Anyone who knows me, will know that I have a penchant for breaking strings no matter the gauge. Anyone who knows me will know also that I travel in Quixotish quest, in search of the 'unbreakable string', the '5 year warranty bridge'. These self-same people will therefore, be acutely aware that when I shout 'Eureka' at the top of my voice, a lightbulb of sorts must have just appeared above my head.
The sales clerk in Knud Eskildsen's Music Shop in Esbjerg, Denmark, to whom I uttered that word, had never laid eyes on me in his life...
I spotted a package behind the counter, up where the sets of strings are kept. I couldn't make out the trademark logo, from where I was standing, but written in large friendly letters beside it, were the words 'Nut Sauce'. "What's that stuff?", I asked "Stops you breaking strings" (chatty bloke!) "I'll have one of them as well, then.... Big Bends Nut Sauce, eh? Do you have to buy your own rice for that?" "Wha'?" "Nothin'. Thanks. See ya later"
Off I went with my 6 E's, 6 A's, 12 D's, 12 G's, 6 B's, and 6 high E's, (not to mention, my nut sauce) for another half-hour of string changing. Open the package, and take out the instruction leaflet... Written in small, hard-to-read letters near the end of the text, are the words "This is not a food"
"Great start", I thought
Not in the common sense of the word is it a food, no. To say that it lengthens the life of a bottom E, way past 'normal' breaking point, until it is utterly flaccid, would be to endow the 'sauce' with some sustaining qualities, though, and since I bought my first tube in early June, my G's and D's (especially these two) tend to last the proprietary two night's playing that I like to get out of them and the other strings. Not only did I get that (I noticed the difference the first night), but since June, I could count on the fingers of my two hands, how many strings I have broken in the course of a gig. To me, that is nearly a 100% success rate.....
I went back to the shop 3 days later, to stock up on spares and plecs, and as I approached the engaging clerk at the counter, I boldly bellowed that immortal word, thanked him profusely for his propensity for breathing, and grabbing him warmly by the hand, started to explain to him what a very seminal moment in the history of traditional guitar playing, he was bearing testament to...
In short, I go around these days with a tube of it in my right hand, ready to pounce on unsuspecting oath swearers, just waiting for an opportunity....
Our Brothers and Sisters, Stateside may have experienced the wonders of 'Big Bends Nut Sauce' already, (although I saw no sign of it a few years ago, when I was last there) so to a certain degree I may be preaching to the converted, but I have never seen it before in any music shops in Scandinavia. Only in a little place, in a smallish town, on the west coast of Denmark....