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I wanted to put on new strings on Vanessa but was concerned about hurting my new fm bow so I put alcohol on a tissue to wipe the new perlon strings. This is what came off. I was surprised.
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Wow!!!
What is that from?
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Holy crud, Batman! Umm.. What brand of strings were those? That seems like an awful lot of dirt or metal dust for a brand new set of strings.. Just sayin'..
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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I wiped the strings before putting them on the violin and this was the result. I think I'll do this for all strings from now on,,kinda like washing an apple before eating. These were perlon strings from an ebay place called old house violin from texas. They sell them for $8(they cheated me on s-h charges so I don't recommend them for anything). These strings are the same as Hauyin perlon (ebay $13) just different package.
I do not know if it is oil or wax, but it is logical that companies put something on the strings to prevent oxidation to prolong shelf life.
Learn something new everyday.
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wow, well it will be intersting to see if by doing that the strings life on the violin changes. I must admit it does make sense that they would put something on them to keep the shelf life up but didn't expect it to look like that! yikes!
Lead me, Follow me, or get out of my way!
~General George S. Patton
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@MrYikes: Good grief, a whole $8.00 ?. You buy from "Old House Violin", you get old strings. If they sell those strings for $8.00 and make a profit, imagine what they're paying for them.
I guess the old saying, "you get what you pay for" applies here, doesn't it ?
Doesn't matter what the package says about "perlon", anything can be printed on the pack. Same string, different pack, I doubt that.
Unfold your wallet a bit more and buy your strings from "Fiddlershop", then you know you're getting good quality strings.
We spend good money on good strings because we want quality sound out of our instrument, not like screeching cats.
But the black is more than likely "oxydation" from being cheap and old.
Ken.
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wow
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Okay.. so I use good strings and end up sometimes with greyish black marks on my fingers. I thought this was sort of the way it is supposed to be. Also I have never wiped down strings before use... is this something recommended?
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
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I've never heard of anyone doing this Toni and of course, I would never recommend this to anyone. But I don't want anything on my new bow so I will now do this for all new strings. If it creates a problem I will be sure to let everyone know about it.
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I don't know with violin strings, but with steel guitar strings, I know they put a light coat of light mineral oil on them so they don't corrode in the package during storing/shipping. But I'm not sure as they'd do that with perlon core strings. I would think it wouldn't be good for the fibre?
I usually wipe down any set of new strings (on any instrument) right after I tune them up, as a matter of habit. But I don't recall ever seeing that much stuff come off, which is why I wondered as to the brand.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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and this stuff could be mineral oil or something like it,,has a greenish cast to it. But whatever it is no one would want it on their bow hair. I know I don't. The good thing is that now that people have seen this, they will know to pay attention when changing strings. Protecting bow hair is a good thing. Thanks for your input Dan, it is always appreciated.
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I normally dust around the bridge area every time I've finished playing. But over time, I'll see a light rosin dusting working further up the body.
It's usually then I dust that off and take the trouble to get an alcohol dampened cloth and wipe the strings - both where fingered ( and that CAN make a difference ) and where bowed ( and yes, that makes a difference as well of course - although for that I'm an advocate of the "wine-cork technique" LOLOL )
The stuff that comes off near the nut ( where, sadly I still do most of my playing.... work on the POSITIONS Bill ! ) then looks like your original pics !!! ( grime, sweat, dust (aka skin flakes), dirt in general, just off the strings....
But, I've also wiped down new strings before fitting, and found what I could only describe as the faintest, if any, discoloration on the cloth.
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - 
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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