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Just slapped my dying strings back alive! How does that work?
- Thread starter TTA
- Start date
Even on a fretless they mellow out and eventually stop holding tune and intonation. The more they get used and stay at tension the more they eventually get used up. Fretless I seem to like more broken in strings on my fretless bass vs on my fretted which I go for fresher strings.
For sure. We can’t really comprehend large numbers, although we can represent them, much less infinty.
so a bit of an update.
my strings were not dirty, but i cleaned them with 99% alcohol on a rag. no tone change.
so here is my summary:
strings maybe 3/10 life
- slapping returned maybe 1/10 (may have killed f# by 1/10)
- alcohol wipe of strings 0/10
- new strings… 10/10
- boiling my f# then alcohol wipedown… cause i am waiting in a replacement… 0/10 help. (I think f# are an abomination to physics and have a life in hours and they just die if you even point at them)
my strings were not dirty, but i cleaned them with 99% alcohol on a rag. no tone change.
so here is my summary:
strings maybe 3/10 life
- slapping returned maybe 1/10 (may have killed f# by 1/10)
- alcohol wipe of strings 0/10
- new strings… 10/10
- boiling my f# then alcohol wipedown… cause i am waiting in a replacement… 0/10 help. (I think f# are an abomination to physics and have a life in hours and they just die if you even point at them)
Last edited:
Once when I was I college I boiled a set of roto 66 that were dead.
Kinda worked! Then I broke the E then next rehearsal. After that new strings every 6 weeks or so from 1986 - 1996 when I detoured to being a guitar player. So 87 sets or so at $25 per thereabouts = $2,166. in strings.
If ONLY I knew the “slap technique” back then
Kinda worked! Then I broke the E then next rehearsal. After that new strings every 6 weeks or so from 1986 - 1996 when I detoured to being a guitar player. So 87 sets or so at $25 per thereabouts = $2,166. in strings.
If ONLY I knew the “slap technique” back then
Live by the slap, die by the slap.I remember learning this trick as a broke teenager, back in the 90's.
The paradox I could never get my head around was that it was playing slap bass that killed my strings; yet slap also revived them
...so why didn't my strings just permanently stay in a fresh, bright state
I normally hit the strings like they owe me money.
*shrug*
John Myung and Geezer Butler are also known for playing hard. Moderately high action and plenty of vibration sounds incredible.
(I hate watching demos of guys that look like they're afraid to touch the strings as if they were made of tinsel or something...)
*shrug*
John Myung and Geezer Butler are also known for playing hard. Moderately high action and plenty of vibration sounds incredible.
(I hate watching demos of guys that look like they're afraid to touch the strings as if they were made of tinsel or something...
)
Ask the upright crowd who also play bass guitar. Yes, they last much longer on fretless instruments.
There are two reasons why strings lose tone as they age.
1) As the vibrations from many hours of playing time take their toll on your stings, they lose elasticity, which negatively affects sustain and the creation of upper harmonics.
2) Dirt, oil, and other gunk from your fingers and from the environment accumulate on the stings, also causing negative affects on sustain and the creation of upper harmonics.
Of these two causes, only #2 is reversible. You can clean the gunk off of your strings and they'll sound more like new. But once the strings lose elasticity through hours of vibration, that's permanent.
Incidentally, the same two effects happen to flat wound strings, but for many users, loss of sustain and upper harmonics is considered to be an improvement.
Some round wound users who try flats for the first tine are disappointed with the sound after installing a brand new set of (often very expensive) flats.
They don't realize that the strings need to have time to work into their permanent elasticity and lose the brightness of their initial upper harmonics and their high sustain.
This typically takes a few hundred hours of playing or so. Before that, flats often sound harsh or "clacky", when most bassist expect their flats to be mellow and warm.
1) As the vibrations from many hours of playing time take their toll on your stings, they lose elasticity, which negatively affects sustain and the creation of upper harmonics.
2) Dirt, oil, and other gunk from your fingers and from the environment accumulate on the stings, also causing negative affects on sustain and the creation of upper harmonics.
Of these two causes, only #2 is reversible. You can clean the gunk off of your strings and they'll sound more like new. But once the strings lose elasticity through hours of vibration, that's permanent.
Incidentally, the same two effects happen to flat wound strings, but for many users, loss of sustain and upper harmonics is considered to be an improvement.
Some round wound users who try flats for the first tine are disappointed with the sound after installing a brand new set of (often very expensive) flats.
They don't realize that the strings need to have time to work into their permanent elasticity and lose the brightness of their initial upper harmonics and their high sustain.
This typically takes a few hundred hours of playing or so. Before that, flats often sound harsh or "clacky", when most bassist expect their flats to be mellow and warm.
I’ve been doing the slap thing before rehearsals and gigs for years, ever since that Marlowe video came out. I was skeptical but it has always worked great for me and my years-old flatwounds. I’ve always suspected it had to do with shifting the way the string seats slightly/temporarily, I never bought the idea that it was cleaning gunk out. Whatever it is I’m glad for it!
