Boiling strings etc

[Swings]

Been doing a bit of web search for the currently popular thoughts re: boiling bass strings.

Personally I stopped boiling strings in the 80s and my bass experience has, happily, been without those weeks when recycled strings damaged my fingers and played like coathanger wire.

This passage gave me pause:

“For obvious reasons, dead spots are bad, but if you don’t think so, picture this; you are playing your favorite bass line. You go to transfer from the fifth fret, to the seventh. But nothing happens. You pluck the note, finger it until your knuckles are white, but it produces absolutely no sound.”

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Dead spots, strings? Bass strings that are younger than a decade-

How do dead spots feel and sound to you?

 

[DB66]

I had two experiences in the last year on gigs with my ‘65 Jazz where I played a note - around the B natural note on the D string - and literally no sound came out. It was very strange. On another gig I used a different amp to weed that out and had the same experience. I could not replicate it at home however. After showing my bass to a luthier he suggested to tighten the truss rod and remove the rather significant backbow. I had not adjusted my truss rod in 10 years and just got used to the way the bass played which frankly was okay. I tightened my truss rod removing some but not all of the bow and my bass plays so much better now and no more dead notes. So it wasn’t a dead spot, it was a setup issue but it presented itself as a dead spot.

It reminds me of a bicycle where the gears slowly get out of whack but too slowly to notice until you get them fixed and it’s like how did I go so long with such messed up gears.

My strings are flat wound d’addario and are over 20 years old. They sound really good both acoustically and through amp. They stay in pitch and intonate well and can be bright with the help of eq. They sound so good, mellow, almost like I have foam under the bridge. I love them.

I don’t plan to ever change them.

I have another bass with new flat wounds super bright in comparison - other than the mayonnaise route how does one age strings quickly?

apologize if this response ran off topic but I was thinking about this today while in traffic.

 

[michael_t]

other than the mayonnaise route how does one age strings quickly?

Eucerin Skin Cream Kills Strings DEAD!!!

 

[michael_t]

Been doing a bit of web search for the currently popular thoughts re: boiling bass strings.

Personally I stopped boiling strings in the 80s and my bass experience has, happily, been without those weeks when recycled strings damaged my fingers and played like coathanger wire.

This passage gave me pause:

“For obvious reasons, dead spots are bad, but if you don’t think so, picture this; you are playing your favorite bass line. You go to transfer from the fifth fret, to the seventh. But nothing happens. You pluck the note, finger it until your knuckles are white, but it produces absolutely no sound.”

Link Removed
​

Dead spots, strings? Bass strings that are younger than a decade-

How do dead spots feel and sound to you?

I'm not getting the co-relation between "dead spots" on the bass and "boiling strings". They are two completely different things; dead spots are not caused by dead strings.

 

[Swings]

I'm not getting the co-relation between "dead spots" on the bass and "boiling strings". They are two completely different things; dead spots are not caused by dead strings.

I have never experienced a dead spot due to boiling strings, i wanted to check in and see if anyone had.
I can’t imagine how boiling a string would create a dead spot, but- this is a forum i can ask around!

 

[tlc1976]

I’ve done it. IME the biggest problem is once you loosen and reseat them onto the tuners a handful of times, they break up there. And of course it’s going to happen during reinstallation, after I’ve wasted my time boiling them. I don’t bother anymore.

IMO the coiling of the string in the pan spreads half the windings and lets the gunk out. You get a renewed brightness, but the metal is still permanently worn out and it will never sound quite as good. Maybe the core is stretched. Maybe the windings have rubbed against each other to open the clearance just enough to not sound good. Maybe both. Considering the melting and fatigue point of steel, I think 212F is barely a drop in the bucket to do any damage from the heat.

 

[Laurent]

I believe Gary Willis mentions boiling strings in his book 101 bass tips.
Personally, I get good result cleaning them with rubbing alcohol.