Best way to make your strings dead fast?

[L. L. Elwood]

Hello TB,

I have an old P bass that had SUPER old strings that sounded AMAZING for a long time.. I Changed them recently thinking I was going to start over and see what this bass sounded like with a new set of nickel slinkys. Nope. Of course I tossed the old ones. Outside of playing a LOT.. for months and even years on a set of strings, any sugguestions on quickly killing the brightness of these strings? I like dead round wounds more than flats.. sooo Any sugguestions would be much appreciated

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

I like a bit of mileage on roundwounds too, 'new piano' can be a bit much of a sound, it raises hell with damping for a punchy sound.

I made an error recently, after snapping the E string. I restrung all, but was careless with the new E string, I'd overtightened by about a major third before I realised and backed off. The result was a ringing at fundamental pitch that no technique was stopping (I assume because stretching opened the coiled windings too much), so I restrung yet again, taking great care not to tune high, and all is good. So, one way to get new strings sounding well is to strictly avoid over-stretching. I suspect it's no accident that JJ Burnel's style avoids bends and vibrato, perhaps to avoid this problem.

One thing about new roundwounds can be high friction, so maybe one of the best ways to get them bedded in fast is to do stuff with plenty of slides in it. That should damp the sound a bit once a few dead skin cells etc get in amongst the coils. Most people who talk of the 'ideal' roundwound sound tend to want that new jangling quality, but if I obsessed over that, I'd be afraid to play my own bass! A good twang with a 1.14 mm Tortex pick can kick some life into them later if that's wanted after they settle in a bit too much. I went back to Tortex very recently because I found that the stiffer Ultex picks can't do this to old strings, even if 'old' just meant fresh on the backup bass and otherwise rarely played.

EDIT: Maybe worth mentioning is that when I restrung the second time, fixing the ringing problem, I noticed that the strings I saved as backups had some fret pressure marks on them, even though I'd used those strings only for about a week. I didn't think I gripped that hard when fretting, but maybe I do.. So if you want to age new roundwounds by sliding, make the slides heavy... If the string weren't overstretched, this pressure might help tame them early. The worst that can happen is your finger tip protesting.

 

[L. L. Elwood]

Interesting. And thanks for the thoughtful answer. I'll do all you suggest.

 

[michael_t]

Outside of playing a LOT.. for months and even years on a set of strings, any sugguestions on quickly killing the brightness of these strings? I like dead round wounds more than flats.. sooo Any sugguestions would be much appreciated

How about posting a WANTED ad on the TB classified, asking for old strings? I'm sure people are ditching old rounds all the time.

 

[LetItGrowTone]

Eucerin Skin Cream Kills Strings DEAD!!!
Thread is mostly about flats, but I don't doubt that a tiny bit of this stuff would work for rounds.
I have some but haven't tried it yet.

 

[Rick Brienzo]

Eat large fried chicken dinners before practicing. Skip the napkins.

 

[Stan_da_man]

If the string is roundcore, cut it straight.

 

[KidAmnesia]

Eat large fried chicken dinners before practicing. Skip the napkins.

I read about Stephen Stills dipping new strings in bbq sauce to kill them...

 

[iiipopes]

Roll off the tone knob until the strings settle in.

 

[Harry160]

You could always try halfrounds. They have a nice in-between sound for flats and rounds

 

[JimmyM]

2 or 3 coats of Eucerin regular moisturizer cream. Let each sit for 3-4 hours, wipe, repeat till desired deadness achieved.

 

[pbass2]

I haven't used Slinkys in quite some time, but maybe try some different strings - I like DR Nickel Lo Riders 45-105 specifically because they get broken-in sounding really fast. I've got some on one pbass that are maybe 2-3 mos old, and they're already nice and thumpy. I use that bass interchangeably w my flats-strung pbass for live use and no one bats an eye.

 

[Fynn]

Hello TB,

I have an old P bass that had SUPER old strings that sounded AMAZING for a long time.. I Changed them recently thinking I was going to start over and see what this bass sounded like with a new set of nickel slinkys. Nope. Of course I tossed the old ones. Outside of playing a LOT.. for months and even years on a set of strings, any sugguestions on quickly killing the brightness of these strings? I like dead round wounds more than flats.. sooo Any sugguestions would be much appreciated

Alot of the dead sound on strings is dirt that accumulates in the strings. Sooooo, my recommendation might be to not wash your hands and rub them against the strings a bunch haha

 

[Slevage]

Eat large fried chicken dinners before practicing. Skip the napkins.

How large do the chickens have to be in order to be effective?

 

[Lowandfat]

Milt Hinton used Jergen's, Jameson used butter. I would stay away from anything with animal lipids because they will eventually rot the core of the string. Have you tried just putting foam/sponge under them at the bridge? I like using dry sponge, it is not as deadening as foam.

 

[CallMeAl]

Eucerin Skin Cream Kills Strings DEAD!!!
Thread is mostly about flats, but I don't doubt that a tiny bit of this stuff would work for rounds.
I have some but haven't tried it yet.

This does work with rounds. Not completely dead but makes a difference. Though these days I don’t bother, I just adjust with the tone knob until they’re mellowed out.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

Hello TB,

I have an old P bass that had SUPER old strings that sounded AMAZING for a long time.. I Changed them recently thinking I was going to start over and see what this bass sounded like with a new set of nickel slinkys. Nope. Of course I tossed the old ones. Outside of playing a LOT.. for months and even years on a set of strings, any sugguestions on quickly killing the brightness of these strings? I like dead round wounds more than flats.. sooo Any sugguestions would be much appreciated

Try a set of GHS Bass Boomers. IMO they’re the least bright sounding roundwounds, fresh out of the package, that I’ve tried.

My disclaimer is that the many months old and very hammered set that I recently took off didn’t sound much different to the brand new set of them that I replaced them with. I don’t personally find their broken in sound to be “Dead”, but they don’t have a lot of top end. They have a lot of low mid punch, and a deep sounding low end, IMO.

That’s exactly why they’re my favorite set of roundwound bass strings.

 

[Lowandfat]

I like them dead, too. I change strings when one breaks, usually takes a couple years, maybe more. Sometimes I'll change the top 4 when one goes to balance the tone, but I have yet to change a low B. All three main 5ers have the B strings they came with. I hate those low harmonic overtones that come with a clean .125-ish string.

 

[2112]

Eat large fried chicken dinners before practicing. Skip the napkins.