Flatwound lubricant???...

[DJ Bebop]

 

[InternetAlias]

As soon as I unwrapped one string and discovered the finishing oil or whatever they’re coated with, I wiped em off with a few paper towels before installing them. Oddly, the 5 string set I bought first was soaked in the stuff. The 4 string set I bought for my wife’s bass had considerably less.

That's anti-rust coating for you.

 

[Stranger Danger]

I have a P with flats (which is extremely unusual and I'm the only bass player on TB that plays one of those). Anyways, I love my Labellas but for some reason, my fingers don't slide on them the way they do on rounds. You would think they would glide effortlessly cuz there's less friction but that is not the case. Skin chemistry? I don't know but I'm putting it out to you guys because I tried doing a search and found nothing. What can I use to lubricate my strings a LITTLE bit without leaving my fingers and fretboard greasy? Thanks in advance!

Are they new?

 

[ThinCrappyTone]

I need to thin out my tone and make it crappier as tribute.

you won’t regret it!

 

[dkelley]

Physics explains that flats have more friction than rounds because constant surface has the most friction.. rounds have far less surface area touching your fingers so much faster.

Not sure it was explained here yet, but the "flats have less friction" thought is not how friction actually works.

But flats ARE smoother and feel nice and all that...

 

[dkelley]

There’s actually more friction caused by flats as there’s more surface area of string touching the pad of your fingers vs rounds. I’ve only tried 2 sets of flats and love both of em. D’Addario Chromes and TIME Jazz Flats. Neither are grabby for me and are quite easy to play on.

I figured someone would beat me to it lol

 

[bassfreakah]

baby powder on hands helps, dont turn into a snowman just a bit of powder.
good luck

 

[Claymore]

Are they new?

Actually, yes. They are relatively new. Maybe on there about 3 weeks. Do they get more slippery as time goes on? (I'm new to flats)

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I have a P with flats (which is extremely unusual and I'm the only bass player on TB that plays one of those). Anyways, I love my Labellas but for some reason, my fingers don't slide on them the way they do on rounds. You would think they would glide effortlessly cuz there's less friction but that is not the case. Skin chemistry? I don't know but I'm putting it out to you guys because I tried doing a search and found nothing. What can I use to lubricate my strings a LITTLE bit without leaving my fingers and fretboard greasy? Thanks in advance!

Sebum ( skin oil) from your nose works great..no joke. Been using it for decades.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Nose grease works for me.

Beware of using nose grease on a regular basis. I used to have folks bring in old split bamboo fly rods to the fly-shop where I worked to have me evaluate their rods. Some were worth a lot of money and some weren't at all. I could spot in a second which ones had their ferrules lubricated with nose grease. They were the ones that had the little black pits all over the ferrules from the acids in the "nose grease" (skin oils) eating into the nickel-silver of the top quality split bamboo rod ferrules. My grandfather told me to do that too and he was wrong.

That's probably not so bad on stainless steel, but "nickel-silver" is actually a nickel alloy and has no silver in it. It was/is primarily nickel. So, nose grease might not be such a good choice for nickel strings.

 

[Mike Carr]

Beware of using nose grease on a regular basis. I used to have folks bring in old split bamboo fly rods to the fly-shop where I worked to have me evaluate their rods. Some were worth a lot of money and some weren't at all. I could spot in a second which ones had their ferrules lubricated with nose grease. They were the ones that had the little black pits all over the ferrules from the acids in the "nose grease" (skin oils) eating into the nickel-silver of the top quality split bamboo rod ferrules. My grandfather told me to do that too and he was wrong.

That's probably not so bad on stainless steel, but "nickel-silver" is actually a nickel alloy and has no silver in it. It was/is primarily nickel. So, nose grease might not be such a good choice for nickel strings.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

I really wanted to try tapewounds but I heard some people saying that it introduced noise (because the strings weren't grounded on account of the layer of tape). Maybe I should give them a shot, though. I have Labella DTB black tapes on my acoustic already and really like the way they feel.

