Resting strings to improve sound!

[Matthew Tucker]

My ply bass strung with spirocores has quite a loud but dark sound, lots of fundamental but not much character. Typical ply sound I suppose.

But I have discovered that if I slacken off my strings till they flop, and leave them overnight or longer, when I wind them up the string sound is much more interesting, brighter, growlier. Like new strings that have been played in a bit. A richer sound, closer to what you'd expect from a carved bass. Especially the "E" string.

The effect wears off after a few days, but I have been so pleased with the effect that i have started winding two strings down every few days when I put the bass away. Next day i tune up again and get the sound i'm after, and later its the OTHER pair of strings that gets tuned down.

I don't know why this works the way it does. Anyone had this experience?

[vier-personen]

I had this effect with obligatos, they have a metalic sound after you put them back on.
great if it works for you! tuning down 2 strings at a time is a good way to make sure the soundpost doesn´t fall I guess.


we could turn this thread into "tricks" if you don´t mind. here´s mine:

tune the E string down low (low C or whatever) and play it arco in ff for a few minutes every day for a few months, bottom end on your bass should be increased.
I could be surmising (?), but I think it was good for my bass (I tune down a lot while improvising).
I also learned bow changes with less noise.

[bassist1962]

In the years that my bass was sitting at my parents house, It was tuned to pitch the entire time. I played on it a few years ago (before I brought it home) and was suprised to find it was still in tune after not being played for that long. The midrange was very stacatto, which I think is a natual thing, but it just sounded dead. I tuned down to wipe some gunk off the fingerboard this past summer, after I got it home. I tuned it back up and it was like new. The midrange notes were quicker in response, and brighter. I just figured it was because of tension, but maybe there is something else happening.

[mcnaire2004]

This may be stupid due to my lack of string knollege. But, maybe it sounds like knew because you have the strings stretched out for so long, when you loosen them to "tighten up" and then stretch them (tuning) it sounds great. I'm going to try this one day.

[Matthew Tucker]

Try it tonight.

[bluegreenturtle]

I have noticed the same effect - with all strings. However I think (and could be very wrong) that actually when you detune the strings, the finger gunk and other stuff that gets into the space between the windings is forced out as the windings contract. I have noticed this clearly because if you wipe the string at tension with a rag it comes away clean, but detune and it comes away with quite a stain. My theory is that this stuff is like damping material, it's why boiling strings, soaking them in alcohol or vinegear, etc restore some brightness. Try cleaning the strings well with alcohol (just wiping them down) the next time you detune and see if that prolongs the brightness effect.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Matthew Tucker

Try it tonight.

...but not if you have Dominants or Oblis. The former are likely to break after retuning and the latter are likely to sound dead.

[bassdogEmer]

[quote=vier-personen;3911815]I had this effect with obligatos, they have a metalic sound after you put them back on.
great if it works for you! tuning down 2 strings at a time is a good way to make sure the soundpost doesn´t fall I guess.


no offense intended - but I think this is a really bad idea and that this quote is misleading. the soundpost is held in place not only from the proper fit but especially from the pressure of the strings pushing the bridge against the belly of the instrument. Some basses have different variances as far as how tight the soundpost is at any given time and also seasonal differences affect how tight the post is. This is more so on carved basses ofcourse.
- some basses - the post would fall if the strings are taken out of tension. in my opinion this is NOT anyway to keep your sound post in place and infact is more likely to cause the opposite to happen.
as far as loosening the strings. - thomastik told me this is also not a good idea - it shortens the life of the strings and stretches them artificially in a way they werent meant for. I came upon this info cuz I got an endorsement with thomastik and had a problem with a set of weichs I received and they told me that because I had removed them from my bass and put them on another to go out on the road with - i had inadvertantly screwed the strings up do to over tuning and the tension being toyed with in a extremme way multiple times. This is just what they told me - so dont shoot the messenger on this one

[Matthew Tucker]

Well as with all things bass ... Your Mileage May Vary.

If a sound-post won't stay up if you slacken one or even two strings, it may not be properly fit anyway. You always have to be able to remove some string tension without the post falling over - everyone needs to change strings from time to time.

I'll agree that changing or detuning strings can cause damage to the string in some circumstances.

The only comment I have about the Thomastik comment is that just about all manufacturers, of anything, have a standard practice, and all deviations from that standard are cautioned against because of the "unknown" factor. And any perceived faults with the goods are attributed first, to any deviation from standard practice.

[Matthew Tucker]

Originally Posted by drurb

...but not if you have Dominants or Oblis. [...] the latter are likely to sound dead.

Not what vier-personen said. But ... YMMV.

[vier-personen]

Originally Posted by drurb

...but not if you have Dominants or Oblis. The former are likely to break after retuning and the latter are likely to sound dead.

[quote=bassdogEmer;3923405]

Originally Posted by vier-personen

I had this effect with obligatos, they have a metalic sound after you put them back on.
great if it works for you! tuning down 2 strings at a time is a good way to make sure the soundpost doesn´t fall I guess.


no offense intended - but I think this is a really bad idea and that this quote is misleading. the soundpost is held in place not only from the proper fit but especially from the pressure of the strings pushing the bridge against the belly of the instrument. Some basses have different variances as far as how tight the soundpost is at any given time and also seasonal differences affect how tight the post is. This is more so on carved basses ofcourse.
- some basses - the post would fall if the strings are taken out of tension. in my opinion this is NOT anyway to keep your sound post in place and infact is more likely to cause the opposite to happen.
as far as loosening the strings. - thomastik told me this is also not a good idea - it shortens the life of the strings and stretches them artificially in a way they werent meant for. I came upon this info cuz I got an endorsement with thomastik and had a problem with a set of weichs I received and they told me that because I had removed them from my bass and put them on another to go out on the road with - i had inadvertantly screwed the strings up do to over tuning and the tension being toyed with in a extremme way multiple times. This is just what they told me - so dont shoot the messenger on this one

I don´t know about dominants, never had them on my bass.
But the Obligatos I know quite well, played them for 3 years or so (I think 2 or 3 sets).

