The Steel Guitar Forum

Not long ago I bought two sets of strings from B0b because the strings I had on my steel were beginning to sound a bit flat; more so the wound strings. I changed them out and everything sounds very clear and right on pitch again.

This evening I was playing around with my magnifying glass and I happened to pick up one of the wound strings that I had taken off the steel a few weeks ago and looked at it through the glass. Between the winds on the strings I could see that it was pact full of something that was a dark grayish white. I brushed some of the guck out of the grooves in the string and discovered that it was dead skin and probably dirt from my left hand. The entire string was plugged with this stiff from the nut to about the 12th fret.

Have any of you guys ever had a look at your wound strings through a magnifying glass and noticed that they are gummed up with dead skin and dirt where the heal of your palm has been sliding back and forth?

Could this have also played a role the dead sound of the wound strings? Very puzzling indeed.

Sounds like another good reason for flat wounds.

I wonder if getting the gunk out is what makes wounds sound better after a good boiling in water?

A number of years ago Buddy Emmons visited here and talked about various things.
He said back in the days when He could'nt afford to change all His string as regularly as He would have liked,He would only change the plain ones and then unwind the lower(wound) strings a little and then give them a good pull upwards and let them snap down which removed a lot of the gunk.!!
Billy

Years ago as a pro musician I used to boil my wound strings from my Telecaster. This used to double the life of those strings. I would not dare do it on pedal steel strings however.

I am fortunate that I am not a 'sweater' who suffers from sweaty hand syndrome. However, before I start every live set, I wash my hands to minimise the amount of debris that comes off them. The only other alternative would be to wear surgical gloves, and that wouldn't be an option.

Ken,
Surgical gloves May be the answer to My "Bum" notes

Ken Byng wrote:Years ago as a pro musician I used to boil my wound strings from my Telecaster. This used to double the life of those strings. I would not dare do it on pedal steel strings however.

Why not??


Bass players do the boil thing a lot.

Sounds like another good reason for flat wounds.

You gotta be kidding.
Flatwounds sound dead right out of the package. I do not know of a single working steel player who uses flatwounds. The major steel string mfgrs -- GeorgeL, Jagwire, etc -- don't even offer them as an option.

When you stop playing and you have 'black gunk' from the strings on your hands, what do you do????
Wash your hands, maybe?

Ever think that there is at least that much residue from your hands that works its way into the windings in the strings?

Two remedies:
1. Wipe your strings down every time you play. Look at the cloth -- it will be pretty dirty.
2. Change your strings when they start sounding bad. Realize that pro players like Franklin often change their strings MORE THAN ONCE A WEEK.

Sure, boil them if it's worth your time to do it -- even better, clean them with a sonicator or ultrasonic jewelry cleaner. But it's a WHOLE lot simpler just to keep 'em as clean as you can and change them when they are worn out. This ain't rocket science.

Jeff Newman addresses this very issue in one of his video coarses. I could be wrong, but I think is was his "maintenance" video.

He says to loosen the string and give it a couple of good "snaps". Lots of good tips in that video.

Geo

I see guys wipe only the tops of their strings down. The sweat and gunk will migrate down to the underside of the string. Probably more collects there than on top. I always run the cloth underneath the strings and wipe. That, coupled with the luck that my hands don't sweat much gets me several months out of a set of strings. I play a couple of night a weeks, but I also practice quite a bit.

You can bring strings back to life wiping them down with a cloth soaked in isopropyl alcohol. Don't go lightly on the alcohol. Don't get it on the finish of a nitro guitar either. Might soften it.

Jeff said to loosed the strings put lots of paper under them, cpaot them with lighter fluid and snap them hard and see the tgoop come off them, and they will sound like new.


ernie

I think the solution to this is to stop looking at your strings under magnification.

ken...why would you 'not dare to' boil your steel strings like you did the tele strings? they're the same thing.

Larry Bell wrote:

Sounds like another good reason for flat wounds.

1) You gotta be kidding.
2) Flatwounds sound dead right out of the package.
3) I do not know of a single working steel player who uses flatwounds.

1) Nope, not kidding.
2) One person's 'dead' is another person's preference.
3) You are probably speaking strictly from a pedal steel perspective, I'm not.
4) I know some dead ones, a few of whom are in the SGHoF, that used them exclusively, like Jerry Byrd.

A Reason For Dull , Wound Strings?

Honestly, I can't think of a single one. That includes flatwounds as well.

I hate changing strings as much as anyone. To maximize string life I have had good luck:

1. Washing my hands before playing
2. using a Blitz cloth EVERY TIME I finish playing.

I leave whatever "chemical" that is in the treated Blitz cloth on the strings until the next time I play with no ill effect.
Doing the above I find stings can last almost a month before going dead.

Another reason why I change mine on a regular basis !

Ah! Another mystery solved. I was wondering why I was getting all of this black stuff on my hand. Then I changed strings and my hand stopped turning black. Man, I love you guys!!!!

Ron Whitfield wrote:Sounds like another good reason for flat wounds...

Ive never tried flat wound strings. I noticed some strings for sale here that are "roller wound". Never heard of those. Dont mean to drift off topic, but I would think that while you lose some brightness, there would be noticeably less bar noise and maybe less space for gunk to accumulate. Just curious.

Clete

Those semi-flats are a good compromise, but true flats give a darker/spooky sound that Byrd liked and I find works best for what I do.

Pedal pushers prolly won't like that sound as they generally play a different style of steel and want a more current sound.

I read where Ira Louvin went to visit Rabon Delmore and upon leaving, Rabon gave Ira, Alton Delmore's guitar which hadn't been played for many years. Ira took the rusted, corroded strings off of Alton's guitar and soaked them overnight in solvent (kerosene?) then cleaned them. The strings came out sounding like new! This guitar and those strings were used in the studio on the Louvin Bros. Delmore tribute album!


Greg

Gonna tackle the back neck seriously soon. Me thinks there's no hope for the wound ones on that neck, black isn't their only color (there's also some red, grey, green, purple...)

Fortunately I've amassed a nice inventory of C6th string sets in anticipation of that day.

i just did the every 5 year cleaning on my zum...i can't quite force myself to put cobra coils on yet (someone gave them to me...i hate buying strings) i know i can get through a couple more combat zone gigs...the longer i wait to put on new strings, the longer they'll last.