Surgical gloves to save strings?

[JazzCrazy]

Anyone here ever try surgical gloves to extend string life? I do suppose they'd have to be changed frequenyly because of friction & shredding

. Those black silk goves Mbappe wears look awfully loose---& don't they also shred & leave silk fibers?

 

[Joe Nerve]

I tried finger cots because my fingers kept getting ripped open as I wasn't giving them time to heal.

Allz I'll say is this.

Try the gloves.

Me thinks that'll be the end of it .

Oh yeah... I didn't wind up using the finger cots.

 

[Pbassmanca]

Oh, ha ha ha. That's what those are for......got it.

 

[JazzCrazy]

I tried finger cots because my fingers kept getting ripped open as I wasn't giving them time to heal.

Allz I'll say is this.

Try the gloves.

Me thinks that'll be the end of it .

Oh yeah... I didn't wind up using the finger cots.

Well I just checked the price of surgical gloves on eBay. (I keep forgetting it's not 1975 anymore, bit that's snother issue!). The cost of going tvrough severalty psirs per day defeats the purpose of saving $ on strings.

 

[two fingers]

I use them all the time for work (not surgery). The tips wouldn't last a minute playing bass.

 

[ddnidd1]

Invest in some denatured alcohol instead.

 

[JGbassman]

Just clean your strings if you don't already. I couldn't even imagine trying to play with any type of glove on. I can get a month or so out of my RW SS strings, and that's with a lot of playing before the strings lose their shimmer and the e string starts to thud.

Of course if those are flatwounds they are just starting to get broken in..



I've had ok luck with string cleaners or 90% rubbing alcohol.

 

[bikeplate]

Elixir strings

 

[JazzCrazy]

Invest in some denatured alcohol instead.

Denatured alcohol helps a lot, not quite enough. Next step is boiling them in water first. Then soaking in denatured alcohol.

I"ve seen YouTube videos of really old round wounds boiled, & the residual crud left behind in the pan is shocking. I don't see that kind of crud in my jar filled with denatured alcohol.

Frankly the notion that after boiling, the strings are rejuvenated for only 5 minutes seems like the sort of thing sales reps for string manufacturers make up. Ultimately there's one way to find out.

 

[JazzCrazy]

I can get a month or so out of my RW SS strings, and that's with a lot of playing before the strings lose their shimmer and the e string starts to thud.

The e string thyd thing a big issue. The fatter strings go flatter over night. I don't know to what extent it's separation of layers, or just those outer windings on the fatter strings holding more exfoliated crud within the corrugations

I use Hibeams, Fatbeams. Dragonskins are actually duller out of the box, & because the coating isn't smooth (like Elexirs) the rough corrugations hold just as much crud.

it was the Marcus Miller sound that lured me back after a 40 year layoff, when I heard the second cut on that Renaissance album. The sound reminded me of my old Rickenbacker 4001, but with punch.

Out of the box my strings are way too bright, after a week they're just right, but go really down hill quickly.[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

 

[Chrisk-K]

If you worry too much about the cost of replacing strings, you have three options.

1. Quit playing bass.
2. Work harder to make more money.
3. Use flats.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I've got both solutions right now.
One bass has SS Elixirs on for 8 months & they still sound new.
The other has Cobalt Flats & they've been on there for a year.

 

[JazzCrazy]

If you worry too much about the cost of replacing strings, you have three options.

1. Quit playing bass.
2. Work harder to make more money.
3. Use flats.

Or get Elixirs. I get it. BTW Elixirs just don't cut it

 

[G On Bass]

My basses get 1 of 2 types of strings: Stainless or flats.
1.) Stainless are cheap and I don't need them to always sound new. Actually prefer about 3-4 weeks wear on them.
2.) Flats last forever. Some of mine are 8-9 years old and still sound great.
I can't imagine not being able to feel the strings when I play...

 

[ddnidd1]

Frankly the notion that after boiling, the strings are rejuvenated for only 5 minutes seems like the sort of thing sales reps for string manufacturers make up. Ultimately there's one way to find out.

One thing that's Critical when boiling strings is to dry them in the oven on low heat for 15 minutes to evaporate the water trapped in the windings.

If you don't do that its a waste of time.

 

[JazzCrazy]

One thing that's Critical when boiling strings is to dry them in the oven on low heat for 15 minutes to evaporate the water trapped in the windings.

If you don't do that its a waste of time.

Thsnx for reminding me.. Water can get deep in between the windings, and & that potentially can limit their lifesoan to just 5 minutes. I had thought about putting them in the oven, & now I'm sure to do that.

 

[bdplaid]

Try a different string. IMO DRs are overrated.
Man, there are so many on the market for cheap now, boiling (and I did a lot of it back in my poor days) should be a thing of the past.
Bass Strings Online has incredible prices.
I just took off a set of new D'Addario Pro Steels because they were too bright. You might try them.
Dunlop Extra brights are, indeed, extra bright and I find they last a good while.
My current pref is regular Dunlop Stainless Steel. Bright but not overly so, they last awhile and sound really good through their progression to dying.
If you have to have nickel, Dunlop Extra Brights.
And Dunlop makes a Marcus Miller set for that kind of sound.

Also, I found that the harder I play the faster they go dead. I developed a lighter touch (basically I just turned my amp up and adjusted my technique for a lower volume) and strings last a whole lot longer.

 

[mikewalker]

Isn't stainless steel more or less rust-proof? I guess the core wire might be "plain" steel...

Come to think of it, I used to boil my rotosounds with some baking soda, back in the late 70s.
Of course back then my case was always full of "emergency" used strings, too.

Nowadays I can't hardly walk around my place for all the packs of brand new strings (THANKS, TALKBASS...)

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Invest in some denatured alcohol instead.

Can't buy it in Cali anymore
But this works

I have been corrected. You can still get it from hardware stores. Sold as a fuel. See, they banned it 2 or 3 years ago when VOC regulations went up again. Removed from the shelves. But, I guess if you sell lamps, or whatever, you can still sell it as a fuel. Wierd, but makes sense I guess. I didn't know that.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Anyone here ever try surgical gloves to extend string life? I do suppose they'd have to be changed frequenyly because of friction & shredding

. Those black silk goves Mbappe wears look awfully loose---& don't they also shred & leave silk fibers?

I’m a surgical technologist and wear them everyday I’m at work. I don’t think they’d be a good option. They actually rip pretty easily, probably have too much grip and would drag on the strings when sliding. They do stretch so my guess is even if you wore a size smaller the finger tips would stretch and be floppy after a minute or two of playing.there are many types. For example under gloves would probably have the best feel but they rip easily. ortho gloves would probably hold up the longest but they are also pretty thick and have the least amount of feel, we jokingly call them dishwashing gloves. But yeah I don’t even like the feel and how the ortho gloves restrict my hand movement for surgery so for ortho cases i always wear two sets or normal biogel latex gloves and if the patient has a latex allergy i rock two sets of protexis latex free gloves. If they are hiv positive sometimes i even wear three sets of gloves if we’re working a with bone or a foriegn body.

As others have mentioned flats last forever. It’s a different sound but some people literally don’t change them unless they break them. I do think the coated strings last a little longer but i just suck it up and change my strings about every 4-6 weeks. At that rate you’re talking like a dollar a day.