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Double Bass Nymans and Kolstein

A

A Spotless Mind

Aug 18, 2009
157
17
#1
For any Nymans or Kolstein users out there, where do you go to get the freshest of those rosins? Links to websites would be appreciated!

(I know Kolstein has their own website, but I ordered a cake of Soft off of it recently and it was so old and dry it completely shattered when I dropped it...so I'm wondering who else might sell fresh Kolstein)

Thanks!
 
#3
A Spotless Mind said:
For any Nymans or Kolstein users out there, where do you go to get the freshest of those rosins? Links to websites would be appreciated!

(I know Kolstein has their own website, but I ordered a cake of Soft off of it recently and it was so old and dry it completely shattered when I dropped it...so I'm wondering who else might sell fresh Kolstein)

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's pretty surprising. For one, Kolstein is the supplier of the rosin, so I'd assume rosin purchased directly from his shop is the freshest out there. And with the silicon wrapper, it generally keeps it fresh for a long time. Odd, and hardly typical, I'd think.

Have you tried contacting Barrie for advice?
 
#5
A Spotless Mind said:
(I know Kolstein has their own website, but I ordered a cake of Soft off of it recently and it was so old and dry it completely shattered when I dropped it...so I'm wondering who else might sell fresh Kolstein)
Click to expand...

I bought a cake of Kolstein soft that was dried out, too. Place the rosin in its silicone container (with lid on) in a vegetable steamer and steam in a covered pot on the stove until it's melted completely. Let it cool and reharden, and it’ll be good as new.
 
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#7
I know we've been here before, but for those of you who use round cakes, once you find that elusive fresh rosin, the Rosin Saver container really does work to keep it fresh longer. And you don't have to source the gel packets from Sweden. They're standard for humidors and cheaply available on the net. In reality, you can use any airtight container you want though the silicone cup in the RS is nice.

Didn't someone previously mention putting the dry rosin and container in a closed jar with an alcohol soaked cloth to rapidly fume it back to softness? I think I'll experiment with that tomorrow and see if it works. Since switching to Oak, got plenty of ancient Kolstein on hand.
 
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#12
IMG_5359.jpg
I had an extra hour today, so giving each of the two mixed batches a try with some new, un-rosined bows seemed like a fun little project. The first batch used a full cake of new Pop's and about 1 1/2 times as much scrap rosin cakes, ending up being the darker colored batch in the 2 muffin paper cups. The second batch used a new cake of Pop's and about twice as much scrap rosin and ended up being the lighter colored material in the two Pop's containers and one muffin paper cup. I am used to using Pop's in the shop and expected to prefer the softer, darker batch, but I actually like the lighter, harder batch even more. This reconstituted rosin applied easily and responded with a slightly brighter, more harmonically complete tone. The softer batch has a darker tonal quality to it and starts the note just a shade more easily. They are both good general utility rosin mixes and give me a lot of useable shop rosin that might have been thrown away otherwise. I used two pair of new student bows, one in the $125 range and the other in the $295 range for the comparisons.
 
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#13
Interesting tests Steve. So I'm guessing that both batches are 1 or two days old, meaning completely fresh?

I'd be wondering, as a control, if straight Pops, re-constituted by itself so it is also completely fresh, would also have different properties than a "new" store bought Pops package and also might fare differently in this test. I would guess store bought Pops is generally at least a few weeks old due to shipping and handling time, and maybe much older depending on the supplier and how long it sat on the shelf both at the factory and in the store.

I'm a Pops user and have reconstituted my working cake once, after which it was extraordinarily effective for starting the strings in bowing for over a month, but it was also very messy to use due to softness for about a week. My working cake has developed a crack, so I'll probably be reconstituting again in the near future.

I also always wrap my cakes in a cut off section of a thick zip-bag so it is kept relatively air tight in the Pops containers. That way they don't tend to dry out very much.
 
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#14
Yes, I just melted and poured these cakes less than 24 hours before using them today. The shop Pop's usually last through their entire useful cake size here in the shop, which is usually about 1 year. I used fresh cakes for this mixing exercise because they will have most of the volatile solvents still intact. Pop's can last for a couple of years if properly enclosed. I had to laugh at one supplier's claim that theirs was by far the freshest, as if a few weeks or even a few months before first use made much of a difference in Pop's overall life. The dead scraps that I used were really dead and dried out. It was amazing how well they came back to life in a slightly reformulated way.
 
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#15
@Steve Swan
Sorry to go all "Julia Child" on you, but these silicone Mini-Muffin baking cups can be used in your microwave oven to melt the beejesus out of your hybrid blend of scraps and Pops, AND, can then be used to store and dispense (just roll an edge down to expose the cake!)
Just cut out one at a time as needed. I wrap the finished cakes in saran wrap to minimize the drying out process.
(Jeez...I need a new hobby.)
Thanks.
IMG_3790.JPG
 
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#19
Don Hergert said:
Interesting, I've only used alcohol/water fumes... What is the microwave process?
Click to expand...
Melt/Pour/Mix...
(Start with 15 second blasts of Microwave to avoid explosions!)
It's worthwhile to keep track of what %-age of Pops vs. Non-Pops you're blending.
I like a 50/50 blend of Nymann's/Pops.
Thanks for your interest.
 
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#20
Don Kasper said:
Melt/Pour/Mix...
(Start with 15 second blasts of Microwave to avoid explosions!)
It's worthwhile to keep track of what %-age of Pops vs. Non-Pops you're blending.
I like a 50/50 blend of Nymann's/Pops.
Thanks for your interest.
Click to expand...
Don't listen to him! He's wrangling you down the ROSIN REVIVAL blackhole that will eventually lead to your complete psychological collapse!
I am, completely jesting... if your budget is tight or you're looking to create some new more useful rosin for yourself... Don has been remarkably accurate in his recommendations, as dramatically frugal as they have been.
 
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