String break in

[Tommygun_ted]

So im curious, do strings have a break in period or settle? I'm trying out the DR low riders because I like a stiffer string, but they felt fairly floppy at first. After a few days on the bass, they now feel much stiffer and are exactly what I was hoping. Never really thought about it much, but yeah, do strings sort of settle after a few days?

 

[michael_t]

String "break in" usually has more to do with tonal quality than stiffness/flexibility, although it's quite possible some strings do change in terms of playing feel as they get played in.

 

[Killing Floor]

Some sets tend to settle to a different tone or feel after a while. Good example is Chromes starting a little brighter then they get to this zone that lasts a long time. Some like Slinky start bright and fade over use.

 

[GTHintz]

Aside from your string settling in as thee cores stretch to their sweet spots is that your neck is going to settle in after a while to your setup even after you do your set up, intonation, etc. I've felt things change every time I swap strings. Once it's locked in though it's pretty consistent especially in my best basses. Good necks like to move just a bit and then stay there. It's fairly predictable.

 

[hasbeen]

String "break in" usually has more to do with tonal quality than stiffness/flexibility, although it's quite possible some strings do change in terms of playing feel as they get played in.

Yeah...I have to agree with you. I can't think of any "physics" that would make a string stiffen up right out of the gate, but I suppose it's possible. I've never tested it.

All my strings on my fretted basses only get about 12 hours of play and over that time span, they feel the same. I don't know how many hours my fretless strings get?????......36+?????...really don't know. However, they don't seem to lose flexibility either.

A friend of mine is an engineer/metallurgist who works with really "advanced" spring wire applications and such. I know what he'd say if we asked him this question. He'd say "it depends on the type of alloys used and how they're heat-treated and such". Without exception, every time I've posed a question like this to him, I never get a "yes or no" answer. He'll also say stuff like "I can't measure what you feel". Fair enough.

 

[roccobass]

My TI Jazz Flats took a few weeks to sound sweet on my newest fretless. . Now, they sound perfect. Yes, some take time.

 

[blr2]

So im curious, do strings have a break in period or settle? I'm trying out the DR low riders because I like a stiffer string, but they felt fairly floppy at first. After a few days on the bass, they now feel much stiffer and are exactly what I was hoping. Never really thought about it much, but yeah, do strings sort of settle after a few days?

You just got used to the tension. Strings don't stiffen with use.

 

[Tommygun_ted]

I think my neck must have settled. I've used DR DDT strings on my basses for years and never noticed anything like this, but I tried the low riders out on a new bass so im guessing the neck must have settled after setting it up. Was just curious if strings feel stiffer once they've stretched out and broken in. Loving these strings though, great tone and the tension is right where I want it.

 

[micguy]

String "settle in" sonically, but they certainly don't get stiffer. It may take more effort on you your part to get the same amount of zing out of them - perhaps that's why you think they are "stiffer".

 

[Tommygun_ted]

String "settle in" sonically, but they certainly don't get stiffer. It may take more effort on you your part to get the same amount of zing out of them - perhaps that's why you think they are "stiffer".

No, they've only been on for a few days, definitely aren't loosing any zing yet. I checked my neck relief and it's bowed slightly since installing the strings, so I've straightened it out a bit. When I first put the strings on they rattled on the frets a bit when playing, so im guessing the neck bowed a bit with the new strings, though after straightening it back out it still doesn't rattle, so who knows. Happy with how the strings sound, just curious

 

[Mike Vee]

Definitely. Tone and feel do change, even if the feel is only perceived as you get more used to the strings. Also, a lot of strings when new are sticky and grabby. As that goes away they feel much easier to play. (I clean my strings with alcohol first and add a tad of hand cream to make that go away immediately)

 

[micguy]

No, they've only been on for a few days, definitely aren't loosing any zing yet. I checked my neck relief and it's bowed slightly since installing the strings, so I've straightened it out a bit. When I first put the strings on they rattled on the frets a bit when playing, so im guessing the neck bowed a bit with the new strings, though after straightening it back out it still doesn't rattle, so who knows. Happy with how the strings sound, just curious

If you practice enough, you can lose a lot of zing in a few days.

 

[Tommygun_ted]

If you practice enough, you can lose a lot of zing in a few days.

Yup, but the tone hasn't changed. I'm noticing the feeling in the fretting hand, not the picking hand, and fretting notes harder doesn't make them sound brighter.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

The short answer is “yes”, but it would take a lot to discuss what kind of strings you prefer and how you want them to end up after break-in. Some strings take weeks to break in and some take a couple hours, and that’s if you play them at least an hour a day.

The thing that makes strings “break-in” is a combination of “settling-in” and “dirt”. You want the settling-in to happen most and the dirt to happen least.

Another thing to remember; Rounds break-in faster and go past break-in to worn-out eventually. Broken-in to worn-out can happen in hours, days, or weeks depending on your need for brightness and your tolerance of dead round sound.

Flats break-in slower, but when they arrive at “broken-in”, they stay there a long time, and some never get to “worn-out”, depending on how long you live.

 

[micguy]

Yup, but the tone hasn't changed. I'm noticing the feeling in the fretting hand, not the picking hand, and fretting notes harder doesn't make them sound brighter.

Plucking notes harder makes the sound brighter - you active a bit of fret clank and buzz when you dig in.

 

[Chrisk-K]

I like a stiffer string, but they felt fairly floppy at first. After a few days on the bass, they now feel much stiffer and are exactly what I was hoping.

Strings don’t get stiffer. Your brain is fooling you.

 

[klokker]

I've played lo riders for years and never had the experience of them "getting stiffer". They do lose a little zing fairly quickly, but then stay good for a while. I put on a couple of sets a year and play a lot.

 

[Five or Six]

When I was on the road my tech would put new strings on every 3rd show. He lightly stretched each string twice going down the neck from the 12th fret. I never had a problem at all. I still do it today without issue and figured the strings were where they belonged.

I know this has been discussed here before. Some say it's stupid, OK. I believe the strings to be settled when he handed me a tuned bass. Never questioned what he did. In 3 years my bass never lacked performance. To each their own.

 

[Pier_]

After a few days on the bass, they now feel much stiffer and are exactly what I was hoping.

IMHO and in my experience it's a matter of habit.

for example, a few months ago I dived into Rotosound Funkmaster strings, 30-90 set; I've been using them in the past, but left light strings for a long time.

so I went from 43-110 (billy sheehan set) to 30-90, and the first reaction I had was feeling them too elastic and loose, difficult to pluck with the right hand, and too thin to be played correctly with the left hand.

after a few days using them I got used, and they felt "normal" so normal that another bass with the 43-110 set felt impossible to play.

last month I switched on two basses from 43-110 to 55-105 flat (Fender and GHS), and at first I couldn't get a clean execution, but after a week they became my "normal" strings, and now the basses with 43-110 rounds feel loose and thin.

you just have to get yourself used to the set.

the real "scientific experiment" you can try is to switch on the same bass to an identical set of DR, and see if the "new string feel" is different from the actual set.

 

[Tommygun_ted]

I've played lo riders for years and never had the experience of them "getting stiffer". They do lose a little zing fairly quickly, but then stay good for a while. I put on a couple of sets a year and play a lot.

My go to strings used to be the DDT strings. I was in a band for sound 5 years that played down in C#. I really liked those so I figured I'd give these a go. DR makes great strings.