It suddenly came to me while cleaning my strings about the wierd and wonderful cleaning things we all use and what works for us, also what you should never use.
Here goes for my cringer.....
I use.....drum roll....artists english distilled turpentine to clean my strings when rosin build up is beyond the wipe and scratch with fingernail stage. I do clean the rosin off alot with a cloth, and use a minimum on my bow, but I get buildup because of the rosins available (nasty with a huge markup).
So what other things outside the commercially available for your instrument products do you use?
eerr hit the button too soon, thats turpentine on the strings not the fiddle itself. Also cotton wool is good for looking for small cracks and broken bits on strings. An old fishermans trick - push cotton wool through rod guides to find the unseen by the naked eye cracks in the guides.
I use a wee bit of siliva on a cotton rag to clean the rosin from the strings and top. It seems to work well, and not cause any problems. In the past I've used Fiddle Brite and some kind of polish for the top but it seems to make it gummy and I no longer use those products. My fiddle is a 1904 Wilhelm Duerer that I've had since 1972. About ten years ago a repairman wiped it with a cloth that messed up the finish after resetting the neck, made it swirley. But it's looking better now.
I am frugal about my strings, mainly because a new set of thomastiks will set me back $100, that 100 towards a new bow or case, or fish, or fish filter, or winston rod.
When I got my new fiddle a year ago, I swore a solemn oath to always wipe it thoroughly with a soft cotton cloth before putting it back in the case, every single time--and no polish or other products, ever. I use a corner of the cloth for the strings, down by the bridge. No rosin build-up so far, anywhere. Sounds obsessive, I know ("obsessive fiddler"-- redundant?) but it's true what they say about an ounce of prevention.
I have seen some shockers, like the guy who cleaned his violin as often as he changed the strings, he didnt know that you can change them more often than they break. His violin had been cleaned with xylene. I am glad it was a suzuki.
interesting subject -- i don't play the fiddle, but i've been in the habit of using a soft cloth with a very light application of lemon oil to clean the grit and dead skin from my guitar strings, also works to lubricate them. seems to do well for the fingerboard. i dont heap it on or apply it dirctly, i just use the oil on the cloth to help lift the dirt. too much of any cleaner of course and the strings aren't going to vibrate as much.
I just use meths to clean my strings and fingerboard, just as long as it doesn't get on the varnish. Hey, if you're having a bad day you can have a drink while you clean!
Only joking.
Also, a fiddle repairer in the north of england once told me you can clean the varnish with a tiny amount of olive oil. Seems to work ok. Olive oil and alcohol? It's the closest i get to hosting a dinner party...
I have had good luck using Parker & Bailey (silicone and wax free) furniture polish on the bodies of my banjos and bouzouki. That was recommended to me by the folks at OME banjos. It seems to work better than the guitar polish stuff you buy at the music store (and it is a LOT cheaper!)
And I use lemon oil on the fret boards, but that's pretty standard.
I never clean my strings... but that's because they cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $3-5 to replace... (silly fiddlers and their $100 strings...)
$100.00 for a set of strings? Wow, that's steep. International Violin sells Thomastiks for a fraction of that price. Of course I don't know what shipping might be across the pond. http://www.internationalviolin.com/
The last set I bought from International Violin was Thomastik-Infeld Vision, synthetic core, pure silver wound, for $28.00. And they came with three E strings, a stainless steel, a titanium plated and a tin plated. I'm on the titanium now, still have the tin to look forward to. Their toll free number is 1-800-542-3538. In a couple months I'm gonna buy a chinese Calvert five string fiddle from them for $355.00. Man, that'll be fun. I'll try to keep it looking like new. I wonder how a little bit of Murphy's Oil Soap would be to clean off the really heavy crud. Would that be a faux pas? I'd hate to ruin my fiddle. It's been in my care for more than a third of it's one hundred and two year existence.
