Aging your strings

[BadBud]

I've seen many questions and comments about getting strings to sound older for a vintage sound.I lay my bass on a towel with strings up. Slip plastic wrap under the strings and tape it in place to protect the body. Use a tape that is easy to remove. Using shellac,dab a little on one string at a time and run up and down the string quickly to cover the string using your finger covered with a rubber glove.use just enough to wet each string. It will dry within minutes Have some denatured alcohol on a lint free cloth and wipe all the strings till you can't see or feel any shellac at all. This will all dry within minutes also. There you have it. No oil and remember ... nothing containing salt like chicken grease or potato chip oils.Salt will eat away at the metals over time whereas the shellac protects from dirt and salts from getting to the core of the strings.Don't have shellac? try a floor wax... acrilic is best.

 

[michael_t]

I still like my own tried and true method... Age my strings simply by playing my bass!

 

[BadBud]

I still like my own tried and true method... Age my strings simply by playing my bass!

Ya ....that's one way but it takes a while where this way takes just minutes and then the strings age even further from there on

 

[BadBud]

That takes a while. shellac is instant and strings better with age from then on.

 

[DirkP]

OMG I hope no big manufacturers read Talkbass.
I have my creditcard out of the pocket.
Can't wait to pay huge amounts of money for RELICED or HEAVY RELICED strings, preferable totally dead roundwounds...

Or - for the poor among us - Roadworn strings. These are not killed string by string individually with individual marks. Their death was manufactured on an assembly line.

 

[mpdd]

in a moment of desperation you can rub your sweaty feet on the strings

 

[GK Growl]

I've seen many questions and comments about getting strings to sound older for a vintage sound.I lay my bass on a towel with strings up. Slip plastic wrap under the strings and tape it in place to protect the body. Use a tape that is easy to remove. Using shellac,dab a little on one string at a time and run up and down the string quickly to cover the string using your finger covered with a rubber glove.use just enough to wet each string. It will dry within minutes Have some denatured alcohol on a lint free cloth and wipe all the strings till you can't see or feel any shellac at all. This will all dry within minutes also. There you have it. No oil and remember ... nothing containing salt like chicken grease or potato chip oils.Salt will eat away at the metals over time whereas the shellac protects from dirt and salts from getting to the core of the strings.Don't have shellac? try a floor wax... acrilic is best.

Um, I assume you are doing this to round wound strings? Why not just use flats for that tone already? I couldn't imagine buying a string that didn't have the tone I wanted right out of the pack.

 

[ddnidd1]

On Roundwounds spray some WD-40 on a cloth and wipe down the strings.

Goodbye highs.

 

[lz4005]

This can't be for real.

Just play them. They'll sound right before long.

 

[tfer]

There're times I read things, and I honestly have no idea if my leg is being pulled...?

You buy new strings, because (I'm assuming) the old ones are dead. So the first thing that you do, is apply a product to deaden the strings? Why not just keep the old ones on?

Boil them. Cleans them up, and they go dead pretty quickly on their own - usually 3-5 days - but now you have clean, dead strings.

 

[BadBud]

There're times I read things, and I honestly have no idea if my leg is being pulled...?

You buy new strings, because (I'm assuming) the old ones are dead. So the first thing that you do, is apply a product to deaden the strings? Why not just keep the old ones on?

Boil them. Cleans them up, and they go dead pretty quickly on their own - usually 3-5 days - but now you have clean, dead strings.

 

[VoodooJazz]

I've got an idea. Let's set up a symbiotic relationship. You send me new strings, and I'll send you old, dead strings. Win-Win!

 

[JimmyM]

Shellac? Jeez! Just rub some white Eucerin cream on them if you want to kill them quickly and don't want to deal with industrial solvents or skeevy rancid food grease or even more skeevy nose grease or ball sweat. Honest to God, some of you folks need mental help!

 

[Wiremessiah]

Ya ....that's one way but it takes a while where this way takes just minutes and then the strings age even further from there on

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Wiremessiah]

Shellac? Jeez! Just rub some white Eucerin cream on them

I do, but they are still wrinkly. Shellac works. But the chafing.

 

[fhm555]

When i was a kid, the local pros would melt a little crisco in a skillet then drop their new strings in for a good soak.

 

[lowplaces]

I would probably use nitrocellulose lacquer to allow the strings to breathe.

 

[Nickweissmusic]

Lanolin not only deadens strings but it tenderizes your stony blistered fingertips while you play, so I just bring my new strings to the petting zoo and rub them on a sheep. BEFORE I put them on the bass of course.

 

[Nickweissmusic]

I do, but they are still wrinkly. Shellac works. But the chafing.

in a moment of desperation you can rub your sweaty feet on the strings

I'm crying...

 

[lowplaces]

Lanolin not only deadens strings but it tenderizes your stony blistered fingertips while you play, so I just bring my new strings to the petting zoo and rub them on a sheep. BEFORE I put them on the bass of course.

Petting zoo sheep are probably safe. But be careful in the wild...