As far as the denatured alcohol string cleaning thing goes...

[stratovani]

I'd like to give the denatured alcohol string cleaning method a go. One quick question, though. Does it matter if you coil the strings and put them in a jar filled with denatured alcohol and leave them like that for a few days? Or is it better for the strings to put them in a long PVC tube and let them soak in that?


And, please, no "search is your friend" comments. I already tried, and got no answer.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by stratovani

I'd like to give the denatured alcohol string cleaning method a go. One quick question, though. Does it matter if you coil the strings and put them in a jar filled with denatured alcohol and leave them like that for a few days? Or is it better for the strings to put them in a long PVC tube and let them soak in that?


And, please, no "search is your friend" comments. I already tried, and got no answer.

It seems to me that an alcohol soak would work better in a linear vs. coiled configuration if for no other reason than the wraps would be uniformly compressed, but I don't know of any empirical evidence to support that. You'd probably need less alcohol, too. I won't get into that whole water thing again, but at least I'll say that isopropyl alcohol of similar purity (I can get 98% isopropanol really cheaply off the shelf in my local grocery) will work just as well.

[Ewo]

I just built a cleaning tube with 2" pipe. My thinking was along ggunn's lines, above: probably a small benefit to soaking with the strings straight. I used the 2" pipe because I didn't want to uncoil the wrap at the tuning peg, and with five strings I figured a 1" pipe wouldn't be big enough to hang them from the cap. A gallon can of alcohol was enough to fill a 52" long tube, with a bit left over.

Soaked a totally dead set of Fbass strings for about two days. Bada-bing! Daggone close to brand new tone.

Here's another thread you can check out:

Did the d-alcohol soak

Some folks do use round containers (e.g., jars, plastic buckets) and some folks do use isopropyl alcohol instead of denatured.

One thing for sure: boiling doesn't do squat, but soaking in alcohol brings back most of the brightness.

[pharmakon]

There are some ideas for the pipe thing here, too

http://www.tunemybass.com/strings/ho...s_strings.html

[Ewo]

Originally Posted by pharmakon

There are some ideas for the pipe thing here, too

http://www.tunemybass.com/strings/ho...s_strings.html

Yep. I found that helpful. Here's the page about making the tube, itself:

http://www.tunemybass.com/strings/ba...ning_tube.html

[Akito]

I've only used denatured and in a pvc pipe. It works and is a big money saver. I'd be interested in hearing results from different methods.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by Ewo

I just built a cleaning tube with 2" pipe. My thinking was along ggunn's lines, above: probably a small benefit to soaking with the strings straight. I used the 2" pipe because I didn't want to uncoil the wrap at the tuning peg, and with five strings I figured a 1" pipe wouldn't be big enough to hang them from the cap. A gallon can of alcohol was enough to fill a 52" long tube, with a bit left over.

I'll probably do this myself soon. I'm thinking a 1" I.D. PVC pipe 37" or so long should be plenty big (my basses are 34" scale). A quart should fill it.

[kesslari]

I just made one out of 3/4" PVC. Seems to work great. I'll remove the first batch of strings on Sunday - then I need a place to store 'em until it's time for the next string change.

[nemo]

Keep it there for about two days - couple of hours is not enough, more than two-three days doesn't bring any further benefit IME.

[stratovani]

Well, maybe I'll be the guinea pig. I'll find an appropriate glass jar, fill it with denatured alcohol, soak my strings in it for a couple of days, then I'll dig out this thread and report back. Probably next week, our band has rehearsal on Monday night.