Playing with gloves

[simenandreas]

I am destroying my strings gig after gig because of really sweaty hands.. I have tried playing with gloves which help a lot for not getting sweat and dirty on my strings. The strings last a lot longer, but my gloves doesn't. The gloves on my fingertips gets broken or cut up pretty fast from the string sliding on the bass..

Have to guys tried playing with gloves? Do you know if there are gloves specific for bass playing that is easy to play with and doesn't get broken?

 

[eukatheude]

Have you tried wiping them with a clean rag after every gig?

 

[oysteivi]

Scott from http://scottsbasslessons.com/ (and youtube) uses gloves while playing to help with a muscle condition he suffers from. You might try researching (or just asking him) what kind of gloves he uses or if he just goes through a lot of them.

As an alternative to gloves, if you haven't tried them already, you could try out Elixir nanoweb strings or DR strings' coated offerings. Both of these should hold up better against sweaty hands, though the tone and feel also changes a little bit.

 

[Jon Moody]

I used gloves when I played electric bass in the marching band (yep, I said it and no, I wasn't just on the pit on the sideline, I had a very surly girl pushing a Mesa 1x18 combo amp on a cart behind me), mainly for the colder weather than string longevity. I went through two pairs of those white cotton gloves while playing a full season, but it was more due to them getting REALLY dirty over ripping the gloves apart.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I assume you are using round wound strings. The slides are what is shredding the gloves. Wipe strings down as often as possible, try some alcohol after gigs (on the strings).

 

[Febs]

Scott from http://scottsbasslessons.com/ (and youtube) uses gloves while playing to help with a muscle condition he suffers from. You might try researching (or just asking him) what kind of gloves he uses or if he just goes through a lot of them.

He is a TB member (@devine) so perhaps he will weigh in here.

 

[eukatheude]

Have you tried wiping them with a clean rag after every gig?

BTW, I don't do it. I like them deadish so when I dig in the clank is there but not too harsh.

 

[Turxile]

I play with gloves, not out of choice but I have to.
I use Nike Swift Running Gloves, a very small size so it's tight. Each pair lasts about 30 hours of play. Then once the holes appear I switch them around; the right pair goes left and left goes right... Good enough for practicing at home.
But first try these;
Some of my basses are strung with Chromes, which are rather sweat resistant and they last years.
You can also try to control your sweat. Check out Perspirex.

 

[JustForSport]

Try some coated nickels- not as bright as s/s usually, and the Elixers are coated AFTER winding, so the sweat, salts, and acids won't get into the windings.
Also, try nickels with all the wraps nickel-coated (someone just posted about theirs regarding this- Fodera, maybe?).
Strings with Alloy 52 wraps are reported to last a long time under sweaty conditions, also.

 

[StyleOverShow]

Caught some guys playing Sissy Strut on a beachfront pedestrian mall, 3rd St Promenade Santa Monica, and the upright player had a glove on his left hand(M Jackson?)....could barely hear him and I was standing about four feet away.

I just change strings once a month and tooth paste/brush the fretboard.

 

[20db pad]

Etienne Mbappé plays very well with gloves. He says they're black silk gloves from a French (?) company called Pipolaki.

http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2010/06/08/an-interview-with-etienne-mbappe/

 

[Camaro]

At my workplace we have very tin, almost as tin as stockings, cut-resistant safety gloves.

They are made of an Kevlar-related highly resilient material and I doubt that even SS-strings could wear them down.

EDIT:
They are called HyFlex 11-618
Link Removed

Edit 2:
The commercial for the gloves is far more Romantic-Comedy-ish then one would expect of an advertisement for industrial safety equipment.

​

Maybe it was directed by Rob Reiner?

 

[Hues]

How about gloves with the finger tips removed?

Seems like it would help minimize the sweat flow and still have the desired skin feel and tone.

 

[radioface]

Define, destroying strings. Do your strings break, or do your strings just go dead? Just curious, since I've never "destroyed" a set of strings. I have broken a string from time to time but, never a whole set at once.