper and while it tarnishes, it don't rust.

[Marcus Johnson]

Ray Parker, who has said that he can kill Spiros in a matter of months, was using Flex 92s the last time we heard from him, if I remember correctly.

Where is that guy, anyway?

[Ed Fuqua]

Back in Brooklyn, apparently. Last time I called him, he and Anne were driving a truck fulla their stuff outa Queens on the BQE, headed for their new joint in Ditmas Park.

[JoeyNaeger]

When I used to play violin, I went through strings pretty quickly. I mostly used helicores and dominants at the time and both wouldn't last long. Right now, I have helicores on and am noticing rust of the G-string. I have used several pirastro strings and never had any troubles with them. The corelli strings have also held up fine.

[Danko]

Thanks all!

So, it's down that Pirastro (and Corelli) road for us sweathers (heh). I may try Animas afterall, when I start feeling very rich again.

Danko

[Danko]

How about FCS and durability (rust etc.)?

I'm looking for a bit brighter strings than Obligatos.

Danko

[hanzwurzt]

i've had that problem from day one, too. after some time i found out that only nickel strings were rusting that quickly. I've played a set of d'addario heliocore which i had to get clean by sanding it! an even that did'nt work out...

i've been playing obligatos now for about 1 1/2 years and never had any problems with my terribly sweaty hands. i've also tried FCS, which are nickelless, too. were just fine and totally rust-resistant. corellis, d'addarios (except prelude), and pyramids are almost impossible for my to play.

nevertheless i intensively clean the strings after playing with a dry rag, scrubbing them until they get really hot. keeps 'em fresh!

[Danko]

Originally Posted by hanzwurzt

nevertheless i intensively clean the strings after playing with a dry rag, scrubbing them until they get really hot. keeps 'em fresh!

Me too!

Glad there is another like me out there. Thanks for the pointers.

I'm afraid that Oblis are going to die on me soon (maybe I'm too paranoid). They are on for 2 months and lately they started to loose some definition. I gig once a week + every day 1hr practice. That's why I started looking for a substitution.

Take care Hanz!

Danko