Denatured Alcohol, waterfall plots

[Otso]

Hi,

I recently did a small project for a signal analysis course about soaking strings in denatured alcohol. I first recorded a set new, then after about a month of use and then after I had soaked them overnight in a tube filled with denaturated alcohol. Here are some waterfall plots (can't be bothered to translate the whole thing from Finnish to English). Recorded with a Stingray 4, set flat, D'Addario nickel wound strings, the e being a .105.

New E-string:


Soaked E-string:

[Otso]

Here's also the used one:


Couldn't attach all three images into one post.

The part shown is pretty much right after the attack.

[WJGreer]

Very interesting. What are your conclusions?

How dead, anecdotally, was the "used" string?

[DreadRaver]

For those who can't interpret those plots (like me!) what were your conclusions?

[Ewo]

Can you help me out with "hearing" the three plots? Trying to imagine the tone of each case...

[Otso]

The used string wasn't exactly dead, didn't quite have the time to kill it during the course . You could still clearly hear that it had been used, it had lost most of it's brightness, sounding quite boomy.
My conclusions were that soaking definitely brings many of the higher harmonics back, but also the solvent I used wasn't the best possible, because some grime was still visible in the binding. I'd love to repeat the whole thing, let the strings get completely dead, use a better solvent, and repeat the process a few times to find out how much mechanical wear happens and how it effects the sound, assuming that the solvent can really clean the string properly.

[Otso]

Originally Posted by Ewo

Can you help me out with "hearing" the three plots? Trying to imagine the tone of each case...

The higher harmonics (on left) are the ones that bring that zing to new strings. The initial attack doesn't sound very different in the three cases, but after that, the used one only has that low thick sound to it, without much "colour".

[Shoewreck]

Settled strings show better fundamental.

[Otso]

Originally Posted by Shoewreck

Settled strings show better fundamental.

I may have also plucked harder (unintentionally) when recording the used strings just to compensate for the slight "deadness"

[Stingray5]

Can you soak them a little longer than just overnight? I usually let mine soak for 48hrs minumum for best results.

Very interesting analysis.

[markanini]

Interesting stuff! Is it possible to rotate the plot 180 degress to get a better view of the fundamentals?

[Ewo]

Originally Posted by Otso

The higher harmonics (on left) are the ones that bring that zing to new strings. The initial attack doesn't sound very different in the three cases, but after that, the used one only has that low thick sound to it, without much "colour".

Got it! Now I see the harmonics. (Was misunderstanding the axes of the graph, before.)

[Otso]

Originally Posted by markanini

Interesting stuff! Is it possible to rotate the plot 180 degress to get a better view of the fundamentals?

It would be possible, but I don't have the program (Spectutils) on my computer, although apparently it can be downloaded. I chose this angle to see the decay of the harmonics better.

[cassius987]

n=1 per graph right? Would it be possible for you to average 10 spectra together for each example?

If you have enough statistical power and still get these results it's a really good result for those interested in trying denatured alcohol.

[Otso]

Originally Posted by cassius987

n=1 per graph right? Would it be possible for you to average 10 spectra together for each example?

I don't think that I could get the average of 10 signals into one plot with the software I used. It would be interesting to take the whole test further, but unfortunately this was quite a brief course so I didn't have a lot of time.

[bwest9]

I finally caved, and built my string cleaning tube w/ denatured alcohol this past weekend ($5 in PVC, glue, and caps, $14 for the alcohol). Now I'm already on my 3rd set to be cleaned!



Definitely a marked difference -more so than boiling, and without what seemed like a breakdown in string tension from the intense heat-- with a return to a crispness that isn't quite new, but is rather like the week after you've put a new set on, and they've settled down but are very defined and clear.

My wife looked at the new project, and then at me like I had 3 heads until I explained that it would save money in the long run. Then she endorsed the whole thing.

[mowburger]

Originally Posted by bwest9

My wife looked at the new project, and then at me like I had 3 heads until I explained that it would save money in the long run. Then she endorsed the whole thing.

haha

[MiJaKo]

So how well do they stay in tune? I tend to replace mine more for being stretched out than the dirty/dead factor.

[Fender4Me]

Originally Posted by bwest9

I finally caved, and built my string cleaning tube w/ denatured alcohol this past weekend ($5 in PVC, glue, and caps, $14 for the alcohol). Now I'm already on my 3rd set to be cleaned!



Definitely a marked difference -more so than boiling, and without what seemed like a breakdown in string tension from the intense heat-- with a return to a crispness that isn't quite new, but is rather like the week after you've put a new set on, and they've settled down but are very defined and clear.

My wife looked at the new project, and then at me like I had 3 heads until I explained that it would save money in the long run. Then she endorsed the whole thing.

Denatured alchohol will melt PVC. You will probably end up with white goo between the windings.

[cassius987]

Originally Posted by Fender4Me

Denatured alchohol will melt PVC. You will probably end up with white goo between the windings.

That's not my experience. My PVC cleaning tube has held up for several months now with now damage or dissolution.