Double Bass New "Old" string questions

[bscott00]

I recently found a box at the little music store where I work that has some strings in it. I have a few questions about them.
1.) 2 of them are Sweetone pure gut D's. They're a little tacky to the touch. Is this normal for gut strings? Is there some kind of oil I should treat them with? They only have a loop at the, no ball or knot, is that normal? Size is .114"
2.) The other 2 are silverwound over gut. One has a black and green wrap the other a blue and orange wrap. They are both slightly tarnished in places. Can I clean them with something? I don't think the old boiling trick would be a good idea with a gut string. Sizes are .142" and .104"
3.) 1 is a Squier trued dur-flex. It says "wound on a mutiple steel core". It looks like its bronze wound. Is there such a thing as a bronze woung bass string?
4.) The last 3 are Gotz brand. (should have the 2 little dots over the o, they're German.) 1 is a flat wound chromium steel with a blue wrap.size is .105". The other 2 are "D2 Suite" nylons. Both measure .117".
I'm a life long bass player but new to the upright so I'm so any info would be very helpful. Thanks.

 

[superman]

The plain guts you might oil them slightly with some oil like olive oil if they are real brittle,,if they look like they might have a shinny finnish on them,which I think Sweetone do, that means they were varnished,the best thing to do then is just dress them with some light sandpaper, like 400 grit ,then 800 to get them really smooth.They may be just fine with out dressing them. I would not oil them if they are really new stock unused ,,the loop end is common in all older gut strings,you just loop it through the tailpiece and back through the loop,There is not much you can do with the wrapped guts, just play them, the tarnish will wear off some what with play,, DO Not boil gut strings!! I do not know who thought that up, but you will ruin them by boiling them.
alot of people find these older strings to be a bit too heavy,,which some of them really are unless you play with really high action,. Kent

 

[Bobby King]

I had a few of those Sweetone Ds. They feel a little waxy at first, but that goes away. Good strings! Also, I used a little silver polish to remove tarnish from an old wound gut. Then I used a little alcohol to remove the polish residue. It cleaned it up nicely and the string sounded fine.