Karaoke Forums

Years ago I heard a guy tell me that once a week he took the 'balls' off his microphones and boiled them in some kind of solution on his kitchen stove to clean and disinfect them.

I've also heard of bass players taking their strings off regularly and boiling them to clean off the gunk and grime and get some more life out of them.

Anybody else ever head of this or tried it?

I had a guy with a mouth full of chewing tobacco and an overactive salivary gland give one of my wired SM58's a nice 'Skoal Shower' the other night during a particularity awful rendition of Sawyer Brown's cover of the old Dave Dudley hit 'Six Days on the Road'.

So not only is the ball speckled brown, it also smells like an ashtray someone dumped a beer into.

Not something a light shot with alcohol spray is going to fix.. so short of replacing the ball.. any ideas?

With the low price of an authentic SM58 grille, I think I would just replace it and be done with it.

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=422415

There are knockoffs that are even cheaper.

Here's a link to the knock off's:

http://www.audiopile.net/products/Micro ... ball.shtml

(Thanks to Micky, I bookmarked it when he posted it back in the day)

Or if they aren't dented, just take them off, carefully pull the foam lining, and just wash.
The SM58 knockoff grills are just as good as the real thing, I bought a large supply just recently.

Yes I knew a bass player (ours ) that could not afford new strings that would boil his. Although it did nothing to bring back that new snap/twang that a new string gives, but at least they didn't look black.

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Boiling the screens is a bit much and I can't say I've ever heard of anyone doing that. The Manu's recommendation is that you wash them occasionally in a mild detergent and water. Just make sure you let them dry completely before putting them back on the mic.

As far as Bass players taking their strings off and washing them, well that's just plain bizarre. And I can't see how it would help much of anything.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Years ago I used to use a string glide
that while oily gave very good protection and kept strings good.

I still use StringEase today, that stuff is awesome and does prolong the life of strings.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

I used to use something called "Finger Ease"; a lube I srayed on. It wasn't that much easier on my fingers, but it did reduce the string noise. Is that the same thing?

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EveningStar Entertainment & Events
JR & Michele LaPorte
Peoria, AZ

Don't think so.
The glide was much easier on the fingers.
However good the guitar action was, the glide would make it better.
First time I used it I thought it was magic.

Did you ever try altering the truss for a better action?

Sorry, meant finger ease not string ease.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Oh yes. I followed the manufacturers direction to the letter. I've also had professionals do it for me as well; if I suspected I hadn’t done it correctly.
I actually have to send it back in for refretting. I have a buzz starting around the 12th fret.

I am going to look into the "Glide" though. It could help me out as I reconnect with my guitars after years of neglect. When karaoke emerged, I got lazy and didn't think I needed to play anymore. Boy was I wrong.

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EveningStar Entertainment & Events
JR & Michele LaPorte
Peoria, AZ

refretting.

Well you are a serious guitarist then.

I had a friend that used lemon oil on his strings... no idea if it helped.. but he swore by it.



As for the microphone balls, pull 'em off the mics, remove the foam, put 'em in a mesh bag (like those used for lingerie) and drop them in the top rack of the dishwasher. Run it through a cycle.

Optionally, you could get a bucket of warm sudsy water and drop them in for a quick soak. Pull them out and let them air dry.

Or drop them into a container filled with denatured alcohol to soak.


If you do a lot of karaoke and this is an issue - consider putting the foam windscreens on the microphones. They're cheap and do a great job of protecting the microphones from the nasty and disgusting.

Usually Lemon Oil is used to condition the fret board, I'd be a little worried what it's residue would do if applied directly to the strings.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Don't know for sure... it was about 20 years ago... All I know is he was quite good (he was asked to tour with the USO)... and swore by it.

Found it.
It is called Fast Fret.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fast-String-ins ... B0002D0CQC

Windscreens are the perfect place to grow bacteria. Have people bring in their own windscreen if they're concerned about germs- atleast they take their own germs with them when they go.

Karen...
What can I say...

I am going to do it.

I will buy a bunch of them.
Sell them to singers who like the idea at cost.
They can then bring their own spittoon and feel good about it.
They will know you will put it on for them.
It may even make them feel special.
More reason to return.

Like it.

External foam windscreens do nothing to prevent the nasty except to the mic itself maybe. I actually consider them to be worse than no windscreen, they are foam, foam absorbs water - spit IS water.

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The idea is to protect the microphone. Nothing more.

Put 'em on - let 'em sing - and then throw 'em in a vat of alcohol to soak. Replace.

How often do people pull off the microphone covers? They're just as bad since they have foam inside.

Using the windscreens makes it easy to pull them after each show or to replace one that someone's 'spit on' during a show. Much easier than the protective covers you have to screw off. The windscreens can be dropped into a bucket of alcohol/lysol or whatever - a weight put on top to keep 'em under - and then pulled and dried.

But to each their own.... I've been tempted to offer a 'high end studio' microphone and put a windscreen in front of it for people who want to get that 'studio' feel when they sing. Would stop a lot of the problems if they can't hold the microphone and there's a windscreen in front of it.