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11-24-2010, 09:00 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Chicago | | | Cleaning Plain Gut Strings
Any tips on how to get dirt off of plain guts?
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11-26-2010, 07:54 AM
| | | | I recently picked up a set of used guts and they needed some cleaning. They also had some small hairs starting to show. After a few rounds with some oil and some light sanding they have that nice "translucent worm" look again. They are really smooth too.
Upton Bass has a YouTube video on gut string care. It is pretty recent and I found it informative. I'm at work (shh) and can't access YouTube or I would attach a link.
Gotta love gut strings!
Last edited by desert hardwood : 11-26-2010 at 07:56 AM.
Reason: poor typing skills
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11-27-2010, 09:48 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Chicago | | | Thanks, I'll try some oil. |
11-28-2010, 12:03 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Hochberg  Thanks, I'll try some oil. | What kind of oil do you use? |
11-28-2010, 02:52 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Winnipeg, MB | | | Walnut oil works... |
11-28-2010, 03:33 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chicago | | | I heard a friend talk about using olive oil for care of his guts. Thoughts? |
11-28-2010, 05:27 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Winnipeg, MB | | AFAIK - olive oil isn't the best - it doesn't really dry, and can get gummy when left on the strings, and actually go rancid eventually. I'm pretty sure I read that in a thread here, probably written by someone more knowledgeable than I...
Supposedly walnut oil dries a bit better.
My question is - would polymerized linseed oil work? I have quite a bit left over from a refinish experiment last year... |
11-28-2010, 08:39 PM
| | | | I have no idea what is in it (and it ain't cheap), but I use Clef gut oil from Upton Bass. I like the way it smells.
I oiled them again today and at rehearsal (with sunlight shining through the window) I noticed I've got almost all the dirt out of the spiral lines that run along the strings. |
11-29-2010, 09:53 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Maryland | | Quote:
Originally Posted by moles AFAIK - olive oil isn't the best - it doesn't really dry, and can get gummy when left on the strings, and actually go rancid eventually. I'm pretty sure I read that in a thread here, probably written by someone more knowledgeable than I...
Supposedly walnut oil dries a bit better.
My question is - would polymerized linseed oil work? I have quite a bit left over from a refinish experiment last year... | Almond oil lasts longer than olive oil (before turning rancid). Any non-drying vegetable/nut oil can go rancid eventually, but I have yet to experience this.
I don't oil my gut strings anymore, but for the few times I did, I used almond oil.
Walnut oil is a drying oil, so to me it's almost like varnish. I think in the Upton youtube video, Eric mentions that their gut string oil has both drying and non-drying compounds in it. That sounds cool to me. I could be wrong, so check out the video.
George |
12-01-2010, 02:14 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Napier, New Zealand. | | | Neatsfoot oil from a horse tack and saddle supplier has a good reputation. |
12-04-2010, 02:48 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Hollywood, Ca | | | I get great results with a product called Dr.Duck's AxWax & String Lube. |
12-04-2010, 11:54 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Winnipeg, MB | | | Interesting. Any idea what's in that stuff?
(I guess since they're calling it "mystery oil" that the answer would be no, but I thought I'd ask...)
Last edited by moles : 12-14-2010 at 08:50 PM.
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12-04-2010, 02:15 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Hollywood, Ca | | | I have no idea what's in Dr Duck's axe wax. My plain gut strings have lasted for years and years now since i've been using it on them. This stuff is great, it doesn't take much (one bottle has lasted over ten years now) and it cleans and moisturizes the wood too. |
12-13-2010, 03:51 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: philly pa | | | I've used 'coco butter' on my guts for the last twenty years ..... some other cats turned me on to the 'butter',,,,,,,,[not on my wraped e&a strings]..... |
12-14-2010, 02:14 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Philadelphia, PA | | | I use Almond oil
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12-14-2010, 08:04 PM
|  | Supporting Member
Luthier: Bresque Basses, rep: Paulin EUB | | Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sydney, Australia | | Man, I just boil them.  |
12-15-2010, 06:22 AM
| | Registered User
Double Bass Workshop | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Madison, Wi | | | Neatsfoot oil again. I don't mess with guts much, but my mentor swears by PURE neatsfoot oil. I guess it comes from the legs of slaughtered cows. The fat in that area has characteristics that complement the fleshy characteristics of gut (and leather). I think that because cows' legs are so skinny, the fat has to have a different quality to keep the cows legs from freezing. Probably the same thing with a horse. Nice! |
12-15-2010, 09:39 PM
|  | JeffKissell | | Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Soquel, CA | | | A small amount of mineral oil applied with a paper towel and then thoroughly wiped off. I only use oil when I'm cleaning the strings. If they're particularly dirty I'll use a quick swipe of rubbing alcohol first.
If you bow be very mindful of the end of the fingerboard.
-J
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