Cook your strings

[casualmadness]

I was talking to a buddy about this tonight and he had never heard about doing this. So I thought that maybe some other people might not know about it either. So here it is...

In a bind, if your strings are dead, and you don't really have the cash to buy a new set; you can bake your old ones, to revitalize some tone.
I don't really do this anymore and haven't in years; mainly because I can afford to buy new strings now. But when I was in college and was constantly broke; this came in handy a lot.
I take the strings off the bass and wash them thoroughly under hot water. While I'm washing them, I preheat the oven to 375. After washing, I throw them in for about 30 minutes or so. After that, shut the oven off, take 'em out and let them cool for a few minutes. Once they're cool, re-string the bass and the strings will have a new life to them. It only lasts for a few days before they sound dead again. But if you have a gig and you're broke, it will get you through the night.

 

[ThunderSix66]

Lots of people just boil their strings, or soak them in denatured alcohol

 

[casualmadness]

Yeah I've boiled mine a lot too. But baking them seemed to work better for me. I'm sure everyone knows about this. But my buddy didn't so I thought I would share if anyone else didn't.

 

[Andrew.Glose]

Here's the deal:

Boil them for 15. During the last five minutes, preheat the over to 225. Once done boiling, take them out, and blot them dry. Wrap them in tin foil and poke holes with a fork. Put them in the oven for 15. They sound like new. Easy peasy. You can thank Mr. Gary Willis for this.

PS, coated strings do not apply. Do not boil coated strings(!)

 

[remo]

Here's the deal:

Boil them for 15. During the last five minutes, preheat the over to 225. Once done boiling, take them out, and blot them dry. Wrap them in tin foil and poke holes with a fork. Put them in the oven for 15. They sound like new. Easy peasy. You can thank Mr. Gary Willis for this.

PS, coated strings do not apply. Do not boil coated strings(!)

What? no lemon and butter?

 

[Bass Thunder]

Here's the deal:

Boil them for 15. During the last five minutes, preheat the over to 225. Once done boiling, take them out, and blot them dry. Wrap them in tin foil and poke holes with a fork. Put them in the oven for 15. They sound like new. Easy peasy. You can thank Mr. Gary Willis for this.

PS, coated strings do not apply. Do not boil coated strings(!)

Sounds like a tip from Spinal Tap (or Gary Willis, who's amp actually does go to 11 with authority)

What? no lemon and butter?

Rachel Ray would use EVOO instead of butter, but i would just go for straight up pork fat!

 

[xshawnxearthx]

u should just try caig string wipes!

 

[Altitude]

This is an interesting topic, and I always find it funny how guitarists, who pay $10 for a set of strings, think we are nuts for caring this much about string tone. I also remember, when I was a teenager in the '80s, I boiled my strings and my Dad thought I had been fooled into believing it made a difference. It did, and I swore by it, although I found that it brought back only a certain amount of "life" to the strings, and only for a short time.

Really, truly, and I am zealous about this - there is no better way to do this than the denatured alcohol approach. This is a metal solvent, and it decays the organic material on the strings in a way that nothing else I have tried (which is about everything) does. Take your strings out of a day or two soak in denatured alcohol, and they sound virtually as new, and they stay that way as long as they did when they were new as well.

 

[ptidwell]

I too have tried the denatured alcohol, made the tube from pvc pipe and all it totally restores my strings like new after left in the tune a couple of days. Here is the link for those interested.
http://www.tunemybass.com/strings/how_to_clean_bass_strings.html

 

[PilbaraBass]

I've done the alcohol thing...don't think I'd go the boiling or over rout...

but by far, the easiest method I've tried is the washing machine...thank you, Rob (Bikeplate)...
just coil the strings up...throw them over the agitator spindle of the washing machine...set the machine on hot and low water level...do NOT add any clothes...
chuck in a little washpowder...and you have gleaming strings in 20 minutes...

 

[Phalex]

I boil my strings for 10 minutes, and then cover them in marinara sauce and asiago cheese.

Delicioso!

 

[CrashClint]

I boil my strings for 10 minutes, and then cover them in marinara sauce and asiago cheese.

Delicioso!

Marinara is good, but I prefer Alfredo sauce. It kind of tames the acidic taste of nickel. Marinara would probably go better with stainless.

 

[djwackfriz]

Marinara is good, but I prefer Alfredo sauce. It kind of tames the acidic taste of nickel. Marinara would probably go better with stainless.

You guys are way off. The acidic "bite" of nickel merges best with a lemon-butter emulsion, which is used to saute' capers, shallots and 2-3 anchovy fillets, depending on your taste. A dusting of freshly grated Pecorino-Romano and a bit of cracked pepper will breathe new life into your I-IV-V progressions.

 

[casualmadness]

...acidic taste of nickel.

...mmmmm
acidic taste of nickel...

 

[stingray666]

You guys are way off. The acidic "bite" of nickel merges best with a lemon-butter emulsion, which is used to saute' capers, shallots and 2-3 anchovy fillets, depending on your taste. A dusting of freshly grated Pecorino-Romano and a bit of cracked pepper will breathe new life into your I-IV-V progressions.

actually, try taking your Fender flats, and boil them in Tony Roma's Hickory B-B-Q sauce for at least 20 minutes, then string up your EB-3. MMMmmmmm, thumpy!

Hey, it was good enough for Steven Stills......

 

[Eric Perry]

I too have tried the denatured alcohol, made the tube from pvc pipe and all it totally restores my strings like new after left in the tune a couple of days. Here is the link for those interested.
http://www.tunemybass.com/strings/how_to_clean_bass_strings.html

I've tried it. It does work fairly well.

 

[meev992]

to me, the physical condition of the string matters more to me, i'd rather not put on, take off, tune, detune, take off, and repeat....puts too much stress on the strings.

I use Tapewounds, so I only need to wipe down.

 

[Altitude]

...puts too much stress on the strings.

I do not believe so. 99% of my strings fail at the point where the string meets the tuner peg, and it's the bend that is caused by the string starting to wrap around the peg that does it. Removing and re-stringing does not exacerbate that problem. It seems to have no effect at all on the fortitude of the length of the string. You could even argue that it improves it, since the cleaning process removes some of the acids and organic material that might cause the string to weaken.

 

[pstyle]

so I did the denatured alcohol thing today.. i just put the strings back on my Highway 1, and they sound like new! Yay! But I only left the strings in there for 3-4 hours. Is there any reason why it's stated to leave them in there for 12-24 hours? I would think that they would be clean maybe even after one hour in there.. any thoughts?

 

[Altitude]

so I did the denatured alcohol thing today.. i just put the strings back on my Highway 1, and they sound like new! Yay! But I only left the strings in there for 3-4 hours. Is there any reason why it's stated to leave them in there for 12-24 hours? I would think that they would be clean maybe even after one hour in there.. any thoughts?

My approach is to have two sets of strings for each instrument - I have one on it, and when it comes off I put in the alcohol, then take it out and coil it up until the other set has to come off. By result, I usually forget about the set sitting in the alcohol and it stays there for a few days. But for those who have more presence of mind than I, I've heard that a few hours is enough.