look at it this way.... I just bought a bow for
usd 4.99 the shipping is usd 29.99. That works out to $52 locally. Which is still 25% of what I would pay for the same bow locally. Looking at the price of violins and cases and accessories on ebay I wonder if its worth importing them to sell locally. I was talking to the manager of a music store yesterday and we were online doing a comparative costing. He cannot get fiddles and cases for the same price including shipping. Musical instruments are a luxury item here. Beginner clarinets start at $1000, the average person does not learn to play any instrument on a whim. The instrument in the attic is a rare thing. They say we live in paradise and thats ok, just dont expect to have a high standard of living. Many people immigrate with their pounds stirling and us dollars and live well until the foreign currency runs out. Then they learn just how far the local dollar does go. We pay for fresh air, clean water, low density housing and beaches one way or another.
So things like strings are not disposable items, they cost a lot of money. Welcome to New Zealnd, the arse-end of the world.
I use isopropanol to clean my fiddle and cello strings, as long as it doesn't get anywhere near the varnish. I buy it from a local pharmacist, and it is the pure stuff used for medical purposes.
I think you should be careful chosing the right brand of methylated spirits, because its composition isn't rigidly defined and varies according to the supplier and intended use. It may therefore contain all sorts of undesirable nasties including small amounts of oil and even sulphuirc acid, neither of which are recommended for cleaning strings!
BTW, if you don't play the cello, be thankful. Cello strings cost about 4 times as much as equivalent quality fiddle strings.
odd cleaning products
odd cleaning products
It suddenly came to me while cleaning my strings about the wierd and wonderful cleaning things we all use and what works for us, also what you should never use.
Here goes for my cringer.....
I use.....drum roll....artists english distilled turpentine to clean my strings when rosin build up is beyond the wipe and scratch with fingernail stage. I do clean the rosin off alot with a cloth, and use a minimum on my bow, but I get buildup because of the rosins available (nasty with a huge markup).
So what other things outside the commercially available for your instrument products do you use?
# Posted on August 7th 2006 by Joze
Re: odd cleaning products
eerr hit the button too soon, thats turpentine on the strings not the fiddle itself. Also cotton wool is good for looking for small cracks and broken bits on strings. An old fishermans trick - push cotton wool through rod guides to find the unseen by the naked eye cracks in the guides.
# Posted on August 7th 2006 by Joze
Re: odd cleaning products
I use a wee bit of siliva on a cotton rag to clean the rosin from the strings and top. It seems to work well, and not cause any problems. In the past I've used Fiddle Brite and some kind of polish for the top but it seems to make it gummy and I no longer use those products. My fiddle is a 1904 Wilhelm Duerer that I've had since 1972. About ten years ago a repairman wiped it with a cloth that messed up the finish after resetting the neck, made it swirley. But it's looking better now.
# Posted on August 7th 2006 by huck
Re: odd cleaning products
I am frugal about my strings, mainly because a new set of thomastiks will set me back $100, that 100 towards a new bow or case, or fish, or fish filter, or winston rod.
# Posted on August 7th 2006 by Joze
Re: odd cleaning products
When I got my new fiddle a year ago, I swore a solemn oath to always wipe it thoroughly with a soft cotton cloth before putting it back in the case, every single time--and no polish or other products, ever. I use a corner of the cloth for the strings, down by the bridge. No rosin build-up so far, anywhere. Sounds obsessive, I know ("obsessive fiddler"-- redundant?) but it's true what they say about an ounce of prevention.
# Posted on August 7th 2006 by John Galt
Re: odd cleaning products
I have seen some shockers, like the guy who cleaned his violin as often as he changed the strings, he didnt know that you can change them more often than they break. His violin had been cleaned with xylene. I am glad it was a suzuki.
# Posted on August 7th 2006 by Joze
Re: odd cleaning products
interesting subject -- i don't play the fiddle, but i've been in the habit of using a soft cloth with a very light application of lemon oil to clean the grit and dead skin from my guitar strings, also works to lubricate them. seems to do well for the fingerboard. i dont heap it on or apply it dirctly, i just use the oil on the cloth to help lift the dirt. too much of any cleaner of course and the strings aren't going to vibrate as much.
