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Many years back I used to hang my strings in an underground cellar tank of medium acidity at about 150°F for around three hours. The acid was used for deoxidising steel strip, I worked for the industry. I used to get about 3 weeks of brightness from them. The pads of my fingers have become drier with age so new strings last a bit longer these days.
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The consensus seems to be that it rejuvenates them for a short time but they also become more brittle too.
It seems to me that if you’re not going to change strings more than once every couple of years you might as well just get a new set.
I'll never be able to boil pasta again without that metallic aftertaste...
Even if it's just in my imagination.
Even if it's just in my imagination.
Many many times in the old days I used to do the boiling trick (was on a much stricter budget back then and playing out a lot). My experience as many others have mentioned: brightens the tone a bit, but never back to their former zinginess, and rejuvenated brightness is only good for week or so playing time.
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I never used the alcohol pre soak...just straight to the boiling pot...and have had great results. Boil 'em and they're good for another 7 years!
If you aren’t joking (I often can’t tell online), then I assume that either (A) you absolutely never eat at any restaurant, or (B) you really don’t know what goes on in commercial kitchens. If it’s B, I’ve got some bad news for you...Dead skin cells. It’s whats for dinner.
Get serious. Dead skin cells, rancid sweat, oxidized natural oils, whatever airborne particles land on them and just enough nickel residue to impart that nauseating sensation you get when you touch your lips by mistake when playing... oh, and the smell
I’m thinking the garage isn’t going to work for that pot anymore. Either the back shed or the dumpster.
Yup, I did it, ill just list the steps i took.
1-Soak in 90% Ethyl alcohol for 10 minutes
2-Rinse with water
3-Boil for 10 Minutes
4-Wipe down strings with alcohol soaked napkin
5-Fresh Clean Strings!
The amount of gunk and dead skin i successfully removed was astonishing
Anyway, tell me how im wrong with your comments!
Also the tone was significantly more bright and lively after the boiling.
You can soak them in acetone for about 10 minutes and get better results. I’ve been doing it for several years. Drying time is about 1 minute unless you can step outside and swing them. Then drying time is about 10 seconds.
Don’t use a PVC tube with acetone, acetone will melt PVC. Acetone comes in a metal container for a reason. I stick strings ball end first into a gallon can and let them soak about 10 minutes. There won’t be any skin oil on strings when they come out of an acetone soak.
Acetone is dehydrogenized isopropyl alcohol and is a solvent that does better at degreasing than anything else I know of. It’s flammable like the alcohol it’s made from so be careful.
Oh yeah, it even has “tone” in its name.
acetone | Structure, Uses, & Facts
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Yup, I did it, ill just list the steps i took.
1-Soak in 90% Ethyl alcohol for 10 minutes
2-Rinse with water
3-Boil for 10 Minutes
4-Wipe down strings with alcohol soaked napkin
5-Fresh Clean Strings!
The amount of gunk and dead skin i successfully removed was astonishing
Anyway, tell me how im wrong with your comments!
Also the tone was significantly more bright and lively after the boiling.
I only do #3. As you note, the amount of crap that comes off the strings is just incredible. And they do sound better...for a while.
The thing that kills the zing eventually is metal fatigue. Otherwise we would only need one set of strings forever, we could just keep boiling them.
My skin was pretty acidic when I was younger, so in addition to the metal fatigue, I would get little tiny pits in the strings after a while. Like sandpaper.
not sure if this was mentioned but the OP's 2 year old strings will also most likely have fret wear marks/divots on the undersides where they hit the frets. This will impact the overall sound/intonation of the strings too and can't be fixed by boiling or solvent baths.
My own experience is similar to others ... you get about another few weeks of good/brighter tone then they pretty quickly revert to deadness. I used to do this when I had way less $$ and needed to get the most out of my gear.
I suppose, a few weeks of new life is better than none.
My own experience is similar to others ... you get about another few weeks of good/brighter tone then they pretty quickly revert to deadness. I used to do this when I had way less $$ and needed to get the most out of my gear.
I suppose, a few weeks of new life is better than none.
BurningSkies
CRAZY BALDHEAD
- Feb 20, 2005
- 27,956
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- Endorsing artist: Dingwall Guitars
No worries, I store our denatured alcohol along with our black powder keg & aging fireworks...in the furnace room.
Dead skin cells. It’s whats for dinner.
Get serious. Dead skin cells, rancid sweat, oxidized natural oils, whatever airborne particles land on them and just enough nickel residue to impart that nauseating sensation you get when you touch your lips by mistake when playing... oh, and the smell
I’m thinking the garage isn’t going to work for that pot anymore. Either the back shed or the dumpster.
Damn...
Reading this just made me think, $35 for a set of new strings is cheap to avoid this.
Now I feel really bad about the few times I boiled strings in various band houses across the land back in the 70s, 80, and 90s. Just left the rinsed-out pan in the sink....
IIf you aren’t joking (I often can’t tell online), then I assume that either (A) you absolutely never eat at any restaurant, or (B) you really don’t know what goes on in commercial kitchens. If it’s B, I’ve got some bad news for you...
And yet somehow here you are alive and presumably healthy!Damn...
Reading this just made me think, $35 for a set of new strings is cheap to avoid this.
Now I feel really bad about the few times I boiled strings in various band houses across the land back in the 70s, 80, and 90s. Just left the rinsed-out pan in the sink....
Honestly you are more likely to be poisoned by the water you drink or the metals used in making the pan (think cheap metal and factories not really caring) than by using a pan that was once used to boil some old strings.
Some people just have hang ups.
