anybody know about boiling strings??

[bassdogEmer]

anybody know how long you boil them for and if it's a good thing to do or or not?/ does it hurt the strings?

[Francois Blais]

Searching this forum with "boiling strings" gave me six threads, besides yours. Maybe the answers are there!

[M Ramsey]

If it were me, I'd try boiling some gut strings for the first experiment. That way, if it ruined the strings, maybe you'd have some soup when you were finished.

[Eric Rene Roy]

Not really a help here, but I once traded a set of Helicore Hybrids to Bruce Harvey (Orcas Island Tonewoods) for a box full of big leaf maple boards. He said he was going to boil them. I just assumed he was joking (thats the kinda guy he is), but I guess not, eh?

[Marcus Johnson]

I've boiled Spiros, in order to get a bit more life out of them until I could replace them. The effects don't last very long. This was when I was looking for a lot of brightness from the strings, long time ago. If you do it, it's good to keep the windings out of the water with some clothespins, or they fall apart.

Gut soup....mmmmm....

[Mike Goodbar]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

I've boiled Spiros, in order to get a bit more life out of them until I could replace them. The effects don't last very long.

+1

I used to boil my slab strings, though, back when I thought $25 was a lot to pay for a set of strings.

[chadshorebird]

I've boiled strings 5x and reused them and they always sound pretty good when I put them back on.

[zazz]

i used to boil em all the time just before a gig ..usually rotosounds....add a bit of washing up liquid to kill the grease...

and they lasted the whole gig...so a set of strings could last quite a long time doing this.

no danger whatsoever and if they are old strings...whats the risk??

[Chuck King]

I did this consistently back in my starving student days. It always worked fine for me. I was using GHS Boomers mostly.

A certain amount of string deadness comes from oil, sweat, skin cells, etc. getting deposited in the windings of the strings, and that is what boiling works to undo. That should be a repeatable process. Eventually, I think the metal fatigues, and then you just need new strings.

[Bassmickeyd]

I boiled el. bass strings years ago. They sounded good for a bit then died hard shortly after. I'd suggest, 1) not eating food before you play, 2) washing you hands, 3) carrying a cloth you can wipe your strings down with after playing, 4) don't let anyone else touch your instrument, no matter how much they wine. 5) Don't be nervous and don't sweat.
Worked for me
BM

[Bassmickeyd]

What thread?
I thought the same thing. I wouldn't boil upright strings, even though I use steel. But I'm sure there's some starving students out there with dead string and an audition or performance mark coming up that need to know if it's cool to do. I have heard of cats using very light, like sewing machine, oil to wipe their strings down with. That would help clean them.

[bikeplate]

HI

I do it quite a bit. Saves you big cash if you play full time and dont have a string deal. Over time, they will start to fall apart on you. Maybe 4 or 5 boils is ideal. Id say 10 minutes should do it generally. Dry them real good, reinstall Enjoy

Rob

[downneck]

i let mine sit for 24 hours in a jar full of denatured alcohol. removes the cruddy buildup without having to boil the strings. you can get denatured alcohol in your local hardware store, usually in the paint section.

[Francois Blais]

Moving this to the BG side.

[bassolf]

anybody know how long you boil them for and if it's a good thing to do or or not?/ does it hurt the strings?

Hi! Put them in a kettle and take them out when the water has boiled for 30sec. Dry them off! Has always worked well for me with roundwound strings. If it is strings with fabric/tread on, make sure that it doesn`t touch the water, then the string will be useless

[YourNoose]

I posted this on another board a few days ago.


Quote from tunemybass.com

By far the best method to clean bass strings is to soak them in denatured alcohol. You will be amazed at how well cleaning your bass strings this way works. In some parts of the world denatured alcohol is called methylated spirits.
CAUTION!

Let me stress that denatured alcohol is poisonous! DO NOT DRINK DENATURED ALCOHOL!!! Denatured basically means poisoned. They add poison to pure wood alcohol so they don’t have to pay hefty liquor taxes and it can be sold at hardware stores. So, keep your drummer away from it. They're hard enough to find!

Not only is this stuff poisonous, but it is also very flammable. Don’t use or store it near any heat source – cigarettes, water heaters, fireplaces, etc. Use it in a well-ventilated area or outside because the fumes stink and can be irritating. Also avoid skin and eye contact with it. Use some rubber gloves and protective goggles. Don’t be scared to use it. It’s not dangerous to use if you follow simple safety precautions.
Don't Substitute Anything Else to Clean Your Bass Strings

Denatured alcohol, or methylated spirits, has no water in it. You don’t want to put water on your bass strings like I warned in the boiling bass strings article. Some strings may rust as a result. Rubbing alcohol, as from a drugstore, has water mixed in it. So, don’t use rubbing alcohol as a substitute. Just use denatured alcohol from your local hardware/home improvement store. It can be found next to the paint thinner products. In many places you need to be 18+ years old to buy it.
How To Clean Your Bass Guitar Strings

Just soak your bass strings for 12-24 hours in the denatured alcohol, wipe them off and they’re like new. You can clean them as often as you like. Each time they are like new. Over time they will wear out from frets chewing into them. If you do a lot of popping, you will also wear out/weaken your bass strings more quickly. On a fretless bass you can use the same set of bass strings seemingly forever.

I highly recommend building a bass string cleaning tube. Then, you should buy a bunch of different brands and types of bass strings to have around and experiment with. Now you don't have to fear buying some of those pricier bass strings!

[SpectorBass308]

Use denatured alcohol. makes the strings brand new again. Soak em for 24 hours and wipe em off and put em back on again. Ive cleaned the same pair of strings more than three times and keep using them. Makes em like new every time.

[varunkapahi]

yea use the denatured alcohol method
boiling is a sort of a disaster as you dont want metal and water to come in contact at high temperatures

[rawdogg]

I usually use the Diaddario XL's. They are great for boiling because they don't have the fabric windings at the ends. Boil them for like 20-30 minutes The denatured alcohol works great too but it takes longer. Either way, they sound brand new.

[Ach]

I tried to wash my strings with dishes cleanser (Fairy), it helped. for some time strings had sounded like brand-new, but it lasted not so long.