# Guitars: Have I just ruined my fretboards? (oil) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995 "2017-12-09T05:27:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/21 "2017-12-10T23:04:48Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Hmm. I break bass strings too, (play with a pick, and play fairly hard), so I might actually have useful input. I do find that better quality bass strings last longer, but the metal alloy is more important than price. Nickel wound strings always last longer for me. > > As far as killing the brightness of a new string, coat it with Chapstcik! Smells like whatever flavor you buy, and deadens them right up. Okay, noted! Thanks. I like snappy sound, especially when I tune down for rattle (fretless). Also lots of feedback, so it cuts though a little. I have an “on board” eq, if I wanna noodle. 😛 Do you know if there’s any difference in duration between flats and roundwound? Probably just in meow, right? It will probably dampen a lot too. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/22 "2017-12-11T02:43:21Z")
> [@Plumpudding](#): > > Okay, noted! Thanks. > > I like snappy sound, especially when I tune down for rattle (fretless). Also lots of feedback, so it cuts though a little. I have an “on board” eq, if I wanna noodle. 😛 > > Do you know if there’s any difference in duration between flats and roundwound? Probably just in meow, right? It will probably dampen a lot too. I don’t know if there’s any difference in durability between flats and rounds, but if you you like the bright tone, you’re almost certain to hate flats. The great thing about flats is that they sound just as dead as they’ll ever sound on the first day, but that’s pretty dead. If you like bright, my advice is to go with stainless steel. Starts out brighter than anything else, and usually resists going dead longer. If you want them to brighten up again and they haven’t broken, take them off and boil them. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/23 "2017-12-11T16:13:21Z")
Thanks for the advice. I think I’ll try nickel and stainless then, one as a back-up. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/24 "2017-12-11T16:16:34Z")
If you’re breaking bass strings, you’re doing it wrong. Lighten up. Here’s a trick- lower your action and raise your pickup height so they play hotter. That will cause you to play lighter to avoid the the strings from banging against them. Also, if you’re playing fingerstyle, picking directly over the pickups will keep your fingers from digging in too hard. You can get an accessory that does that, too. It’s called a [Willis Ramp](http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/theramp.html). As far as dead strings, your taste is your taste, but personally, I can’t stand dead strings. I like to hear the notes I’m playing, not a muddy rumble. I replace my electric strings about every eighteen months, depending on how much I’m playing it. My upright, however, is running on strings that are several years old. I play _a lot_ of slap on it and don’t break them. I carry spares anyway. (Watch- I’ll break one this week.) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/25 "2017-12-11T16:49:51Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Good lord, you’ve been buying new sets of bass strings? Unless you want the super bright snappy tone that comes with a new set of round wounds, there’s no need for new bass strings. Unless you’ve worn through the back side of the windings in a few spots, boil them for a half hour and they’ll sound new (if you’re into that sort of sound). Other than a couple of sets when I was young, I haven’t bought a set of bass strings without a new bass attached to them in decades, unless I had broken a string. > > While I’m not a fan of the tone of new guitar or bass strings, I can see the need for them, especially on an acoustic instrument. In the case of electric bass strings, if you think you need to replace them for tone reasons before you actually damage or outright break one, I think you might save money by buying a preamp. I didn’t say I buy them _often_ 😃 But yeah, the kinds of music I mostly play do usually call for a brighter tone. I also owned five basses all at one time for a while, so I eventually bought new strings for all of them. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/26 "2017-12-11T16:58:54Z")
As noted, you’re fine. For future reference Frank Ford has a nice article about cleaning guitars (and Bass by extension). If it’s good enough for one of the world’s most respected luthiers, it’s good enough for me. [FRETS.COM](http://frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/GenMaint/Cleaning/cleaning01.html) Link thingy isn’t working for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/27 "2017-12-11T19:53:59Z")
> [@Jumpbass](#): > > If you’re breaking bass strings, you’re doing it wrong. Lighten up. Here’s a trick- lower your action and raise your pickup height so they play hotter. That will cause you to play lighter to avoid the the strings from banging against them. Also, if you’re playing fingerstyle, picking directly over the pickups will keep your fingers from digging in too hard. You can get an accessory that does that, too. It’s called a [Willis Ramp](http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/theramp.html). As I said, I play very hard right now. I didn’t use to, when I played less aggressive music. I could probably do with a bit of a dial down, I think I have to find a style that gives a little of both and works with the bass, with less bloody hands to boot. I used to play with my thumb on the neck, hitting above the neck pickup, for easier transitioning into tapping. Lowering the action may be a good idea. Btw: In my book, nothing is doing it wrong, unless it gives you chronic illnesses or ruins you financially! I’ve checked one already, still not quite there on the other. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/28 "2017-12-12T05:18:00Z")