I think what TI have said and what´s written on the Obligato package (something about the string being dead if over-stretched or loosened after it has been played) might be true to some degree, but I think in real life it doesn´t matter what the manufacturer says or there are other factors involved that can´t be foreseen.
bassdogEMER, your experience tells you other things than mine, and of course I won´t shoot you for bringing this message.
But in my experience it didn´t matter if I downtuned obligatos (I often play the IV-string (or any string) tuned down to were there is no pitch, only rattling against the fingerboard*), put them on another bass, bend them, played them with a drumstick* or whatever, the string was perfectly fine and could be played in "normal" use at normal pitch with no loss of soundquality - IMO. I actually liked the synthetic string aspect for it´s quick tuning stability.
The obligatos lasted for one year or one year and a half for me, and I think that´s quite long from what I read on Talkbass.

About the soundpost:
all I wanted to say is that when you "rest your strings" as suggested by the thread starter it´s probably a good idea to loosen 2 strings max. at a time, as opposed to 4 strings, so that there is enough tension on the top and the sounpost doesn´t fall.
additionally you could put it on it´s back as when you change strings.

I´d like to add that if someone thinks this is bad, bad - don´t do it!
Every player has to learn by him- or herself how to play and what not to play, and the same is true about setup.
I know professional players that get all nervous when the bridge is a little out of place, and run to the luthier, they would never touch the bridge themselves. I personally don´t care, I just put it back where it should be.

*before someone says : "why the #### would anyone do this?" - I do, because it sounds good - think about it!

[drurb]

[quote=vier-personen;3924002]

Originally Posted by bassdogEmer

I don´t know about dominants, never had them on my bass.
But the Obligatos I know quite well, played them for 3 years or so (I think 2 or 3 sets).

Truth be told, with regard to the Obli's, I was relating the integrated experience of others according to what I have read in these threads. I have had Obli's and I must agree that I never did notice any ill effects after de-tuning during a visit to the luthier for tweaking. They did, however, tend to go a bit dead after a year or so.

[BGreaney]

I'm pretty positive that frequently changing tension of the strings makes the strings go false easier. I would go with the above advice from Thomastik or whoever it was. Probably not a good habit to get into.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by BGreaney

I'm pretty positive that frequently changing tension of the strings makes the strings go false easier. I would go with the above advice from Thomastik or whoever it was. Probably not a good habit to get into.

+1

[Marcus Johnson]

One of the things that I love about my Spiros is that I don't have to tune them all the time. They're pretty much "factory tuned" at this point. And they're so well balanced... I don't think I'd go out of my way to regain any of that initial brightness!

[bassdogEmer]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

One of the things that I love about my Spiros is that I don't have to tune them all the time. They're pretty much "factory tuned" at this point. And they're so well balanced... I don't think I'd go out of my way to regain any of that initial brightness!

+10 - I agree - it took for ever for my new weichs on the E,A and D to break in -
just for clarity sake in my original post..I was refering strictly to the idea of detuning ALL FOUR strings as being a bad idea especially when advised as a way to keep your sound post in place. loosening top tension is not going to 'help' keep your post OR your bridge in place and will infact probably lend itself to moving your bridge and post - less tension means the bridge and post can move even easier.

[bassdogEmer]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

One of the things that I love about my Spiros is that I don't have to tune them all the time. They're pretty much "factory tuned" at this point. And they're so well balanced... I don't think I'd go out of my way to regain any of that initial brightness!

+10 - I agree - it took for ever for my new weichs on the E,A and D to break in -
just for clarity sake in my original post..I was refering strictly to the idea of detuning ALL FOUR strings as being a bad idea especially when advised as a way to keep your sound post in place. loosening top tension is not going to 'help' keep your post OR your bridge in place and will infact probably lend itself to moving your bridge and post - less tension means the bridge and post can move even easier.

[vier-personen]

Originally Posted by bassdogEmer

+10 - I agree - it took for ever for my new weichs on the E,A and D to break in -
just for clarity sake in my original post..I was refering strictly to the idea of detuning ALL FOUR strings as being a bad idea especially when advised as a way to keep your sound post in place. loosening top tension is not going to 'help' keep your post OR your bridge in place and will infact probably lend itself to moving your bridge and post - less tension means the bridge and post can move even easier.

Ok, come on! IF this is rumour about "detuning ALL FOUR strings to keep the sound post and/or bridge in place" being a good idea is what you read out of my earlier posts, I really don´t know what else to say.

[bassdogEmer]

Originally Posted by vier-personen

Ok, come on! IF this is rumour about "detuning ALL FOUR strings to keep the sound post and/or bridge in place" being a good idea is what you read out of my earlier posts, I really don´t know what else to say.

actually - that soundz a little unfriendly to me. I was only commenting on the earlier post and offering my opinion on the matter.

[drurb]

Not wishing to be unfriendly at all, I also wondered from where that interpretation came. I didn't see where anyone suggested that detuning all four strings would encourage stability of the sound-post placement.