How long should rosin last?

bassbuddy · #1 08-14-2005, 01:56 PM

I din't use the bow much, but I'm starting to get back into it. I picked up some Pop's a couple of years ago; now the cake is hard as a rock, practically petrified. Time for new rosin, or is there a way to bring it back? Or is this just normal and I shouldn't worry about it??

Aaron Saunders · #2 08-14-2005, 07:24 PM

Leave it in the sun for a (very short) while. It'll soften it back up.

Charles Shores · #3 08-16-2005, 02:06 PM

I'm not sure the sun thing will work. It may melt the rosin, but it won't put moisture back into it.

Pcocobass · #4 08-16-2005, 02:48 PM

If you leave Pop's in the sun too long, you'll have nothing but a big blob left. I think Pop's sells for about $10. Maybe you should just by a new one and start out fresh...

ImAGoodDuck · #5 08-16-2005, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pcocobass

If you leave Pop's in the sun too long, you'll have nothing but a big blob left.

That is no joke. I left some Pop's rosin in my cup holder in my car once and I had to go at it with a screw driver to get it out lol.

Kylebass · #6 08-17-2005, 04:13 AM

Pops rosin tends to go bad in about three months. Fresh pop's is the best stuff in the world. You can order the latest batch at bassrosin.com

Aaron Saunders · #7 08-18-2005, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles Shores

I'm not sure the sun thing will work. It may melt the rosin, but it won't put moisture back into it.

Why, I do believe ultimately it would dry it out pretty nicely.

bassbuddy · #8 08-19-2005, 08:54 AM

OK - is this peculiar to Pop's, or do all rosins dry out that quickly? If not, any recommendations for a longer lasting alternative?

Charles Shores · #9 08-19-2005, 11:06 AM

Do you mean dry out or solidify? The sun doesn't put moisture into the rosin, but it does raise the heat energy of the rosin, making it more fluid temporarily. When the rosin solidifies, it will have the same lack of moisture that it had before you put it in the sun.

bassbuddy · #10 08-19-2005, 02:03 PM

I mean "go bad" for whatever reason. Another way to phrase it would be: do all rosins have roughly the same useful life, and if not, what rosin lasts the longest?

Aaron Saunders · #11 08-20-2005, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles Shores

Do you mean dry out or solidify? The sun doesn't put moisture into the rosin, but it does raise the heat energy of the rosin, making it more fluid temporarily. When the rosin solidifies, it will have the same lack of moisture that it had before you put it in the sun.

Well, actually, it'd probably have a more significant lack of moisture because the heat would cause further moisture to evaporate.

That said, I'd guess different rosins have different lives.

MartinT · #12 08-20-2005, 08:46 AM

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/enc...r/re/resin.htm

Rosin gets old and useless (at least for bowing) not so much because it loses moisture, but because the volatile terpenes (in which the solids are "dissolved") evaporate over time, leaving the hard and dry rosin solids. I guess you could experiment by dissolving old Pops in terpentine, and evaporating off just enough to obtain useable rosin, but who has time for that. As mentioned in the post above, bassrosin.com is an excellent source of fresh Pops, never older than a few weeks from production. Mine typically last about 6 months before I order new. It's still useable at that time, but a new cake really makes a substantial difference.

KSB - Ken Smith · #13 08-21-2005, 05:09 AM

When I first started playing again, I found a few cakes of various old Rosins lying around. My son had gotten this hard stuff from School and I had a new Cake of Mushy Pops. I thru them all in a Coffee mug, put them in the microwave for a minute, melted them down and poured them into little Ketchup cups I got from MacDonalds. I made about 6-8 cups or new/old rosin.

It worked pretty good but powdered all over the Strings, bridge and Bass. The Cakes not in use got rock hard as they sat around after awhile.

Later, I got some Kolsteins Soft and All Weather and used that. Recently I was at AES and a customer asked for some Rosin to try a Bass. He (Arnold) pulled a new Cake of Pops out of a drawer and the Customer remarked "this is Expired". He had several and handed me one as he figured he needed to re-order new stuff. I tried out that cake of Pops and it was great. I usually re-rosin a few times during rehearsal or Concert but this stiff was like Glue. I used it all day and the next day I was whipping my bow to get it out of the hairs. I wiped my strings down often and still it was a once every few days kind of thing with this mysterious cake of Pops.

Well, I don't really know how long any kind of Rosin stays fresh but if it's 10 years old or more, don't spend $100 of time finding out if you need to spend $10 for a new Cake!!