Is this bad for my strings?
 

I recently tried playing my electric guitar with a screwdriver, weaving it between the strings while plucking them. It made some really cool sounds, but a friend of mine (who plays bass) tells me this is really bad for the strings. Is this true?

Yes, but you should be changing them often enough that it wont matter.

Bassists have to worry more about string life because their string sets are much more expensive. If you snap a string on a bass its a lot more to replace it.

depends on your definition of 'bad for the strings'.

what you created is called a 3rd bridge - 3rd bridge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the worse that it will do to your strings is cause additional tension which would increase the likelihood of snapping. as GB said, far more concerning for a bass player who pays as much for a single string as the typical guitar player pays for a set of 6.

i'd be FAR more concerned with the frets and board than the strings though. you don't want to be accidentally gouging the wood or scratching the steel.

I don't think it is, I mess with my string all the time to get a cool experimental sound, just like EVH taps and slides the strings with the screwdriver. Either way, it's your guitar, do what ever you feel like doing.

It's not really "bad", I would say. I would check to make sure you're not making ruts on the fingerboard. That'd be my biggest concern, anyways. Bass players always try to get the most out of their strings because of the cost. The last time I bought bass guitar strings, it was around $60. But that may be because I get "nicer" strings. But hey, the string is going to break eventually. Why not get some cool sounds out of them in the process? But ulitmately, it comes down to how much you want to spend on strings.

60 bones? That's ludacris, a set of Ernie Balls or D' Addarios will only set you back 15-25 bucks, and they aren't bad strings at all.

i paid over $100 for my last pack of D'addarios for my fretless bass. mind you it was a 5 pack of flatwounds, 8 years later they're still on it and still sound fine to me. :afro:

I'm not seeing any A'addario flatwounds for 5 stringed basses on musicians friend but, the most expensive single pack of strings is about $40 bucks.
I'm guessing they've found a cheaper way to make them now?

definitely seems that way. but i made sure to save the package just for the price tag hahaha it's somewhere in my closet i swear. plus my price is canadian, and 8 years old hehe.

2nd edit... http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend....ass?sku=514392

drool

Yes, it is definitely harmful to the strings but I guess you run that kind of risk when playing with a screw-driver haha.