Taking rounds on and off (and on again)

[Selim]

I’ve done this with flats for many years, moving a set from bass to bass to bass, with no negative effects that I could see.

What happens when you do this with rounds? Do you lose any of the string’s mojo when you do this with rounds?

 

[PeaveyPlayer]

I do it all the time with la Bella on and off and rounds on a PJ
Roundwounds?
I’d imagine you dent em
They die

but other then that
It can happen to flats
Other then a truss rod tweak for neck tension I’d imagine you’ll be fine

 

[Bodeeni]

they loose some zing with every move

 

[Gorn]

They get progressively more and more damaged each time you take them on and off. If that's losing mojo than I guess they lose nojo.

 

[Jefenator]

Might as well boil them and/or soak in alcohol while you're at it. Ditching that accumulated skin oil does revive the strings somewhat.

 

[Doug P]

I’ll just say I wouldn’t do it. The “flat spot”, the coil could become “loose”…….. I’m a new set for every show player, so I change as needed. To get the new “round sound”, I guess that’s why you would use these and not flats…..
So anything you do after the first set up would alter that sound maybe ??? I’ve never even thought about it.
New and bright. But hey, ???

 

[2112]

Every time you apply a force to a set of strings, round, flat, or whatever, you damage the crystallattice structure of the metal. Our playing, whether it be plucks, strums, picks, slaps, taps, pops, or otherwise, applies a force. The resulting damages accumulate over time, and is heard in the decreasing brightness of the strings over time. The effect is many times less noticeable in strings with a rounder sound, such as flats. But even flats that are known to start out with an edgy tone eventually wear out.

Loosening and retightening deals a significantly higher amount of damage to the structure of the strings all at once. So, generally it's best to avoid doing so. That is of course, unless you like dead strings, as many do.

 

[mdogs]

I do it all the time, works fine for a few changes. Do they lose something? Possibly. How much? Not enough that you or anyone else can hear it a live mix.

 

[Brich]

Might as well boil them and/or soak in alcohol while you're at it. Ditching that accumulated skin oil does revive the strings somewhat.

This. I do it 2 maybe 3 times max before they get changed, and always with DA in a large sealed mason jar.

 

[Selim]

I don’t want the brightness/edginess to come back. I’m just wondering if tensioning than loosening then tensioning does something structurally to the strings so that they lose whatever qualities that you like about that particular string.

I guess another way of asking is — are round wounds more “delicate” than flats?

 

[Killing Floor]

I’d just replace them but some people do it. If you decide to boil them use some Old Bay.

 

[RattleSnack]

I would argue that changing tension, from zero to declared tension, does very little to damage strings. They are designed and tested so they can endure that tension over prolonged period of time. Their usage consists of impact, tension change, and vibration, all day long.
Take a look at other instruments. Double bass players change metal strings, put them back on lots of times. These strings endure much more tension than bass guitar strings, and they rarely snap.
Even wear due to playing, where outer coil gets minor dents, is normal and string is usable.
It's OK to put on new set often if your sound preference is fresh bright string. But to others, it ridiculous, it's like throwing clothes when they get dirty. You just wash them. They may never have that factory freshness or color, but who cares.
Also, think of ecology, of energy and resouces spent on every set, plus packaging.
In case I'm not clear, just reuse damn things until they start looking like they'll fail.

 

[NoSlapForYou]

I usually save my rounds when I take them off my bass. Sometimes it's because I want to use flats for a while, and the rounds aren't old enough to justify throwing away. But often it's simply in case a string breaks in my new set. I'd rather put on an old string in that situation than not have a string at all.

Granted, I'm sure people will say that I should have a new set of strings as backups. But strings are expensive, and unless I'm recording I don't really care about having sparklingly new strings anyway.

I do this even though I haven't broken a bass string in over 20 years. Just an old habit, I guess.

 

[BAG]

I've been wondering about the damage to strings lately myself as well.

I've been working on a cheap bass I got which has a surprisingly decent neck and so I've been learning a bit about spray painting, will be changing the bridge and tuners etc. I've had this bass pulled apart a few times over the last month or so and have kept using the same strings, and will continue to do so until I'm as satisfied as I can be that it's finished.

I'd like to change strings regularly but with D'addario strings costing $45 a set these days in NZ doing regular changes isn't going to happen. In the mean time I'll continue to be careful about not twisting any of them when they go back on.

 

[cataract]

I’d just replace them but some people do it. If you decide to boil them use some Old Bay.

Came here to say this. Lol

 

[Deleted member 271037]

The main thing to worry about isn't rounds vs flats but round core vs hex core. Round core strings are less likely to survive being moved from one bass to another.

With roundwound hex core strings I wouldn't worry about it. They may lose some brightness after some changes but this will happen from actually playing them too. A loss of brightness with use is completely normal for ANY strings.

I wouldn't mess around too much with Rotos though. They seem to be made from more brittle steel than other strings and I've had several sets snap at the tuning peg when removing and re-installing them (plus they use extremely fragile silk so there's always lots of red silk dust everywhere!). Or maybe I've just had extremely bad luck with Rotos...? I love their TONE though!

 

[JRA]

wouldn't mess around too much with Rotos....I've had several sets snap at the tuning peg when removing and re-installing them

don't cut them!

-or-

cut the least amount necessary to prevent overlaps.

Do you lose any of the string’s mojo when you do this with rounds?

some rounds do better than others, IME/IMO, but i don't cut my strings so i'm sure i get more mileage than most.* that said, strings are the cheapest part of it all, typically, so i don't 'over extend' my strings if i can help it, anyway.

don't cut your strings = no loss of "mojo"


* i actually cut some strings (maybe 1-2 inches) to make them wrap better, but i don't do that "2-3 winds and your done" thing.

 

[Isaac_James]

I’d just replace them but some people do it. If you decide to boil them use some Old Bay.

Reminds me of a remark my old bass teacher made (with a thick French accent, he is from Paris) when I told him I had boiled my strings to get the gunk off: "Did you also add some salt and olive oil?"

 

[Killing Floor]

Reminds me of a remark my old bass teacher made (with a thick French accent, he is from Paris) when I told him I had boiled my strings to get the gunk off: "Did you also add some salt and olive oil?"

If we’re honest they already taste a little like cilantro.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I’ve done this with flats for many years, moving a set from bass to bass to bass, with no negative effects that I could see.

What happens when you do this with rounds? Do you lose any of the string’s mojo when you do this with rounds?

You will get the same, but you do have to worry kinks from the tuning peg and bridge ending up between peg and the bridge on the next bass. But at $25 a set, why bother? If I had TIs, my son would likely inherit them and install them on his son's bass.