Double Bass Gut string woes

[unbrokenchain]

Have had a full set of Lenzner guts on my Kay for a few months now. Sitting at home in my favorite chair and POP goes the E string... I wasn't even playing the bass, it was just sitting in the corner. Meh, disappointing because I liked the way the full set sounded, and I only got a few gigs on them cuz of the world ending and all, but I went ahead and took the A off too and put Spiro Weichs back on for E and A. Dig the combo well enough even though I'm not at all used to the sustain anymore...

The problem now is the G string... it's hairy. Like, really hairy. Seems like the abrasion from my left hand is the cause, at first it was just thumb position area but now it's the whole string. Is this a normal thing, or is my string disintegrating? The D is totally fine fwiw.

 

[Earl]

The hairs happen with humidity. I played an outdoor gig in the rain and heat under a tent last week and my plain gut G string looked like Cousin It when we were done. When I got home I lightly sanded it down with some 800 sandpaper until it was smooth and then oiled it and it is fine. You cannot do this too often however or the string will not intonate properly. Varnished gut does not have this problem as much. I should have brought my plywood which has Innovation Silverslaps.

 

[unbrokenchain]

Makes sense... humidity... North Carolina's "air you can wear..."

 

[Jeff Kissell]

There is hygiene involved with using gut strings, both the strings and your hands...
Learn and be happy.
Disregard at your peril.

 

[MikeDavis]

I had a similar experience after a humid, sweaty session. Shortly after, I started following the suggestions in the Upton bass gut string care video and didn't have a problem for the remaining 4 years I played gut strings.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

You have acidic sweat. That's gonna be a problem.

I'm not a fan of sanding off hairs. If you take off too much and the string is no longer round, it's done.

Snip them off with nail clippers or burn them off with a lighter, which smells awful, then hydrate.

You want almond oil or something that won't go rancid, SnoSeal or mink oil. Plain gut strings should be translucent and glow in direct sunlight. If the string is cloudy, it's too dry.

An oiled string repels moisture. It's just science.

 

[210superair]

I don't sand um either, clippers like kfs said. And I oil pretty regularly, probably more than I need to.

I'll say this tho, man do I have a love hate with gut strings. Loved my lezners with wound a and e, but michigan humidity made um unwind too early. Getting used to full gut e and a, but still miss the wounds. The e is the most difficult to get used to. Flubby, intonation is odd.

But a string you can slap, bow, and pizz well leaves me pretty much in gut-ville....

Still haven't snapped one like that tho chain. Too strong for your own good there? Herc-a-leeze!

 

[unbrokenchain]

Still haven't snapped one like that tho chain. Too strong for your own good there? Herc-a-leeze!

Musta snapped it with my mind since I wasn't even touching the bass Either that or the bass was pissed that I hadn't played it today.

I'll try the lighter/oil thing, got a bunch of mink oil around for conditioning my boots.

 

[unbrokenchain]

Well. That took all of five minutes. Had better luck with the nail clippers, didn't want to burn the main part of the string with the lighter so I could only get it so close. Clippers worked like a charm. Now my hands will smell like mink when I play but I'll keep on it, hopefully get some more life out of these since I've grown pretty attached to the sound.

 

[AGCurry]

I suspect that the Lenzner wrapped strings are especially fragile. I broke both the E and A soon after installing them. I've never had a problem with LaBella, Gamut, or Red-o-Ray. The Gamut Red Diamonds seem very sturdy.

Where was the break?

 

[unbrokenchain]

I suspect that the Lenzner wrapped strings are especially fragile. I broke both the E and A soon after installing them. I've never had a problem with LaBella, Gamut, or Red-o-Ray. The Gamut Red Diamonds seem very sturdy.

Where was the break?

Right at the peg/roller. This bass has a pretty steep neck angle, tall bridge, so that's where I would have expected it to break, but alas. Only thing I can figure is that it got pinched by the other windings. I did love the way they sounded, but switching back to the Spiros is honestly pretty nice on the hands. Never really loved the roundwound feel of the Lenzners, may try again one day though.

 

[AGCurry]

Right at the peg/roller.

Yeah, my E string broke in the peg box. I am sure I'm at least partly to blame due to its nut groove not being completely smooth.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

You guys know you can tie a knot in a gut string and keep playing it as long as it doesn't break along the playing length, right?

 

[unbrokenchain]

You guys know you can tie a knot in a gut string and keep playing it as long as it doesn't break along the playing length, right?

Huh. Glad I didn't throw it away. Probably have to soak it a bit to get a knot in it, but worth a shot.. Thanks Kung Fu.

 

[210superair]

I suspect that the Lenzner wrapped strings are especially fragile. I broke both the E and A soon after installing them. I've never had a problem with LaBella, Gamut, or Red-o-Ray. The Gamut Red Diamonds seem very sturdy.

Where was the break?

My red diamond e and a came unwound same as the lezners, though it did take much longer. I'd love a set of gamut pure guts, but too rich for my blood. I'd have more in strings than the Kay cost, lol...

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Thanks Kung Fu.

I bought it so you don't have to. Tie a hitch knot.

 

[Mark Gollihur]

Always good to check nut slots - especially if you've just switched to guts, which are commonly thicker in diameter than the steel or synthetic strings they've replaced.

When they break above the nut (in the pegbox) this can sometimes indicate nut slots that are "catching." What happens is this - the string, each time you tune up, "snakes" through the nut slot. If the slot is too deep, too narrow, or has sharp edges, the slot actually "catches" on the outer winding of the string. So while the tuning machine pulls and adds tension to the core of the string, the windings or outer "skin" of the strings are "held back" by the nut. It's kind of like trying to take a ring off a swollen finger. This, as you can imagine, causes stress or spread on the pegbox side, and a "bunching up" on the fingerboard side. This causes the whole string to eventually fail. At every string change, gut or note, we advocate monitoring the string slots and nut slots for sharp edges and excessive depth.

Not saying this was the cause - does sound like humidity is an issue for the OP, and that's an entirely different discussion that's been covered here at length already - but thought it was worth contributing.

 

[Keith Rawlings]

Humidity and sweat kills plain gut. I've broken two plain La Bella D's and two plain G's throughout my attempts at using gut strings. The wound ones have always been fine - never a problem; except for tuning which can be a nightmare in a place like South Texas (where I live) which has 100% humidity during 8-9 months out of the year.

First they get hairy, then they snap. Mine snapped at the point of slap attack on the six inches immediately above the end of the fingerboard. I've had much better luck with an Oliv D and G, which sound amazing and hold up well to weather and playing.

 

[unbrokenchain]

Always good to check nut slots - especially if you've just switched to guts, which are commonly thicker in diameter than the steel or synthetic strings they've replaced.

Yeah, I thought I went above and beyond with the nut slot widening for the Lenzner E, plenty wide and totally coated in graphite, but it's still a possibility. I tend to think I went wrong in the actual winding around the peg, it went too far to the G string side, and I rode the string back over the other windings to get it back lining up straight (ish) with the nut slot. The break angle of the overlap was probably too sharp, and it eventually became wedged tight in between the other windings. Next time I'll just trim the string...

 

[Reiska]

I`m a bit late to the party but hey @unbrokenchain , I learned to not let the strings get hairy. As soon as my plain guts started feeling rough, I smoothed the surface with extra fine grit sandpaper and steel wool, then wiping the string with a little oil ( I used linenseed or walnut oil ) on a soft cloth every now and then. A very little maintenance couple of times a week will propably save you money and hassle. When the plain gut gets hairy, ugly and dry it`s much more prone to breakage IME.