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Boiling your Bass Strings: bringing it back for 2013

#21
There was a time I boiled my strings. The 2nd time they were on didn't last as long as the first and I eventually found my time is worth more than the perspective boiling savings... I figured this out when I was in high-school / college.

Thats at least 30 minutes more video game time saved!
 
#22
FunkMetalBass said:
I've had more luck with the DA soak than I have with boiling them. To my ears, the DA made my strings sound newer and last longer. I've also soaked the same set four or five times with no noticeable issues.
Click to expand...

Same here. Plus the DA can be reused; I just dump it back into the DA can from my homemade PVC "soak tube", so my initial DA investment a few years ago is still doing it's job after dozens of cleanings.
 
#23
Boiling only brings back some life for a short time.

Denatured alcohol does a fabulous job. Use a funnel and a coffee filter to re-store the alcohol after use, otherwise you end up with a suspension full of nasty skin bits and grime...
 
#25
ThudThudThud said:
Boiling only brings back some life for a short time.

Denatured alcohol does a fabulous job. Use a funnel and a coffee filter to re-store the alcohol after use, otherwise you end up with a suspension full of nasty skin bits and grime...
Click to expand...

Oh gawd, I didn't even consider that. I haven't dumped out my DA in over 2 years. It just sits in my string cleaning tube. I'm kind of curious to throw it through a filter, though.
 
#26
Oh, this is a riot.
I was hoping for pics of happy bass players at the stovetop.
But this is right on...

I'm guessing the fellas who "tried it, didn't like it // complete waste of time"
also forgot to let them cool before playing...
 
#32
You know, I don't attest to any string boil philosophy, so this is completely un-biased, but after seeing a few boiling threads "heat up":D I decided to do a little trial.

Here is the background:

I have been running through the entire DR line to see what I dig, so far it has been the Lo-Riders. Low tension for a hex, but still has more balls than the round core I have tried. Anyways, the Lo-Rider SS died on me. It was not that gradual of a death either. I do play three high-energy, sweat filled, 45 minute sets 3-5 times a week, so it may be much more gradual for someone playing a chilled out hour set once a week.

I decided to boil them just to see. I took them off and wrapped them loosely, about a 6" radius as to circle the bottom of a 12" pot. To truly test the time worth I just filled the pot half full, turned the burner on high and let them them boil unsupervised for about 30 minutes. I covered it so the water didn't boil down too fast. I came back, turned tho put off, pulled the strings out with tongs and let them cool for about a minute.

Here is where I got playful. Time for the freezer. I stuck them right on top some frozen organic chicken breasts, the 20lb Costco special. Take that Dean Markley. I walked away laughing to myself that I was actually doing this and proceded to spend about 2 hours in the Tardis with my wife (aka watching Dr. Who) till she falls asleep.

Oh yeah, I have strings in the freezer. I pull them off the chicken and take them to the coffee table. P bass comes out, strings go on. At this point I have no expectations other than now brittle strings that are only "mostly dead". I tune them up and...

Boom. They sound brand new. The grime dampened thump has now turned to piano thunder and clarity. This is unavoidably evident unplugged. Plugged into my Genz rig it is game over.

Invalid Link Removed

Myth: Confirmed


Not even brittle in the slightest. I pick hard with a 1.14mm ultex pick. If they were going to break, they would have. I am two shows in and they seem to be holding up fine sonically as well as structurally. I have no idea how long this will last, or if it truly like starting from scratch, which I doubt. But either way, It was only about 5 more minutes of actually doing something extra when changing strings. It was less time invested than a trip the the music shop down the street.


I will still change my strings rather than boil them, but I now know that in a pinch, this will get me through a few more nights.

I have yet to try denatured alcohol, but that seems like more work than the boiling and actually takes planning and forethought. I don't subscribe to those values often.
 
#33
OK, there's going to be two factors here: (i) accumulated biological gunk including sweat with salts, skin oils, sloughed off skin material, etc. and (ii) corrosion products.

For the first issue, water isn't going to be an effective solvent since much of the biological material is hydrophobic (oils, cell membranes, etc.) High temperature will help force the biological material into suspension, but it still won't solubilize well. To take a page from the old discwasher fluid (remember vinyl?), use *distilled, deionized* water, and a few drops of isopropanol plus a few drops of detergent. The original discwasher fluids used Triton-X, a common lab detergent used to break up cell membranes. Then, rather than boiling, what you want to use is vibration. An ultrasonic cleaner if you have access to one is perfect, but almost anything that vibrates in audio or above would do the trick. You could use some heat, but it's constant stirring that would break up boundary layers and really get the solubilization to work.

As to the corrosion products, you won't get those off with anything other than a reducing agent like commercial chrome cleaners. And you don't want to go there. Acid will just further oxidize the surface.

And no, the heat in boiling water won't do anything to the structure of the metals, most of which are designed to be highly resistant to corrosion in any case. Deionized water will limit further corrosion which is driven by oxygen, *salts*, and low pH (acid conditions).

Executive summary: vibration and mild solvents in pure water for cleaning biological debris, corrosion is out of reach at home.
 
#34
Boiling strings or soaking them in alchohol will only serve to "brighten" them. The integrity of the string is being weakened in the process of heating, not to mention the residual moisture trapped in the underwindings, whether using alchohol or water. It's merely a quick "fix" to brighten the string...it won't help regarding the poor intonation that comes with older/re-wound strings and in fact may do just the opposite, again, due to the strings integrity being repeatedly compromised and subjected to such extreme temps and conditions.
 
#35
yes, the extreme tempuratures of boiling water vs steel.

"Hi, water...what's your temp? 212 degrees fahrenheit?..and steel, you soften at uhh...1000 degrees?..and start to melt around 2500, right?"

May I just hint at possibly reading the entire thread before anyone else gets a papercut opening up one of them science books...
 
#36
the Arsonaut said:
yes, the extreme tempuratures of boiling water vs steel.

"Hi, water...what's your temp? 212 degrees fahrenheit?..and steel, you soften at uhh...1000 degrees?..and start to melt around 2500, right?"

May I just hint at possibly reading the entire thread before anyone else gets a papercut opening up one of them science books...
Click to expand...

I read the whole thread.
I can't change your mind and don't care to. To me, it is just plain common sense that you don't do this to a string if you want it to operate as it should. What method do you use to remove the residual moisture from underneath the strings outer wrap? If you think that has no bearing on the strings eventual condition and intonation, then you are in denial, plain and simple. Keep the snarky, wise@$$ crap to yourself. You don't need to justify your frugality at the expense of quality to me or anyone else.
 
#37
ahem.
the whole point of starting the thread was a lark.
a joke.
a ribbing for fellas in the know, on the fellas that do not know.
if you take chagrin to "snarky, wiseass crap" I cannot help you, as I did not deliver it to you.
 
#38
I made it through four years of college on two sets of strings using the boiled string method. Steinberger double ball strings were hard to find and super expensive when you could find them. It definitely works. The melting point of stainless steel is 2750 degrees, so saying that the heat weakens the steel is like saying that you should refrigerate your basses because room temperature can weaken them.
 
#39
with the steinberger style, did you ever go fulltilt ghetto and tie a knot in one end of a regular string, and get the feeling that, while you wanted to be proud of your ingenuity, you were afraid someone might notice?
 
#40
Never thought of that. I had a TransTrem and needed the calibrated strings which made finding them even more difficult. This was pre-Internet, or at least pre-widespread Internet, so I had to call around and half the people didn't know what you were asking for. I miss that bass.
 

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