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strings,string care,and cleaning solvents on the market

Topic Rating: 5 (1 votes)

Watchtower68

Fillmore Indiana,U.S.A

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June 1, 2013 - 4:44 pm

Member Since: December 29, 2012

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After doing a fine tuner change yesterday I noticed a bit of rosin on the top of the violin which should be expected but along with this was a surprise I'd expected the worse but the strings I've got on are Dominate's which I can only figure is the difference to the happy ending in my string of bad luck here lately $\"blink\"$ .

Anyhow once I tuned the instrument up the strings sounded brand new with the exception they were staying in tune which is a good thing I always wipe my strings off but the rosin I saw that fell off the strings as I was replacing my fine tuners must have been under the strings(these strings aren't but a couple weeks old I might add here)either way once this stuff was gone the strings had this nice lively sound.

Which brings me to the meat of my meat head questions,while at my last lesson the young girl/woman who is my teacher showed me a bottle of string cleaning solvent does this work work or do any of you gal's and guy's use it?

And is is harmful to the strings (I say solvent but I doubt its based in a solvent form as I know that would eat the core of perlon strings) if it does work I might give this a try I've complained in the past about being unhappy with my sound and now wander if maybe its not due to rosin build up on my strings?

All I can say is this I enjoy the responsive sound I got yesterday after doing my light repair work and would like to keep it that way for the life of these strings.

I've not had a lot of trouble here as of late with screeching or crunch thanks to the real bow I bought from fiddlershop as its properly haired and not just clumped on the frog and strung to the tip I don't believe the hair was measured properly on my other bow's which Fiddlerman refers to as being useful as fly swatters in one of his video's at any rate it been a God send to actually enjoy the sound of what I'm attempting to play even if I'm not that good.

Thanks to all of you for reading another of my long winded post and all of your help and encouragement through what have been some tough times for my beginnings with this journey of mine it means a lot to me.

With all this talk about strings and violins I'm feeling the need to stop here and do something about it $\"coffee\"$ $\"violin-1267\"$

Rattus Norvegicus

Cornwall

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June 1, 2013 - 6:31 pm

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I'd also be interested in tips on keeping strings clean. the Rosin that came with the new instrument is clearly much better than I'm used to, and as a result, I think I way over-did it, and my strings are getting sticky.
and I'm no longer having to top up every time I play. but I can tell that getting the dust off the strings, as it's actually visible, and feels sticky, is going to be more a thing I have to pay attention to now.

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June 1, 2013 - 7:04 pm

Don't waste your money on string cleaning solvent. You can use plain rubbing alcohol. I was using 70% alcohol and I just recently bought a new bottle and it is 91% alcohol.

My luthier uses Lectric Shave Lotion for cleaning string and it smells nice too. Be very cautious not to get to much on the towel or rag, just a dab will clean the rosin off. I usually do it after each time I play. If you let the rosin build up on the string's, it harden's back up and you are scraping rosin to rosin. Only the bow need's to be coated, not the string's. You'll find you get a much nicer tone when the string's are rosin free.

Again, caution. don't spill any alcohol on the violin finish, you won't be happy with the outcome. You don't need to soak the rag.

Ken.

Rattus Norvegicus

Cornwall

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June 1, 2013 - 8:28 pm

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very helpful, thanks.

coolpinkone

California, the place of my heart

June 1, 2013 - 10:46 pm

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@fiddlestix Thank you for this. Always nice to have a refresher of things learned in the past.

Thank you!!!!!

Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato

Picklefish

Merritt Island, Fla

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June 2, 2013 - 3:28 am

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I dont clean my strings, wipe off my fiddle or do anything to the bow hair. Things are working so well for me I dont want to chance experimenting, even if it might improve things. So I will be devils advocate and say perhaps its not necessary. Well, not definitively but so far not for me. IMO.

"Please play some wrong notes, so that we know that you are human" - said to Jascha Heifetz.

Watchtower68

Fillmore Indiana,U.S.A

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June 2, 2013 - 7:03 pm

Member Since: December 29, 2012

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Thanks for the idea Fiddlestix I'll give that a try think I'll stay away from the Lectra shave though I just want my violin to smell like a violin blink LoL...

And my new one smells like Romania or at least like a grave in Romania especially if you have a sniff through the F hole don't ask why I'd know this laugh