Got Dead Strings ? Don't Trash Em Just Yet

[Rick in Dixie]

This might sound down right weird or just plain "Old School" , but after playing for 35 years I've learned a trick or two for keeping my strings clean and sounding brite and crisp. When strings seem to just go away and loose their sustaine , their not nessesarly dead, just dirty, although you wipe down the neck during and after you play, things like natural oils in your sweat from your hand and even cologn finds its way deep into your strings , specially if your using round wounds, and simply wipeing down your strings will not remove it , most cleaners will not penetrate deep enough to completely clean them, the first trick I found was to remove your strings and coil them together like they came from the package and drop them in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes, this causes the string wounds to exspand and release materials trapped inside , after removing them from the water , run cold water over the strings to cool them off , make sure you dry them by wiping them down with a clean bath towel , restring , and your ready to go, they will sound as good as they were when they were new. One other helpful tip is , when you wipe down your strings after playing , wipe them down with plain rubbing alcohol, this will delute the oils from your hands and prolong the life of your strings. Now realistically speaking , repeated boiling of your strings will eventually make them brittle, and the liklyhood of string breakage increases, I will do this about 3 times after my new strings start loosing their sustain and cripness and after that I just replace them. If you have an old set thrown in your case , take them and boil them out and tell me what you think.

[PaleMelanesian]

We've been there before:
Cook your strings
I'll take my strings shaken, not boiled
Boiling your strings?
boiling strings
This string cleaning method WORKS.
Don't boil strings!!!
Why does string boiling ruin pots?
etc...

[livingstone]

When I saw the title, I thought maybe you were going to give us some interesting uses for old bass strings. I was looking forward to making tools or something.

[infect]

Originally Posted by livingstone

When I saw the title, I thought maybe you were going to give us some interesting uses for old bass strings. I was looking forward to making tools or something.

Me too!

[PaleMelanesian]

I've heard they make great cat toys.

[Rick in Dixie]

I'm sorry, I didn't check the archives , sorry to waste thread space , I've only been playing professionally longer than a great number of you have been on earth , I only had in mind to be of some help and it appears that I have nothing to offer here , so carry on Bassist.

[livingstone]

Originally Posted by Rick in Dixie

..sorry to waste thread space...

Better than wasting bass strings!

[justinb515]

They do make great cat toys. I have a very snooty Hemilayan (spelling?) that refuses to play with any traditional cat toy, but goes nuts when I change my bass strings.

[El-Bob]

Originally Posted by Rick in Dixie

I'm sorry, I didn't check the archives , sorry to waste thread space , I've only been playing professionally longer than a great number of you have been on earth , I only had in mind to be of some help and it appears that I have nothing to offer here , so carry on Bassist.

i don't think they meant to be jerks about, they're just letting you know that we've seen this thread many times before

[livingstone]

It would be pretty sad if they decided to eat one! You might have to end up pulling it through.

[Dan1099]

Originally Posted by Rick in Dixie

I'm sorry, I didn't check the archives , sorry to waste thread space , I've only been playing professionally longer than a great number of you have been on earth , I only had in mind to be of some help and it appears that I have nothing to offer here , so carry on Bassist.

Rick, have you tried this with denatured alcohol? Much more effective, and easier, too. No boiling involved. Just soak them in a tube filled with denatured alcohol and voila, good as new.

[98dvl]

Originally Posted by livingstone

When I saw the title, I thought maybe you were going to give us some interesting uses for old bass strings. I was looking forward to making tools or something.

Give them to your local guy "with connections". They may have a few uses for them... Just make sure you don't leave any fingerprints or anything on them.

[EduardoK]

Originally Posted by Rick in Dixie

I'm sorry, I didn't check the archives , sorry to waste thread space , I've only been playing professionally longer than a great number of you have been on earth , I only had in mind to be of some help and it appears that I have nothing to offer here , so carry on Bassist.

Here's one old player who doesn't think you "waisted thread space". Maybe moderators should start a "Clean your Strings" megathread !!!

[lowb1970]

Originally Posted by justinb515

They do make great cat toys. I have a very snooty Hemilayan (spelling?) that refuses to play with any traditional cat toy, but goes nuts when I change my bass strings.

+100 same type of cat and the same scenario every time. She thinks its Christmas time and I'm doing it just for her. Always great for a laugh though.

[didier]

A sticky would be a great idea
for boiling, alcohol soaking, dishwasher, clothes washer, etc

didi (former boiler converted to soaker)

[kyral210]

We may have been here before, but I cant wait to try this out! Bass strings in the UK cost £18 (thats $38) on average compared to £4 ($8) for guitar strings.

On that note, why is is bass players have to pay the most for their instruments, strings, effects ect, while the guitarist pays less and takes all the glory?

[meev992]

Originally Posted by kyral210

On that note, why is is bass players have to pay the most for their instruments, strings, effects ect, while the guitarist pays less and takes all the glory?

According to a thread in the "humor" section, God became angry at the bassist, and cursed him for all eternity

[DeanT]

Originally Posted by didier

A sticky would be a great idea
for boiling, alcohol soaking, dishwasher, clothes washer, etc

didi (former boiler converted to soaker)

There is one here.

[meev992]

i'm going to assume, that my tapewound strings, would make very nice bracelets.