reviving old strings?

[Bass.]

hello all,

i was recently allowed to take one of my school's basses for the summer. The strings are dead... dead as dead.
And i don't have 100 bucks for new strings, i was wondering if (like electric strings, forgive my ignorance) one could boil them to bring back some of the life? or clean them or Something?


thanks
peace

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Bass.

hello all,

i was recently allowed to take one of my school's basses for the summer. The strings are dead... dead as dead.
And i don't have 100 bucks for new strings, i was wondering if (like electric strings, forgive my ignorance) one could boil them to bring back some of the life? or clean them or Something?


thanks
peace

Personally, I don't believe in that at all. You just have to replace the strings. Check the ads here on TB. Sometimes folks are selling lightly used sets.

[Marcus Johnson]

I used to boil slab strings, and I boiled some Spiros once just for giggles. They came back to life for a very short time, but it's not worth it IMHO. If you choose to try it, keep the windings on the ends out of the water with clothespins... they'll just disintegrate.

Gut strings, boiled with some carrots and onions, make a lovely soup stock.


Just kidding.

PS... good luck with the loaner bass this summer. My older brother brought his High School bass home when I was a grade school kid. He pretty much ignored it, but I fell in love with it, and now I'm still playing bass for a living, all these years later. Funny how things work out sometimes.

[Aaron Cohn]

I wonder if anyone's tried one of those electrosonic or whatever cleaning gadgets on strings. I wouldn't imagine it would work, but you never know.

[townbass]

I have been using 91% Isopropyl Alcohol on a clean rag for several years with fair success. I de-tension one string at a time and wipe the entire length several(many) times(be carefull to not drip any excess on the finish). This cleans the junk off the string as well as restoring the outer wrap due to the cold contact of the alcohol. I achieve about 80% of the string's brilliance. As the strings get older, I do this more frequently. I use steel strings(jazz) and would be cautious using this on bowing strings so as not to damage the damping. I definetly would NOT USE ON GUT. Works well cleaning the fingerboard also.