I have absolutely no trouble with string noise at all using them and I have a passive Jazz Bass. They are much quieter than the "Blue Steel" Dean Markley strings and the DR Black Beauties that I used to use. Also, with any strings, if you seem to be getting a lot of string noise, drop your treble EQ a couple of notches. Most of that treble sound and overtones are being obscured by the cymbals, the guitars, and the keys and make little difference in your sound in the mix.

I don't understand the "not grounded" comments though. The strings have a metal ball end that the core is wrapped around and that rests up against the bridge, which will ground them on any metal bridge no matter what you cover them with. So that doesn't make any sense to me. In my experience, that sounds like an "urban legend" to me. YMMV, but with a passive Jazz bass that will hum if I run the volume knobs at different levels, my tape-wound LaBella strings are much quieter than the round wounds I used for so long.

 

[Mike Carr]

I've been playing the same set of LaBella Flats for about 4 years. They are fine and my bass's frets and fingerboard are too. Don't need to "add oil" very often. Only in the winter when the air is dry. And I do wipe down my strings and run the towel under them so the frets and fingerboard gets cleaned too. Not every time I play but often enough I reckon. I learned this by watching the great bassist Reggie McBride, who's played with Stevie Wonder and many other fine artists.

 

[JKos]

Physics explains

Is your physics taking into account how our skin interacts with the roundwound surface? Differences in material properties, if any, between the various strings' outer materials?

For example, my D'Addario Chrome flats feel crazy slick. Way less friction than my Sadowsky Blue Label rounds. Not just by feel but also by heat generated while running fingers up and down the strings. Less heat equals less friction.

- John

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I have a P with flats (which is extremely unusual and I'm the only bass player on TB that plays one of those). Anyways, I love my Labellas but for some reason, my fingers don't slide on them the way they do on rounds. You would think they would glide effortlessly cuz there's less friction but that is not the case. Skin chemistry? I don't know but I'm putting it out to you guys because I tried doing a search and found nothing. What can I use to lubricate my strings a LITTLE bit without leaving my fingers and fretboard greasy? Thanks in advance!

Rounds are nice and smooth feeling. Flats are sticky. Both hands. It's the plucking hand that makes me rip them off every time I want to try them again. There's really nothing you can do. They'll break in after months of playing. I just never get that far. Go ahead and try wonder wipes or fast fret. It kinda works, but doesnt last very long.

 

[Luckydog]

Beware of using nose grease on a regular basis. I used to have folks bring in old split bamboo fly rods to the fly-shop where I worked to have me evaluate their rods. Some were worth a lot of money and some weren't at all. I could spot in a second which ones had their ferrules lubricated with nose grease. They were the ones that had the little black pits all over the ferrules from the acids in the "nose grease" (skin oils) eating into the nickel-silver of the top quality split bamboo rod ferrules. My grandfather told me to do that too and he was wrong.

That's probably not so bad on stainless steel, but "nickel-silver" is actually a nickel alloy and has no silver in it. It was/is primarily nickel. So, nose grease might not be such a good choice for nickel strings.

regardless of the corrosiveness, I don’t voluntarily use any human secretions on my basses.

 

[JimmyM]

regardless of the corrosiveness, I don’t voluntarily use any human secretions on my basses.

Exactly. It's gross and disgusting and germy.

 

[Stranger Danger]

Actually, yes. They are relatively new. Maybe on there about 3 weeks. Do they get more slippery as time goes on? (I'm new to flats)

Loosen them. Take string cleaner swabs like Ernie Ball makes or even alcohol swabs and clean them all over throughly. They come out of the factory with gunk on them. It’s always best to do it before you string them up though.

 

[Luckydog]

Exactly. It's gross and disgusting and germy.

right! Prince had a “special” guitar with secretions, and look where he is now!

 

[jchrisk1]

Exactly. It's gross and disgusting and germy.

It's not as bad as you think it is. Actually, just to freak you out a little more, it is all over your entire body except for your palms and soles. Basically, anything you touch with any part of your body, other than your palms and soles of your feet, you're transferring sebum. Sweat carries it as well.
You know that smear on your bass finish? You may want to wash that off if your a germaphobe. Just don't become too much of a germaphobe, because without sebum, microorganisms will get right into your skin. Just a little food for thought.