Old Gut Strings Question ...

Burning fine fibers with a lighter and then oiling?

 

Lumpy? Thicker in one spot than in others?

 

I don't recommend putting a flame anywhere near them. Fine sandpaper, like glass polishing fine. Easy rounding motion evenly up and down the strings over the rough spots, then a light coat of oil. Wipe the excess off.

 

How long between applying oil and playing the strings again?

 

Varies.....how humid of an environment are you in?

 

The burning hairs trick, for me, really reduces the life of the strings. I keep a couple small pieces of fine sandpaper in my headstock. It's even better when it gets totally worn out, because you want to essentially polish the strings, not necessarily "sand" them... A pair of fingernail clippers are worth their weight in gold for the bigger hairs, too. But you should be sanding those jokers often. Keep them smooth, sand down the lumps and they'll play better.

 

Rosin won’t grab a freshly oiled string, and it fouls the hair.

 

No. If anything - once you round out the rough spots and oil them, they should play better. Remember, light oil and wiping off any excess. It's really about a maintenance routine with plain gut. The wear depends on a lot of factors, environment, body chemistry, hours of use. If you take care of them, they can last almost forever.

 

The oil makes the strings heavier = more tension needed to get the same pitch. I rarely give my Efrano plain gut strings a slight rubdown with fine sandpaper, and a bit of grease. Trim the occasional hairs with a nail scissor. I sort of like the drier, crispier sound.

 

A single mixed set of plain gut with a wrapped gut E have given me my desired result for 10+ years. I've moved them around a few times, and they're still going strong.

I use only almond oil, fine sand paper and occasionally very sharp/accurate nail clippers for only the very large hairs. Dull clippers pull too much (as opposed to cutting cleanly) and this will unravel the string. I used the lighter trick with previous strings and they all broke within a few months.

After sanding, I put about a nickel size amount of oil in my palm and then rub it over the plain gut strings. After about 20 minutes I use a higher quality paper towel that won't break to wipe off the excess. I don't like the way overnight oiling makes the strings sound or feel.

"The more often you oil and sand your strings, the less you'll need to do it." - Yogi Berra (were he a gut string bassist ; - ) hehehaha)

 

dang ... dont think i have the guts LOL for that LIGHTER THING? ***?!??