Grounding issue with black beauties

Black Beauties are coated, so they do not make metal to metal contact with your bridge, therefore they do not ground.

The only coated strings I've used that are conductive are DR Dragon Skins.

 

You need to find a way to ground yourself. Normally you would do that when you touch the strings, but the coating is preventing contact with the metal of the string. You could try a grounding wristband like this:


with the end clipped to metal on the bridge.

 

Weird! Elixir strings don't have this issue, and those are definitely coated!

 

Actually, though they are coated they can be grounded if the ball end of the string comes into contact with the bridge. If the strings are through-body, then there may not be any electrical contact with the bridge unless the mounting ferrules are grounded (highly unusual).

 

But unless you are touching the bridge then they won’t be grounded because the strings are not conductive and your hands can’t ground them.

 

You've got it backwards. When you touch the strings you ground yourself to the bass, not the other way around.

 

Right. Black Beauties are coated, so you're never touching the strings so you're never grounded.

 

Then why isn't that the case with all coated strings?

 

See post #2. I have tested a lot of them but not all of course.

This is also why Roger Sadowsky does not like coated strings. He wrote an article about this very subject.

Guest Column - Coated Strings: The Uncoated Truth

 

Well, I only use Elixir strings on guitar, and the nanowebs don't cause any issues. I don't use them on bass, though. You'd think that string makers would think about grounding when designing coated strings. I guess Elixir did.

 

The Elixir's I have used are not conductive and therefore can cause hum. But I have not used any of their newest strings. The last time I used them on bass was when the Steels first came out.

 

Part one: scratch-off the coating at the breaking point over the saddles to make good electrical contact between bridge and strings. Part two: connect yourself to the bridge with grounding wristband or other comfortable way.

P.S. At the time I've used Black Beauties my bas was equipped with active EMG DC pickups which don't need the string grounding.

 

Eve more reason for me to never use coated strings. I had never thought of this factor, I was just not attracted to the price.

 

I use them on a well shielded Strat, and it only has the natural hum you get from single coils. It goes away if you turn right or left as all Strats with single coils do.

 

On a Strat, the upper 3 strings are not coated and so they are conductive which is likely how you are grounding yourself. The lower could be conductive as well, I don't know. I've got a set on my acoustic that I'll check but it's not where I am right now

 

Yes.

 

They may cost twice as much, but they last about four times as long. With my "acid hands", coated is a must. Only problem is D'Addario discontinued my favorites, their EXPs, and they don't make the XTs or XSes in super-long scale for my 35" fiver. So, DR Silver Stars it is.

Coated is also a must on skinny-stringers, after just a couple weeks in my hands the plain steel strings are a tetanus shot just waiting to happen. Coated skinny-string sets are only about $10-$12 each and they last much longer (months/years vs weeks).