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I'm coming around to flats..

#101
I have saved every bass string I have ever changed = Put them in the pack the new ones came in..
Have a Bag Full of them..

Anyone ever Boil their old Bass Strings?

Used to Hear About That in the "OLD Days", When getting new ones was out of the question due to availability & cost.. I'm talking the Late 70s/Early 80s.. = No Internet & Music Stores never had anything as far as Bass Strings go.. Only limited guitar strings = Ernie Ball, Gibson & Fender..
You had to buy whatever they had = No Choice Really.. Some Gauge Choices .009"s .010"s .011"s
And all Basses had four strings & too Me Still Do..
The Boiling would clean the dead skin out of the winds & freshen them up some but sounds to me like they would RUST unless oiled afterwards??
Stainless Strings Didn't Exist IIRC Just Nickel Wound plain steel..
Never done it myself = Boil a Bass Guitar String..

Remember When There Was No DR, Rotosound, D'Addario, GHS, LaBella, Thomastik, Jim Dunlop, Mark Bass, Spector, Martin, Peavey & Ken Smith Strings etc. Nothing Ziltch Notta Zip

I would look threw & read every word in Guitar Player Magazine when I could afford to buy a copy or look while in a store at every ad at what was Out There.. Back Then it was "What Does Paul McCartney Use?"

I Got my 1st Bass in like 1980 & knew it needed New Strings BUT never changed them due to cost & availability Unless I broke one, Which BTW has only happened to me Once in 40 years of playing..

I'm 55 Years Old & Bet there are Guys who have been around much much longer..
What did you used to do??
Around Here there was Bruce Webb Music & Far Out Music both have long went out of Business..
Bass Strings have always been Limited & Mostly Not Available.. At least not to me anyway..
I suppose if you lived in New York or Chicago there might have been a BIG Guitar Store..

I bought the Steinberger's LaBella's On the Phone from Ed Roman's & Find D,Addario Chrome Flats @ Maxwell's House of Music or Guitar Center IN STOCK..
Grab What I Can Afford.. Bass Strings have always been $35-$50+
 
Last edited:
#102
Gary Sutter said:
I have saved every bass string I have ever changed = Put them in the pack the new ones came in..
Have a Bag Full of them..

Anyone ever Boil their old Bass Strings?

Used to Hear About That in the "OLD Days", When getting new ones was out of the question due to availability & cost.. I'm talking the Late 70s/Early 80s.. = No Internet & Music Stores never had anything as far as Bass Strings go.. Only limited guitar strings = Ernie Ball, Gibson & Fender..
You had to buy whatever they had = No Choice Really.. Some Gauge Choices .009"s .010"s .011"s
The Boiling would clean the dead skin out of the winds & freshen them up some but sounds to me like they would RUST unless oiled afterwards??
Stainless Strings Didn't Exist IIRC Just Nickel Wound plain steel..
Never done it myself = Boil a Bass Guitar String..

Remember When There Was No DR, Rotosound, D'Addario, GHS, LaBella, Thomastik, Jim Dunlop, Mark Bass, Spector, Martin, Peavey & Ken Smith Strings etc. Nothing Ziltch Notta Zip

I would look threw & read every word in Guitar Player Magazine when I could afford to buy a copy or look while in a store at every ad at what was Out There.. Back Then it was "What Does Paul McCartney Use?"

I Got my 1st Bass in like 1980 & knew it needed New Strings BUT never changed them due to cost & availability Unless I broke one, Which BTW has only happened to me Once in 40 years of playing..

I'm 55 Years Old & Bet there are Guys who have been around much much longer..
What did you used to do??
Around Here there was Bruce Webb Music & Far Out Music both have long went out of Business..
Bass Strings have always been Limited & Mostly Not Available.. At least not to me anyway..
I suppose if you lived in New York or Chicago there might have been a BIG Guitar Store..

I bought the Steinberger's LaBella's On the Phone from Ed Roman's & Find D,Addario Chrome Flats @ Maxwell's House of Music or Guitar Center IN STOCK..
Grab What I Can Afford.. Bass Strings have always been $35-$50+
Click to expand...
When I was a music student(late mid to late 90s) in college I had no money for strings, so I boiled them.
I works, but not for a long time. They never rusted and I used D'Addario rounds.
One set per semester is all I could afford.
So 2 sets total for the school year, if broke a string I'd use an old one I'd kept. I've broken maybe 3 or 4 strings in over 25 years so it wasn't an issue.

Now I just really like dead rounds.
:)
 
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#104
MustangWally said:
We would hunt down a Brontosaurus, kill it and cut the guts out of it, then dry them and sort them into sizes/gauges.... :roflmao:
Click to expand...
Where can you get these Brontosaurus's Now?? HaHa!! Cat Gut = Tigers & Lions & Bears OH MY!
Did you stretch the guts out & Sun Dry Them?? Bet they had lots of Mojo!!
I read somewhere in this thread where a guy tried eleven sets of strings on his Bass?? What??
That would be $500+ worth of strings.. WOW!! Tone Searching I suppose..
BTW I Like Flat Wound Bass Strings Too!!
I also remember a cat who kept a chicken bone in a plastic bag that He touched before playing the bass
Guess it had some oil/lube still on it or something..
 
#109
ugly_bassplayer said:
When I was a music student(late mid to late 90s) in college I had no money for strings, so I boiled them.
I works, but not for a long time. They never rusted and I used D'Addario rounds.
One set per semester is all I could afford.
So 2 sets total for the school year, if broke a string I'd use an old one I'd kept. I've broken maybe 3 or 4 strings in over 25 years so it wasn't an issue.

Now I just really like dead rounds.
:)
Click to expand...

I'll definitely boil in a pinch. It's not always affordability of strings at the last minute, it's availability. Why take a punt on a string I've never used when I can boil my regulars back to usable for this recording, etc? I've never had rusty strings, nor have I seen a bass in that bad condition..
 

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