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Squeaky strings
Hello, My strings (gut and nylon) seem to squeak when I play ; this is not buzzing, but on a stationary string when you put your fingers on to play, it squeaks. Mr. Google 😋said it’s due to oil build up; and to clean it with Mineral spirits, which I did. Still it’s very short lived (I do wash my hands before playing to remove any hand-lotion used!). I am worried the string will be de-graded if I use mineral sprits too often.
Does anybody else have the same issue? any other suggestions to cure this problem?
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6 Replies
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This is an interesting question. I find a squeak with my fingers against the strings as well. I assumed it was because I was playing very quietly, and not necessarily with any kind of good technique as I am flutist, not a harpist. I had not heard about using mineral spirits.
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Hi Priyanthi,
I recognise the same problem! Try rubbing a light dusting of talcum powder on your finger tips before playing. It seems to work for me.
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Thanks Andrew. that’s really helpful. I’ll give the talcum a try and see how it goes.
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I have the same problem sometimes. Washing my hands tends to help most of the time.
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I know this too. But it is not always, it depends a lot on my playing technique (how loud I play, how exact I place my fingers etc.).
If I do not play the fingers “in the hand” enough, so that I probably pull them up a little, or move them a little to the side, then I will get that squeaky noise. Even slight deviations from the optimal path can lead to such a squeak. Talcum can help. But it would be better to change the playing technique. So I had to practice more 🙂
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With my technique anything around me would squeak as well! 😁 But i am sure this is due to the oil build up. I think using talcum would help as suggested. Will give it a shot; hopefully it will be all OK. thank you.
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