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Double Bass Gut string oil
- Thread starter threetone
- Start date
So I got my all gut Lenzners on the bass. From reading here I decided on walnut oil for the strings. And impatient as I am, I decided that it could not harm to give them a slight rub with it. Net result a week later: A slight bad odor from the strings and a slight sticky feel that has partly spread to the neck. Is that normal? I guess that it is only natural that the organic oil will deterioate over time when it gets in contact with the air. I do not think I am going to use it again. I also considered almond oil, but I wonder whether that would be better in this respect?
Walnut oil is a drying oil, and IME shouldn't give you too much hassle with stickiness UNLESS you just rubbed it on and left it -? You want to just put a light layer on, wait 5 minutes, and wipe it off until mostly dry to the touch. Letting them dry over night isn't a bad idea either. Boiled linseed oil like Sam suggested works well too.
You really don't need to worry about constantly oiling them all that much though, again IME. I barely do mine once a year at this point.
You really don't need to worry about constantly oiling them all that much though, again IME. I barely do mine once a year at this point.
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- Aug 1, 2005
- 3,546
- 1,421
- Disclosures
- Private Inventor - Bass Capos
When I played Eudoxa I used sperm oil about once a month. I don't know how important it really is to oil, but it did seem to fatten up the tone. I used to first clean the strings with solvent to get all the dirt out of the wrapping, which I perceived preserved flexibility. Also, I'm not sure a drying oil is what you want. Wouldn't that reduce flexibility as well?
A drying oil it's what was suggested in many threads that came up in a search (and I think the newbie links when they were working) when I was reading up on it several years ago. Really the point of oiling is to keep the surface nice, and maybe add some protection from your hand's moisture, etc. That's the way I understand it anyway - there may be better informed opinions or there. If we're taking wrapped guts, then thats probably a different ball game. Maybe you want to get some thing else in there to keep the core nice and soft? I'm not sure what sperm oil is but I'm assuming whale blubber based? The only wrapped gut string I've owned was a Lenzner and it had a solid layer of silk between the outer wrap and the core - I've always wondered if I'd kept it oiled, if it would've even penetrated through the silk without really loading it on.
None of the oils I tried added stiffness. Olive oil and other non-drying oils might go rancid after awhile, as well as gum up your fingerboard. I've worked in a deli and seen what Olive oil looks like when it gets old. Nasty. :s Not something I want on my strings.
None of the oils I tried added stiffness. Olive oil and other non-drying oils might go rancid after awhile, as well as gum up your fingerboard. I've worked in a deli and seen what Olive oil looks like when it gets old. Nasty. :s Not something I want on my strings.
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I asked Kent "Superman" Blanton, who is THE gut string guy among people I know, and he strongly advised me NOT to oil wound gut because if the core expands it can blow out the winding and potentially ruin the string.
Plain gut is another story. Dryness and acidity are the enemy. You want plain gut to be translucent; if it is not, the string is too dry and needs to be moisturized. I use olive oil with good results, others use Sno-Seal, almond oil, bore oil and a variety of other products.
When plain gut strings fray, the hairs should be dealt with before they begin to travel, which can mean the death of the string. Clip the hairs with a small scissor or nail file, or burn them off with a butane lighter (which smells AWFUL). Lightly sand the affected area with fine-grained sandpaper until it is smooth to the touch, taking care to avoid creating a flat spot, and give it a little oil.
And if you think your strings are sticky and gross now, wait for the summer humidity.
Plain gut is another story. Dryness and acidity are the enemy. You want plain gut to be translucent; if it is not, the string is too dry and needs to be moisturized. I use olive oil with good results, others use Sno-Seal, almond oil, bore oil and a variety of other products.
When plain gut strings fray, the hairs should be dealt with before they begin to travel, which can mean the death of the string. Clip the hairs with a small scissor or nail file, or burn them off with a butane lighter (which smells AWFUL). Lightly sand the affected area with fine-grained sandpaper until it is smooth to the touch, taking care to avoid creating a flat spot, and give it a little oil.
And if you think your strings are sticky and gross now, wait for the summer humidity.
- Aug 1, 2005
- 3,546
- 1,421
- Disclosures
- Private Inventor - Bass Capos
he strongly advised me NOT to oil wound gut because if the core expands it can blow out the winding and potentially ruin the string.
That's an interesting idea. Might be something to it. The winding on Eudoxa does seem to come loose in time. Perhaps I was accelerating it by oiling. OTOH, maybe I was tightening it up with the oil. It did seem to improve tone, which I attributed to adding mass.
As to olive oil, there are all kinds. My neighbor gave me a bottle from her family farm in Sicily. This stuff is cloudy and very fruity. I wouldn't use it for anything nonfood related, but I've never found filtered olive oil to get sticky or rancid. I actually use it on my matt-finish granite countertops.
That's an interesting idea. Might be something to it. The winding on Eudoxa does seem to come loose in time. Perhaps I was accelerating it by oiling. OTOH, maybe I was tightening it up with the oil. It did seem to improve tone, which I attributed to adding mass.
As to olive oil, there are all kinds. My neighbor gave me a bottle from her family farm in Sicily. This stuff is cloudy and very fruity. I wouldn't use it for anything nonfood related, but I've never found filtered olive oil to get sticky or rancid. I actually use it on my matt-finish granite countertops.
Stickiness is a phase in polymerization ("drying".) Compared to commonly available ("boiled") linseed oil, vegetable oils take a long time to completely "dry", and they're sticky and rancid in the process.
I didn't notice any mention of neatsfoot oil, but some people use that.
For me, the sum of all these recommendations for "oil" with all these different properties is mutual cancellation, so I haven't put anything on mine. They seem to be fine, after a few months anyway (got them last summer.)
I didn't notice any mention of neatsfoot oil, but some people use that.
For me, the sum of all these recommendations for "oil" with all these different properties is mutual cancellation, so I haven't put anything on mine. They seem to be fine, after a few months anyway (got them last summer.)
i used the oil that a fellow bassplayer gave me some time ago. there was very little of it so I got pirastro strings oil at the local shop. didnt really see any difference. as for vegetable oil, linseed and olive oil etc, it starts to stink after a while so i try to avoid using it
cheers,
cheers,
