Is this as bad as he made it to be?

[Davebass77]

I've got a question for the Talkbass hive mind. Here's the background - I've been playing flats for the last 10 years; Labella Deep Talkin' FS flats and Ernie Ball Cobalt flats. Great sound, good feel.

I wanted to get back to roundwounds for some extra bite in my Jazz bass sound, so I bought Dunlop Nickel-wound strings which were on sale at Guitar Center. They turned my fingers black after playing them for 3 hours at rehearsal last night. My fingers turned black as well when I installed the strings on my Jazz bass 2 days ago, playing for 10 minutes.

I was near Guitar Center today and stopped in. I mentioned this to one of the techs. He conferred with the store manager about this and told me that a few years ago, one of their salespeople reacted the same way to playing nickel bass strings where his fingers also turned black. He then went on to say "it was very dangerous; you are allergic to Nickel, so you should stop immediately and get some stainless steel strings instead." I don't feel any adverse effects in my hands. Is this really as bad as he made it to be? Or just a way to get me to buy stainless steel?

 

[Dincrest]

And when it comes to allergies, everyone with said allergy responds with different severities and sometimes different reactions all together. As for whether it's "bad" or "dangerous" depends on you. Some peoples' cat allergies are annoying sniffles. Other people's cat allergies may require medical attention. But it depends on the individual.

And, as others said, the fact that your fingertips turn black when you play nickel strings really does not by itself indicate you have an allergy, just that your body chemistry/acidic perspiration is reacting with the nickel and causing oxidation. The red flag nickel allergy symptoms would be in the nature of itching, rash, inflammation, blistering, irritation, etc.

So maybe it's as harmless as your poo turning red after eating beets or your pee smelling funky after eating asparagus. It looks and smells alarming but it's really nothing.

However, every post I've seen on TalkBass about fingers turning black has come from nickel strings. So there's something to that. But then again, aren't most frets made of some kind of nickel alloy? Sure stainless steel frets have become more prominent in recent years and Warwick uses brass for theirs, but if someone had a severe nickel allergy, I would think the frets would trigger symptoms too.

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

I've got a question for the Talkbass hive mind. Here's the background - I've been playing flats for the last 10 years; Labella Deep Talkin' FS flats and Ernie Ball Cobalt flats. Great sound, good feel.

I wanted to get back to roundwounds for some extra bite in my Jazz bass sound, so I bought Dunlop Nickel-wound strings which were on sale at Guitar Center. They turned my fingers black after playing them for 3 hours at rehearsal last night. My fingers turned black as well when I installed the strings on my Jazz bass 2 days ago, playing for 10 minutes.

I was near Guitar Center today and stopped in. I mentioned this to one of the techs. He conferred with the store manager about this and told me that a few years ago, one of their salespeople reacted the same way to playing nickel bass strings where his fingers also turned black. He then went on to say "it was very dangerous; you are allergic to Nickel, so you should stop immediately and get some stainless steel strings instead." I don't feel any adverse effects in my hands. Is this really as bad as he made it to be? Or just a way to get me to buy stainless steel?

Sorry, but never experienced that in 30+ years of playing bass that I can recall, and my hands sweat. I'm thinking about literal new in box basses to old ones, and to every brand of string I can ever remember playing, trying, purchasing and experimenting with. However, I'm not discounting fully what you've experienced- I have seen the phenomenon on certain guitar strings on guitars new in box where I was the first person to take the instrument out of the box, but I can't remember which brands of instruments or strings. My vague recollection is that it was a non-premium to beginner grade instrument with whatever strings were put on the instrument by mfgr.

 

[Topkat13]

Hmmm. Maybe try a different brand?

 

[Stewie]

Don't be alarmed. Most of the best bass players are entirely black.

 

[Edwcdc]

View attachment 7566749

I sure would like to un-see that!

 

[GTHintz]

I've got a question for the Talkbass hive mind. Here's the background - I've been playing flats for the last 10 years; Labella Deep Talkin' FS flats and Ernie Ball Cobalt flats. Great sound, good feel.

I wanted to get back to roundwounds for some extra bite in my Jazz bass sound, so I bought Dunlop Nickel-wound strings which were on sale at Guitar Center. They turned my fingers black after playing them for 3 hours at rehearsal last night. My fingers turned black as well when I installed the strings on my Jazz bass 2 days ago, playing for 10 minutes.

I was near Guitar Center today and stopped in. I mentioned this to one of the techs. He conferred with the store manager about this and told me that a few years ago, one of their salespeople reacted the same way to playing nickel bass strings where his fingers also turned black. He then went on to say "it was very dangerous; you are allergic to Nickel, so you should stop immediately and get some stainless steel strings instead." I don't feel any adverse effects in my hands. Is this really as bad as he made it to be? Or just a way to get me to buy stainless steel?

You can be corrosive to nickel without being allergic. That was good advice to try steels. You should be able to wash your hands with soap and it come off. Alcohol and wipe off the strings really well to limit the corrosion if you’re committing to sticking with them. That’s why I only play steel. I don’t want to be dealing with nickel corroding into my skin. The steel Dunlops are good and worth a try. I have used them for years.

 

[Major Seven]

Yes get your medical advice from TalkBass like a normal person.

Now that I think about it, I am skeptical of music advice I get from doctors too.

 

[Wez Yo Bice]

My vote is, everyone has a slightly different ph. Some go through strings like water. Some don't. I knew one guy who went through watch batteries quickly, as well. Splain that one.