Ten strings stand between me and happiness

December 29, 2011 7:59 AM

Where can I buy some Chapman Stick strings in southern or eastern Ontario?

I have a gig coming up shortly and it occurs to me my Stick strings are pretty aged. I am in Toronto today (and will be in Ottawa for the show) and I have learned Steve's no longer sells them, and Song Bird in Toronto, my backup choice, is no more. Any suggestions would be welcome.

posted by ricochet biscuit to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (4 answers total)

My old roommate, a bass player who also owned a Stick, used to boil his Stick strings when they got old/corroded. Boiling pot of water with salt in it, iirc, and it cleaned 'em right up. We were super poor, so this worked in a pinch.
posted by brand-gnu at 8:11 AM on December 29, 2011

Phone The Twelfth Fret (@Danforth & Woodbine) They open at noon. They've been reasonably friendly whenever I've been in there. If they don't carry what you're after, they might be able to point you in the right direction.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:49 AM on December 29, 2011

I'm sorry I have no actual answer, but, to +1 the Plan B: I have boiled bass guitar strings, with pretty good results, and I see no reason why that wouldn't wrk for Stick strings as well. Basically, the boiling removes a lot of dried sweat, dirt, dead skin cells, and fret/fretboard cruft from the string. That stuff, plus physical wear, is what makes the string sound dead.
posted by thelonius at 10:14 AM on December 29, 2011

Response by poster: For future seekers of Stick strings: looks like nobody sells them retail these days. They all steered me to online sources (which I won't post here, because if you are reading this in 2019 or something, they may be long gone).
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:45 PM on January 2, 2012