Cleaning bass strings

[reggaepass@aol.com]

OK.  So what percentage of piano technicians are now or ever have been 
bass players, like Gerry, Geoff, myself, and several others I can think 
of just off hand?  What is it about bass playing piano technicians?

Alan Eder, RPT

-----Original Message-----
From: Geoff Sykes <thetuner@ivories52.com>
To: 'Pianotech' <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 12:14:04 -0800
Subject: RE: Cleaning bass strings

    Weird is not the word. Although I too was once a bass player. But 
now I'm a
piano tech, so I guess I'm used to weird. But I digress... I had a 
electric
bass player in the studio once a number of years ago, high profile 
session
player just out from New York, who insisted on replacing his strings 
before
EVERY TAKE. He said he really liked that bright new sound, so after 
every
take he would pull out a pair of dikes, cut off the "old" ones, (didn't 
want
anyone pulling them out of the trash and actually using them again in 
his
name as a souvenir), and then put an a set of brand new ones.

-- Geoff Sykes
-- Assoc. Los Angeles

-----Original Message-----
 From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On 
Behalf
Of Gerald Forsburg
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 10:25 AM
To: 'Pianotech'
Subject: RE: Cleaning bass strings


LOL!!!  I was a bass player for years.  Never heard of this, but it 
doesn't
surprise me.  We bass players are a weird bunch.  The only musicians 
that
are weirder are the drummers.  Beware, some bass player probably told 
you he
boiled his strings on a bet with a drummer to see if you'd actually do 
it -
pianists are generally found to be pretty gullible. <G> ;-)

Gerry

-----Original Message-----
 From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On 
Behalf
Of John Dorr
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 9:48 AM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Cleaning bass strings

Hi all,

I read somewhere about electric bass players who boil their strings when
they
get too grimy and they want to brighten up their tone.  I wondered if 
anyone

had ever tried that on piano bass (wound) strings?  I've also wondered 
from
time to time if it would be possible to clean bass strings with 
ultra-sound.

 Anybody know?

I am aware of the technique of running an overhand loop up and down a
tubby-sounding string, and of giving the string a twist.  I'd love to 
hear
anybody else's tips on restoring at least some of the tone to old 
strings.
 Not all my customers can afford a re-stringing job.

Thanks,
John



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