# Posted on August 7th 2006 by gravelwalks
Re: odd cleaning products
it's also cheaper than marketed string cleaner, i never noticed a difference except the price.
# Posted on August 7th 2006 by gravelwalks
Re: odd cleaning products
I just use meths to clean my strings and fingerboard, just as long as it doesn't get on the varnish. Hey, if you're having a bad day you can have a drink while you clean!
Only joking.
Also, a fiddle repairer in the north of england once told me you can clean the varnish with a tiny amount of olive oil. Seems to work ok. Olive oil and alcohol? It's the closest i get to hosting a dinner party...
# Posted on August 7th 2006 by oh fiddle it
Re: odd cleaning products
I have had good luck using Parker & Bailey (silicone and wax free) furniture polish on the bodies of my banjos and bouzouki. That was recommended to me by the folks at OME banjos. It seems to work better than the guitar polish stuff you buy at the music store (and it is a LOT cheaper!)
And I use lemon oil on the fret boards, but that's pretty standard.
I never clean my strings... but that's because they cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $3-5 to replace... (silly fiddlers and their $100 strings...)
Pete
# Posted on August 7th 2006 by Reverend
Re: odd cleaning products
$100.00 for a set of strings? Wow, that's steep. International Violin sells Thomastiks for a fraction of that price. Of course I don't know what shipping might be across the pond. http://www.internationalviolin.com/
# Posted on August 8th 2006 by huck
Re: odd cleaning products
$20 for an E string $37 for a G, I try to keep them as long as possible.
# Posted on August 8th 2006 by Joze
Re: odd cleaning products
The last set I bought from International Violin was Thomastik-Infeld Vision, synthetic core, pure silver wound, for $28.00. And they came with three E strings, a stainless steel, a titanium plated and a tin plated. I'm on the titanium now, still have the tin to look forward to. Their toll free number is 1-800-542-3538. In a couple months I'm gonna buy a chinese Calvert five string fiddle from them for $355.00. Man, that'll be fun. I'll try to keep it looking like new. I wonder how a little bit of Murphy's Oil Soap would be to clean off the really heavy crud. Would that be a faux pas? I'd hate to ruin my fiddle. It's been in my care for more than a third of it's one hundred and two year existence.
# Posted on August 9th 2006 by huck
Re: odd cleaning products
look at it this way.... I just bought a bow for
usd 4.99 the shipping is usd 29.99. That works out to $52 locally. Which is still 25% of what I would pay for the same bow locally. Looking at the price of violins and cases and accessories on ebay I wonder if its worth importing them to sell locally. I was talking to the manager of a music store yesterday and we were online doing a comparative costing. He cannot get fiddles and cases for the same price including shipping. Musical instruments are a luxury item here. Beginner clarinets start at $1000, the average person does not learn to play any instrument on a whim. The instrument in the attic is a rare thing. They say we live in paradise and thats ok, just dont expect to have a high standard of living. Many people immigrate with their pounds stirling and us dollars and live well until the foreign currency runs out. Then they learn just how far the local dollar does go. We pay for fresh air, clean water, low density housing and beaches one way or another.
So things like strings are not disposable items, they cost a lot of money. Welcome to New Zealnd, the arse-end of the world.
# Posted on August 10th 2006 by Joze
Re: odd cleaning products
I use isopropanol to clean my fiddle and cello strings, as long as it doesn't get anywhere near the varnish. I buy it from a local pharmacist, and it is the pure stuff used for medical purposes.
I think you should be careful chosing the right brand of methylated spirits, because its composition isn't rigidly defined and varies according to the supplier and intended use. It may therefore contain all sorts of undesirable nasties including small amounts of oil and even sulphuirc acid, neither of which are recommended for cleaning strings!
BTW, if you don't play the cello, be thankful. Cello strings cost about 4 times as much as equivalent quality fiddle strings.
# Posted on August 10th 2006 by Trevor Jennings