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Removing String Silks
- Thread starter Shishka Bob
- Start date
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- strings
My guesses are that he/she doesn't like the color or the silks are sitting on the saddle and/or nut. Probably saddles.
If I remember correctly, a few folks over in the Thunderbird club were discussing this. I think it was an issue with the 3 point bridges and the silk on the saddles.
I used a hobby knife (aka X-Acto knife) to cut away the silk that was extending past the nut on my bass.
I really dislike silks
I really dislike silks
Aren't the silks covering the wraps that hold on the ball end? It would seem that that would be no better, no?
My post from the last time I saw this topic on the front page:
I was similarly obsessed at one time.
I tried burning them off.
Kind of works, but makes a mess, ended up having to wash them off to get all the soot off.
They come off more easily if you boil them a few times, but this will make them more likely to break.
In the end I got over it.
I'll do you one worse than clashing with your finish, mine are mismatched!
I was similarly obsessed at one time.
I tried burning them off.
Kind of works, but makes a mess, ended up having to wash them off to get all the soot off.
They come off more easily if you boil them a few times, but this will make them more likely to break.
In the end I got over it.
I'll do you one worse than clashing with your finish, mine are mismatched!
My E string (actually C but you know) has that problem. I took a pen knife to it and scraped the silk back enough - maybe half a centimetre or so.
I have been playing bass since 1974.
The one time in all those 43 years that I ever broke a bass string was when I tried removing the string silks with fire!
Held a lit match to some loose silk, watched it burn for half a second, and then suddenly TWANG snap.
So, um, if yer gonna try fire, maybe don't try it while the strings are on the bass at tension?
I imagine that I would shave it off with a razor, like peeling fruit or vegetables, cutting away from me.
Yes I had the problem with excessive silk keeping the string from sitting in the bridge saddles. EB Cobalt Flats, on my no name 5 string. I did what The President said, but I'm still not happy with the results. They were very backordered, and I think they rushed them out the door without going through QC. I should call EB about it, but I'm not really a confrontational person. I wanted to try them after the reviews I saw here, it crushed my spirit on them. I'll just stick with my Chromes, they've always been good to me.
Use some small nuts or washers as spacers between the ball ends of the strings and the bridge. Then you don't have to mess with the silks.
Yup, this is the trick. Little slices, pick with a fingernail, little more slices, pick and peel. I've only had to do it with one guitar (getting strings to fit through the floating bridge holes on my Duesenberg), but this is how I did it.
Mike
That was my first instinct as well. I like the idea because..well, playing with fire sounds like fun, and....I think it would work. You'd also know pretty quickly if you were wrong. Just don't try it next to the drapes.
