Plastic sleeve on E string
I'm an adult beginner with 7 months of lessons under my belt. I recently changed strings for the first time. Heeding the advice of Christian Vachon in his excellent review of strings, I upgraded my Dominants to a silver D and a Jargar forte E, a combination that has indeed improved the sound of my instrument as Christian suggested it might. The Jargar forte E comes with one of those small plastic sleeves intended to protect the bridge's groove from wear and tear. But my bridge already has tiny clear plastic Band-Aid like patch protecting the groove. So what do you do in a case like this? It seemed to me that using both the sleeve and the patch would be overkill and might potentially inhibit the vibration of the string, so I pushed the sleeve out of the way to the tailpiece side of the bridge where the colored wrapping (red, in this case) holds it securely enough that it doesn't rattle or vibrate. What does everyone else do in this situation?
Thanks in advance,
AB
Replies (14)
I cut mine off with a really thin pair of scissors I have. It makes for a better sound.
Cut tubes with exacto knife, it's just another piece of baggage you don't need on your intrument. It could always interfere with sound.
My luthier always gets rid of them because they also add unnecessary height to the strings on fingerboard.
Be warned though, take extreme caution not to touch the string with blade. If you're not confident with handiwork, you should take it to your luthier and ask him to show you how he does it.
Cheers and happy playing!
Can't you simply slip it off before putting the string on?
BTW, I just bought an instrument that had chromocor strings on it--they have a sleeve on every string (must be a fiddler's preference).
Anthony, It sounds like you did what most do in a case like that.
BTW leaving it there as a backup in case you lose your bridge protector isn't a bad idea. Trying to remove it might damage the silk on the peg end.
Thanks to all for your responses, and to Mr. Vachon for his thoughtful string review.
Push it up beyond the nut.
I think with the thomastik E strings you can slide it off by pushing it towards the peg ends. I've always seen Gold label or E pirazzi E strings with the litle yellow plastic thing near the tailpiece
I cut it off.
On Passiones, you can't slide it off-and it rings/buzzes badly.
Ditto. Cut it off.
Nail clippers usually work for me; I've never damaged a string that way.
I personally don't use it too but some players will use it to remove some of the edge of the E string.
I get rid of it, too. My luthier told me that if you have the parchment on the bridge, under the e, you don't need the tube.
I use it to protect the end of the E at the fine tuner as I have had strings break there in the past.
gc
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September 25, 2005 at 07:38 PM · I often just push the sleeve toward the peg end over the winding, not toward the tailpiece. Near the tailpiece it can cause a little buzz or rattle. Sometimes, if you are lucky, it will slip completely off the string. Sometimes I will take an exacto knife or other really sharp blade and carefully slice off the top of the sleeve and just peel it away. If you do this be careful not to nick the string in any way with the knife.