Well my friends, I play an Ibanez SR605 that I've just purchased new 2 months ago. It came with Elixir strings that I didn't like at all, so a few weeks ago I bought a set of GHS Pressure Wound Flats and had a guitar tech at a local Johnson's Guitar switch the strings. I like the strings don't get me wrong, but for some reason I'm getting black residue on my finger tips after I play. This had never happened before so I assume it's the strings, however the strings are brand new so I don't think the problem is dirty strings. The tech rubbed some liquid on the fret board before applying the strings. Can that be what the problem is? The strings feel sticky at times as well so I might just buy a string cleaner and see if that does the trick. Any other suggestions?
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Black Residue
- Thread starter Chico16
- Start date
I don't think it's the strings. Pressure Wounds aren't sticky. I've been playing them for 9 months and never had that problem.
You don't really need a string cleaner. Use some plain old rubbing alcohol on a clean white rag and wrap it around the string and run it up and down the string. An old tee shirt works well. That should do the trick. If it's something on the strings themselves you should see it on the rag.
If it keeps returning it may be something in your body chemistry reacting with the alloy the strings are made out of.
You don't really need a string cleaner. Use some plain old rubbing alcohol on a clean white rag and wrap it around the string and run it up and down the string. An old tee shirt works well. That should do the trick. If it's something on the strings themselves you should see it on the rag.
If it keeps returning it may be something in your body chemistry reacting with the alloy the strings are made out of.
Depending on what your tech used on the fingerboard you may need to remove the strings and buff the fingerboard with cloth or an old t-shirt just to make sure the excess oils/cleaners are lifted. Then gently clean your strings with rubbing alcohol before you put them back on the bass. If you want to clean your strings without removing them try BassBrites, they work great.
Well first of all I'd like to say thank you to both of these replies. Really helpful as always. I was eyeballing the Bass Brites wipes as a matter of fact. I think I'm gonna try those out to be safe and hopefully that will do the trick. Last time I just washed my hands thoroughly and that helped out for at least half a song and then I felt it again when sliding. A band mate told me that perhaps the liquid the tech added may have gotten on the strings since the tech added the strings right after applying the liquid, causing all kinds of bad stuff to get in the strings and furthermore cause the strings to feel sticky. Hopefully the wipes will get rid of this. If not, I'll have to stay away from Alloy strings 
Many string sets have residue on them from the machines on which they were produced. It's a black or grey oil-like substance. I always clean new strings with alcohol, before installing them. In case of d'Addatio Chromes (which I use the most), the cloth becomes very black.