> [@Jumpbass](#): > > If you’re breaking bass strings, you’re doing it wrong. Lighten up. Here’s a trick- lower your action and raise your pickup height so they play hotter. That will cause you to play lighter to avoid the the strings from banging against them. Also, if you’re playing fingerstyle, picking directly over the pickups will keep your fingers from digging in too hard. You can get an accessory that does that, too. It’s called a [Willis Ramp](http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/theramp.html). Well, I haven’t played with just my fingers for ages, I use a thumb pick these days so I can switch easily. Even so, I have my action set only somewhat low. I like to be able to pick light when I want an almost clean sound, fast and hard for a heavily compressed and distorted sound without much fret buzz, and still be able to dig in further and get even more distortion coupled with fretboard slap from the strings à la Geezer Butler. Like **Plumpudding** I subscribe to the “no real wrong way to do it” school of playing. I’ve been playing with a pick for decades, and only been breaking strings with the current band, because it doesn’t sound right without that level of abuse for some of these songs. I don’t really know of another way to get the combination of sounds I’m after. Some guys can get where they’re going with a light touch through a 10lb solid state amp that compressed really well (I know, I used to have a regular gig that called for it). I carry around 300W of tubes and a spare bass because the current sound calls for it. If it didn’t, I wouldn’t. OK, I wouldn’t carry around 300W of tubes to every gig, even though it’s the tastiest sounding amp out of the many I’ve ever owned. I’d still carry the spare bass these days. Again, my sweat strips chrome. It also plays havoc with solder joints when it seeps into stuff. Learned that one the hard way. Not having to worry about breaking a string is just that much less worry. If you like the sound of new strings, want them to last awhile, and can deal with something other than the brightness of a set you put on today; you want stainless steel strings, IHMO. When I wanted that sound, they could stand up to being etched by my sweat the longest. Since I go for a deader sound these days I’d go for flats or tapewound strings, but even I don’t want them that dead. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/29 "2017-12-12T16:07:18Z")
You know, I was gonna shoot back a snarky response, but hey, whatever work for you, works for you. I’d bet that caustic sweat has an awful lot to do with strings not lasting. I know a couple people with that problem. Horn players- it takes the lacquer right off. Have you guys heard of that technique[Bryan Beller](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLQuVTzNTSw) uses? He plucks past the string, sort of grazing it, causing the string to bounce against the fingerboard. Steve Harris with Iron Maiden does the same thing sometimes. Might give you the right sound but break fewer strings, acid sweat not withstanding. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/30 "2017-12-13T05:16:12Z")
> [@Jumpbass](#): > > You know, I was gonna shoot back a snarky response, but hey, whatever work for you, works for you. I’d bet that caustic sweat has an awful lot to do with strings not lasting. I know a couple people with that problem. Horn players- it takes the lacquer right off. Hehehe, you had to have known it wouldn’t have been the first snarky comment on technique I would have dismissed. My thumb is all over the back of the neck, as well. Sometimes it’s in the “correct position”, sometimes it’s popping up behind the edge of the neck, as my needs call. Thanks for the restraint, anyway. 🙂 Yep, the sweat probably has some effect on the life of the strings. However, I always break them at the bridge, no matter what bass it is, where is where you’d expect over-exuberant playing to break strings. I also have never broken a string in practice, it’s always been at a show, and never one with only 20 people in the audience. :o So, I blame it on a fine mix of exuberance, sweat, and a certain technique. > [@Jumpbass](#): > > Have you guys heard of that technique[Bryan Beller](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLQuVTzNTSw) uses? He plucks past the string, sort of grazing it, causing the string to bounce against the fingerboard. Steve Harris with Iron Maiden does the same thing sometimes. Might give you the right sound but break fewer strings, acid sweat not withstanding. Well, I do play that lightly sometimes, usually with a thumb pick and fingers combined. But it comes out as a thick Mowtown-ish sound with a bit more gain through my setup, where Brian’s is already pretty distorted. Without touching a pedal, I can smoothly transition into creamy overdrive that is probably more distorted than the sound he is using, and then go further to where the strings are slapping the fretboard where my distortion is certainly more harsh. When I want the drummer to love me (I’m kidding, he always loves me), and to make the guitarists actually complain that everything but their leads get lost, I step on the fuzz pedal\*. Now, I don’t want to give the impression that I’m disrespecting Brian Beller. Dethklok may actually be the best metal band to form in the naughty oughties. But his technique doesn’t fit my situation well enough to adopt it. It’s a big enough town for the both of us. \*I chuckle when I remember the headphones asking “Are you going to play with the distortion on the whole time?” the first time this band worked with a particular engineer/producer/whatever you want to call it and we were setting levels. My response was, “No, I haven’t stepped on the distortion yet”. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/31 "2017-12-13T09:26:56Z")
For what it’s worth, Geddy Lee plays very hard and aggressively, and most people don’t fault him for his technique. 😉 I also subscribe to the “no real wrong way to do it” school. If it works for you, stay with it. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995/32 "2017-12-13T10:47:05Z")
> [@Jumpbass](#): > > You know, I was gonna shoot back a snarky response, but hey, whatever work for you, works for you. I’d bet that caustic sweat has an awful lot to do with strings not lasting. I know a couple people with that problem. Horn players- it takes the lacquer right off. > > Have you guys heard of that technique[Bryan Beller](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLQuVTzNTSw) uses? He plucks past the string, sort of grazing it, causing the string to bounce against the fingerboard. Steve Harris with Iron Maiden does the same thing sometimes. Might give you the right sound but break fewer strings, acid sweat not withstanding. That was a fascinating video - i haven’t watched a How to Play Modern Metal Bass type video and there’s a lot going on! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitars-have-i-just-ruined-my-fretboards-oil/803995.md?page=1)