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Old 12-07-2019, 12:46 AM
Smilez Smilez is offline
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Default Acoustic Mini-Bass - String Care Question

I was told that acoustic guitarists might be able to help me out with this one.

I have played regular electric basses for most of my life. However, I developed 4 bad lower back discs with stenosis and arthritic hands. I could no longer hold my bass without nerve pain shooting down my legs. The weight of it was just too much.

I bought a sweet little acoustic bass (Guild Jumbo Junior), with really solid electronics/sound. Trust me, I was skeptical until I plugged it in, and then I was "SOLD!".

The strings are D'Addario COATED PHOSPHOR BRONZE strings (with a nylon core).

These are nothing like my steel strings on my regular bass. So - what oils/cleaner is safe to use on these types of strings to keep them slick and clean? I do wipe them well every time I put my bass away, but the strings start to feel sticky quickly when I am playing.

I tried Dunlop 65 on my first set of strings and really loved how they felt the next two times playing, but it seems like the strings started showing signs of corroding after just 2 or 3 months (something else I wasn't used to with my regular bass). Not sure if the corrosion was normal for these at about that time, or caused by the Ultra 65.

I don't want to be changing strings every 8 weeks if I can prevent that.

What do YOU use on your coated phosphor bronze wrapped nylon strings?

Thank you for your time.
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Old 12-26-2019, 04:53 PM
GuildF20Guy GuildF20Guy is offline
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Wash your hands before you play. Wipe em down with a soft cotton rag when ure done. Get the rag under and around each string. Don’t clean em with any product.
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Old 12-26-2019, 08:36 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Welcome to the forum...

I seem to recall hearing that there's a flatwound nylon-core mini-bass string in the pipeline - seems there's a bunch of converted electric players who don't like the feel of the PB roundwounds - so you might want to keep your eyes/ears open for availability (probably after the Winter NAMM show)...

BTW I don't know if you've ever played a Hofner Violin or Club Bass, but many of them (including my wife's 5000/1 Deluxe) scale in somewhere in the mid-four-pound bracket - within mere ounces of the Jumbo Junior/GS-Mini/Goldtone Microbass 23 and 25 - and the entry-level Ignition Series models can be had for around $300 during Holiday/Coupon sales at the big-box retailers; with a wide strap (to further distribute the weight and combat neck dive), a set of light-gauge LaBella FHB2 flats (the same set Sir Paulie Mac is using on his Hofner these days FYI), and one of the new generation of ultra-lightweight/high-power class-D combo amps (our band's bass player has a Fender Rumble: 19 pounds, 40 LOUD watts - enough for up to a 250-seat house - and a $199 street price), you might just find yourself back in the game again...
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