Jojoba to "age" new strings?

[pbass2]

Aha! Maybe that’s the secret - snot!

Why do you think I always immediately change strings when I get a previously owned bass!

 

[JanBerisha]

Any condiments, like bbq or ketchup, and a lil bit of any type of hand cream really. Let it sink in for a few hours and then grab a lysol wipe and try and try to clean the strings. Alternatively drop them in an acid and copper solution.

 

[BAG]

You shouldn't even joke about that - someone is gonna try that and wreck a microwave (and the strings).

And they will learn a valuable lesson that you shouldn't believe anything you read on the internet without doing at least a little research.
Not putting metal in a microwave oven is clearly spelled out in the owners manual, if you can't even educate yourself that much you don't deserve the convenience of owning one.

I'm a firm believer that half of the "safety" signs that companies are required to put on their products should be removed and let natural selection take its own course.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

You shouldn't even joke about that - someone is gonna try that and wreck a microwave (and the strings).

I boil my pickups when the strings lack the sizzle.

 

[Joebone]

Aha! Maybe that’s the secret - snot!

Snot?

Most definitely not...

 

[Joebone]

I boil my pickups when the strings lack the sizzle.

If you're looking for sizzle, why not broil them instead?

 

[jtg]

Thanks AOL ...

 

[JimmyM]

Sebum is a gross word.

 

[J.Wolf]

"Why replace old strings you like with new strings that you want to sound like old strings?"

At first glance thats a pretty reasonable question. I'll offer two thoughts:

1. Old strings at a certain point, while they still have the tonal character you like, can start to lose pitch definition and clarity, IME. I have had this happen, and then Im chasing a way to replace them without going back to a sound thats too bright.
2. There can be a sweet spot where strings are nicely broken in and the top end sounds just right, and then after a while it goes into dead string territory, so it makes sense to want to "age" a string to accelerate the break in process to get to that sweet spot more quickly.

And "play the snot out of them" as a solution is a lovely idea, assuming one has a lot of hours to spare to play strings outside of gigs and sessions to get them to break in. I sure dont right now, with life. I wish I did because it would mean I had the time and energy to do the amount of practicing I used to, before kids, family. f/t work etc.. my time that used to be counted in hours is counted in minutes these days.

 

[BadB]

Aha! Maybe that’s the secret - snot!

Snot was a pretty good band. Too bad about the singer.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

The real top-secret way to age your new strings is to throw them in the microwave. Set that thing to cook for a minimum of 5 minutes.

Second to that is to bury them in the bottom of a cat's litter box and dig them out after a week.

Third - and this one is the craziest idea yet - play them. It may surprise you to hear that you can knock some of that new string brightness out of your strings but naturally turning them into not-new strings.

Third option, play them? Agreed. But play them hard until they start to bloom. For me, that process takes about 40 minutes in most cases.

 

[J.Wolf]

my experience is that it takes a lot longer than that for strings to settle in to where I feel like they're "seated". Somewhere in the range of 4 hours of playing. I dont want to spend those on the gig waiting for the strings to get settled.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I don’t get it. Not hating, just asking. Help a bassist of 40 years understand.
Why throw money at “new” strings if what you want is “old” strings?

I get muting, I get flats, I get thud. I don’t get replacing old strings you like with new strings you don’t like.
Kindly clue me in.

I like cold beer, for example. I’d never ever spill out a cold beer to make room in my glass for warmer beer and then have to refrigerate the glass. Help me understand without being too sassy.

I have heard that strings can lose some of their physical properties and can be hard to intonate after a while. Some people prefer the sound of worn in strings and just want to get to that sound quickly.

I personally do not sweat (hands) or have a lot of acidity in the fingers, so I can keep my strings pretty fresh for a long time. That's a good thing, because I like bright new strings!

 

[Tim Skaggs]

To immediately get new strings to their sweet spot; coat in pancake / waffle syrup (not while on the bass).

 

[Tommy Sparks]

Love the sound of old rounds, keep ‘em on my bass guitars for years. I think my P bass strings are 10+ years old. So, I hear what you’re saying. I just use them when new and put a sponge at bridge until they are ready.
I’d try the trick you mentioned, why not?
Oh, and please don’t do the microwave thing, the cat litter box is totally up to you though

 

[Rib 13]

<

I don’t get it. Not hating, just asking. Help a bassist of 40 years understand.
Why throw money at “new” strings if what you want is “old” strings?

I get muting, I get flats, I get thud. I don’t get replacing old strings you like with new strings you don’t like.
Kindly clue me in.

I like cold beer, for example. I’d never ever spill out a cold beer to make room in my glass for warmer beer and then have to refrigerate the glass. Help me understand without being too sassy.

When Ive engineered or produced recording sessions back in da day, the biggest issue I had with players of old strings was inconsistency, because - a lot of times - a guy would have a worn out E string, an almost worn out A string, a moderate D string, and a bright and twangy G String. So if they happen to utilize all the strings in a song, it sounds like an inconsistent bucket o poo so having a new set all worn out evenly might be a good thing

but what do I know? I prefer new rounds for that bright stringy harmonically rich fidelity piano string "Modern Tone" tone. Ill use vintage tone, flatwounds, tapewounds, deader strings, etc as needed for other folks that are paying me but, as a personal preference, yuk. I wont be buying these strings

 

[dkelley]

preface: I can't help with the direct topic, but for those who want a darker worn in string tone, there are other ways in the industry:

IMHO, a great solution is to get your final desired tone by adjusting your amp or through processing to sound how you like, even if your strings are much more articulate than you would like.

You know who had an incredibly hifi tone out of his actual bass patch cord? John Paul Jones. Yes, even in the 1960s and 70s. You know how thick and rich his tone sounded on early led zep records? Like dark, thick, well worn in strings .... that was his amp, his processing, and also engineering of course in the studio. It was not the strings.

the DI tracks from some early led zep stuff, right from the start, was often extremely hifi sounding.

So I'm just tossing that as an alternate way to get that kind of tone, for the sake of trying to be helpful and open minds. I don't now how to age strings, so not directly helpful there though LoL. But I do know that one can get that sound from even modern, hifi strings and instruments, with the right processing and amplification/cabs/cab sims/IRs.