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Oiling your strings?

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2018 2:54 am
by Musicmaker
Hi folks it's me again!
My Zither has still not arrived yet so i am practicing on my Dulcimer which has only three strings!
( amazing what sounds you can make with just a triad ! ) but it is starting to make my fingers tougher which is the aim.
I live in Australia and the humidity here is damaging to steel instrument strings no matter what they are coated with.
It takes only two weeks before they become dull and damaging to the fingers.
Today I put some Three in One sewing machine oil onto a rag and wiped the strings over.
What a lovely difference that made to my fingers and Thumb being able to slide nicely up and down the strings.
Does anybody else do this?
I can only see it as an aid to easier playing and longevity of the strings at £100 a set!
Pete

Re: Oiling your strings?

Posted: Fri May 11, 2018 1:34 pm
by jbug_zither
Living in Florida along the coast, I know all too well what humidity and salt air will do to a string instrument! For that reason, our house is not opened up to the fresh air unless the humidity is way down.

As far as oiling strings, I believe the answer is no. My zither is strung with Concert Zither "Bergfee" Nylon Green, and the A strings are stainless steel, the D is bronze, the G and C are bronze wound, and the open strings are pure nylon silk (https://schneidermusik.de/shop1/product ... ts_id/7269). I get my strings from Anne Prinz in the US. I asked Anne about oiling the strings because of the humidity, and she said no, because of the nylon content of the strings. My understanding is that you need to be practicing/playing enough to replace your strings twice a year (however I think the professional players are changing them like they change socks). I have to confess that the strings I have now are from 2011, but I just bought a complete set as I am now practicing for an hour daily and I am waiting for a string to go....

June

Re: Oiling your strings?

Posted: Fri May 11, 2018 1:41 pm
by NutmegCT
June - welcome back!

I see you joined the forum back in 2012 - but didn't post for the next six years! How 'bout posting a video so we can share your progress? With so few professional teachers around, it's a definite help (and raises the spirits) to see how other beginners are doing.

Thanks.
Tom M.

Re: Oiling your strings?

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 12:53 pm
by jbug_zither
Hi Tom!

Professional I am not... but for not posting, life happens. I will not bore you with the details as this site is all about zithers and zither playing :lol: . Make a video? :shock: :shock: :shock: I will have to work on that. My playing over the last 6 years has been more like Bill Murray playing the piano in 'Groundhog Day.' However, I am up to the challenge!

June

Re: Oiling your strings?

Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 4:31 pm
by Musicmaker
jbug_zither wrote:Living in Florida along the coast, I know all too well what humidity and salt air will do to a string instrument! For that reason, our house is not opened up to the fresh air unless the humidity is way down.

As far as oiling strings, I believe the answer is no. My zither is strung with Concert Zither "Bergfee" Nylon Green, and the A strings are stainless steel, the D is bronze, the G and C are bronze wound, and the open strings are pure nylon silk (https://schneidermusik.de/shop1/product ... ts_id/7269). I get my strings from Anne Prinz in the US. I asked Anne about oiling the strings because of the humidity, and she said no, because of the nylon content of the strings. My understanding is that you need to be practicing/playing enough to replace your strings twice a year (however I think the professional players are changing them like they change socks). I have to confess that the strings I have now are from 2011, but I just bought a complete set as I am now practicing for an hour daily and I am waiting for a string to go....

June
Thank you June for getting back.
I did not make myself very clear and that was my fault.
I would not dream of oiling nylon cored strjngs as i have these aas well.
I was reffering to the griffbrett strings with steel cores.
I have made a compromise in just putting a very light coat on the griffbrett strings.
It certainly feels super smooth and my fingers will not get cheese wired on the A strings!
Pete

Re: Oiling your strings?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:10 am
by Graham
Just a thought.

As the core on modern zither strings are usually a nylon, maybe a maintenance cream for fly fishing lines would be better than an oil?

Re: Oiling your strings?

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 9:06 am
by kenbloom
I have never oiled my strings. The bass, accompaniment, and contra bass strings really don't need anything like that since they are nylon. The fretboard strings can benefit from this. Some people use a product called Fast Fret. It is nothing more than ordinary mineral oil that you can buy cheaply in any drugstore or grocery. This gives you the slipperiness that has been previously mentioned. It can also help with corrosion. After decades of zither playing, all I have ever done is to take a bit of cotton cloth and wipe the fretboard strings down when I finish playing.This especially helps maintain the tone fo the solid metal strings, the A and the D. The woundd ones just get dirt and grease in the windings and that is what makes them dull sounding. You can always do what we used to do with dead guitar strings many decades ago and boil them. This removes the dirt and grease and will get you some more time out of those. Eventually you wear through the windings and the string will no longer play in tune or sound good. I know I've gone on here a bit long but I hope some of this is useful.

Ken Bloom
http://www.boweddulcimer.org