Chris Pile
Well-known member
Was making a new nut for a P-bass I assembled for a client back in the 80's. His strings were absolutely shot. I cut them and tossed them. He plays for a couple blues bands here in town, and hates the clank of new strings. He likes the thump of played in strings... The tone he aims for is James Jamerson on old Motown tunes. So what to do?
Did a search for aging strings and found a bunch of stuff - some of it was crazy (Stephen Stills rubbed BBQ sauce on his new strings), and some dangerous (a guy fried his in Crisco). Finally decided to make it easy - boiled a new set of Ken Smiths in very strong coffee for about an hour. That got me about halfway there. Did another search - a guy used hand lotion... Which I have a lot of. I'm a woodworker and diabetic, so there are bottles all around the house and shop, right?
Got a fresh rag and pumped a few squirts into it, and started wiping from the ball end to the windings, worked it in. Hung them up to dry for an hour, and repeated the process. Set them aside again while I made lunch and took a nap. Came back, the strings were tacky and dark - wiped the excess off, and polished them up. Restrung again, got 'em up to pitch.... no more clank. I like to play funk - thumb and pop, right? The strings did not respond. Tried a smooth touch, walking bass lines - that's the ****.
So I learned a new trick today. The client was really pleased, too. Tipped me $20.
Did a search for aging strings and found a bunch of stuff - some of it was crazy (Stephen Stills rubbed BBQ sauce on his new strings), and some dangerous (a guy fried his in Crisco). Finally decided to make it easy - boiled a new set of Ken Smiths in very strong coffee for about an hour. That got me about halfway there. Did another search - a guy used hand lotion... Which I have a lot of. I'm a woodworker and diabetic, so there are bottles all around the house and shop, right?
Got a fresh rag and pumped a few squirts into it, and started wiping from the ball end to the windings, worked it in. Hung them up to dry for an hour, and repeated the process. Set them aside again while I made lunch and took a nap. Came back, the strings were tacky and dark - wiped the excess off, and polished them up. Restrung again, got 'em up to pitch.... no more clank. I like to play funk - thumb and pop, right? The strings did not respond. Tried a smooth touch, walking bass lines - that's the ****.
So I learned a new trick today. The client was really pleased, too. Tipped me $20.
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