I would like to make a bass string bracelet for my girlfriend, I was wondering if it was at all possible to home-dye/paint strings a durable, nature-proof color to use for the project. Keep in mind these strings are not ever going to be used again for playing so any technique that would make them unusable for playing I have no problem with.
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Bass string bracelet
- Thread starter Zoop Soup
- Start date
I would talke to someone knowledgable in auto body painting. Maybe powder coating? But, I don't know about that stuff. But, it is metal, it needs paining. Cars are partially metal. Cars need painting.
Yea - even if you could get the surface to be painted clean enough to paint with a primer and finish coat. Her movement and body (ph balance) chemistry with wear it off pretty quickly - I'd do a little research as well about how the various string metal types (stainless, chrome, nickel) react when in contact with skin on a constant basis and some (like me) have allergies to certain metals. That kinda goes for the paint also. In this application because the bracelet may be worn continuously it has skin contact significantly more that playing.
Setting aside the cost - Plating with a neutral metal (gold, silver, platinum) is an option to painting. Certainly more durable than paint but over time will also wear off if lower grade.
Setting aside the cost - Plating with a neutral metal (gold, silver, platinum) is an option to painting. Certainly more durable than paint but over time will also wear off if lower grade.
What about using a set of the current pre-coloured strings out there? I think DR and a couple other companies make red, black, yellow and neon stuff. Not my bag but I've seen ton's of adverts for the coloured stuff. (Unless you were intending to recycle your old strings to do this project).
Get a set of elixirs or any fully coated string to paint,that way the metal can't react on the skin.
Yes, they have to be his old used ones. They have to be covered with his own sweat and other finger crap... If not, then the bracelet won't mean anything to his girlfriend. It'd just be a lifeless bracelet that she'd think nothing of... Yes, it has to be used.
I know you probably want to keep this personal and make it out of your own bass strings, but there's actually a website called Wear Your Music that makes bracelets out of guitar/bass strings. They even have an "artist series", so you can get a bracelet made out of Les Claypool or Geezer Butler's old bass strings if you so desire. The artist series ones are too expensive in my opinion (is $100+ for a bracelet made out of John Mayer's old guitar strings worth it...maybe to some people), but the normal ones are pretty reasonable.
