Have you ever boiled your bass strings?

[bumperbass]

I tried an ultrasonic cleaner which seems to work OK. It's good for maybe 2 times. After that, there's too many fret dents and the intonation gets wonky.
Yes, I have tried boiling. Results were not good. Strings didn't last too long.

 

[telecopy]

Wash hands before, wipe down after.

 

[JimB52]

Used to. Restores round wound snap but only for a short time. I like old rounds now, unboiled

 

[Ostie]

If I boil my bass strings, should I take them off the bass first?

 

[chuck1073]

I used to do that when I was poor, playing full-time and on a Steinberger. What I found was that it would help brighten them up for a time. The more you do it, though, the more the heat messes with the temper of the metal. The result can be broken strings. Again, good thing I was on a Steinberger. Super fast string changes.

 

[Indexed]

I blanch mine in an old cake pan rather than boil. In and out in a couple of minutes, hopefully not long enough to change the metal crystallography much.

 

[KevinDBassist]

No .

 

[levis76]

I’m a fan of well used rounds, so boiling has never been something I’ve tried. I really only change strings when I get a new bass or if I needed to up the gauge for down tuning.

 

[CatchaCuda]

I've done it in the past. As mentioned above, the eventual wear caused by frets seem to make any sort of cleaning almost pointless. They might get cleaner, but they won't sound newer.

Some day, I'll try it on one of my fretless basses.

 

[tekhedd]

Boiling doesn't work that well. Dishwasher is better because agitation + surfactant in the dish soap.

Now I use a large ultrasonic jewelry cleaner, cold water, and any old surfactant (shot of dish soap works fine), if I want to polish up my rounds. It works once or twice, but once enough gunk gets into the wrap you'll never really get it out.

 

[groooooove]

i used to all the time when I couldn't afford strings

soaking in denatured alcohol is way more effective.

i literally used the same two sets of strings for years, would alternate which was soaking for 2-3 weeks at a time.

 

[Rod Barchetta]

I use to when i was younger and it worked fine however it was diminishing returns for me and eventually my rounds just wouldn't come back to life.

I now prefer using this to renew my strings. I haven't been using it long, but so far one treatment put my DR LoRiders back to new.

The Bass String Cleaning Tube | Bass Gear | StudyBass

I keep two sets and rotate them when one needs cleaning.

Good Luck!

This is really cool info. Thanks for sharing!

 

[JRT64]

I used to when I was younger and couldn’t afford new strings. It worked ok, didn’t make them like new but did make them better. After a couple boil->play->boil cycles it didn’t help anymore and they really needed replacing, but it did help extend the life a little more.

This was my experience when I was using rounds.

 

[pappabass]

Yeah, still too tough to eat.....

 

[4andnomore]

Used too, way back when.

 

[john_g]

oh yeah, thats how i used to have "new strings" back when I was young and broke. I used to take them out of the boiling water and put them right into the freezer for a while. Why you ask? Why? I dunno.

 

[Tim Schnautz]

One of my pals originally from Brazil told me he use to boil his bass strings to make them last longer. Another told me the he heard the same thing from his bass teacher. Whenever he gigs, he sweats a lot. After 6-7 hours of gigging he boils his strings to remove the sweat and dirt. They don't go back to brand new, but they really do get much better. I just changed to flat wounds on my PRS and the round wounds weren't that bad, so I boiled them and put them on my Musicman. They sound almost like brand new.

Just though I would pass along the tip and see if anyone else had had a similar experience.

With Rotosound R66's, Ive shot them with diesel starting fluid. That blasts out the gunk and makes them dry and bright.

 

[bumperbass]

With Rotosound R66's, Ive shot them with diesel starting fluid. That blasts out the gunk and makes them dry and bright.

What brand of starting fluid do you use? Some brands contain chloroethane (causes cancer) and toluene. I wouldn't want that stuff leaching through my skin.
Be careful.

 

[JRT64]

oh yeah, thats how i used to have "new strings" back when I was young and broke. I used to take them out of the boiling water and put them right into the freezer for a while. Why you ask? Why? I dunno.

I did that very same thing too...LOL!!!

 

[J-Bass RMR]

I boiled strings for 20 years + back when things were tight.
Literally played 100s of gigs on boiled strings.
Never had an issue – never had rusty strings - never broke a string.
Boomers seemed to boil best.
Now I have a PVC tube with denatured alcohol after reading about it here on TB a few years age, but occasionally I will still boil a set.