Prison tattoo's? What to do with broken/ unused strings?

[jnsnj]

I take the strings from the bass I perform with and put them on the bass I keep laying around the house to practice on that way my main bass has new strings on it regularly and the ones on my back up bass never are too old. Most of them go in the recycling but occasionally someone wants one for making jewelry(although I've never seen one end up in a finished product). An idea that I may try this spring and summer is garden trellises.

 

[organworthyplayer337]

I remember I made a thread like this a while ago.... It turned into me being reprimanded for how I removed my strings -_-

 

[AmieLouHat]

I make sculptures in vases, use them as fake baby's breath and do papercraft flowers of sheet music to keep on coffee tables and things. Between my roommates and I we've got about 20 guitars and 5 basses in the house, plus ukes, mandos and banjos, so there's never a shortage of old strings.

 

[JackANSI]

I've used old bass strings to replace the wire behind framed pictures before.

I think I like the garden use many posts ago.. Would be neat to turn them into some kind of trellis for plants that need to climb. I have about 8-10 sets right now and I can picture them serving that purpose well.

 

[Jeff K]

I remember I made a thread like this a while ago.... It turned into me being reprimanded for how I removed my strings -_-

Ha ha! Never underestimate how much enjoyment TB'ers derive from reprimanding their brothers...

 

[Planespotter]

This, I live in the US but I'm pretty diligent about separating and recycling.

In the U.S. I'd probably just throw em in the trash and be on my way. Here in Japan however, everything must be separated for recycling. Strings find their appropriate bin, and get taken to the garbage area on metal day.

 

[aaronious]

They're great for cleaning swamp cooler manifolds.

I'll collect a box of clean used strings every so often and give it to a local player who could use them. There are outfits where you can send strings for this purpose.

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This is cool. Now I know where these strings are going.

 

[moonshinegtrs]

This is a non profit that my wife and I started a little over four years ago:

strings for HOPE | Nonprofit Social Enterprise



Moonshine

 

[Mattster]

Along with my drummers old sticks, I use my old strings to supply my cottage garrote industry.

 

[Planespotter]

Artisanal garrotte made from all reclaimed materials!

Along with my drummers old sticks, I use my old strings to supply my cottage garrote industry.

 

[Mattster]

Artisanal garrotte made from all reclaimed materials!

Do you mind if I use that for my ads?

 

[BAG]

My 15 year old daughter recently received a belated Xmas present from her boyfriend. It's a wooden ring with a guitar string wound around it and sealed with epoxy or something similar. It's a really cool present but i'm a little concerned that at her age her first boyfriend has already given her a G-string for a present

When i mentioned that to him he didn't know what I meant......... and I think that's a good thing.

 

[crucislancer]

Along with my drummers old sticks, I use my old strings to supply my cottage garrote industry.

Let's talk

My 15 year old daughter recently received a belated Xmas present from her boyfriend. It's a wooden ring with a guitar string wound around it and sealed with epoxy or something similar. It's a really cool present but i'm a little concerned that at her age her first boyfriend has already given her a G-string for a present

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When i mentioned that to him he didn't know what I meant......... and I think that's a good thing.

Awesome gift, and yes it's a good thing he didn't know what you meant. If he did, you might be talking to Mattster soon.

 

[Planespotter]

I would consider it an honor!

Do you mind if I use that for my ads?

 

[GIBrat51]

I remember I made a thread like this a while ago.... It turned into me being reprimanded for how I removed my strings -_-

So, did you shape up and fly right? Or do we hafta straighten youse out again?

 

[BadHairDay]

I hand them out to girlfriends. I'll also hand them out to audience members and tell them that guitarists break strings more often than you go to the bathroom every day, but bassists only break strings once in a blue moon (about every three to five years), so these strings are way more special. I'll also tie them around a ceiling fixture and see how many years or decades before it disappears.

 

[micahwc]

I hand them out to girlfriends. I'll also hand them out to audience members and tell them that guitarists break strings more often than you go to the bathroom every day, but bassists only break strings once in a blue moon (about every three to five years), so these strings are way more special. I'll also tie them around a ceiling fixture and see how many years or decades before it disappears.

In 20 years of bass playing I've broken one string, and that was when I was stringing the bass up and accidently tuned it to the string higher than it. I've had guitar strings break because I looked at them funny.

 

[micahwc]

Crafts. If you're in to miniature wargaming guitar strings make great re-bar in rubbled concrete. With some work they can make passable razor wire fences as well. Thicker ones (like bass strings) make good cables and conduits.

 

[Clark Dark]

I keep one for cleaning out the hex screw heads on bridge saddles. Those saddle screws seem to attract every loose piece of lint/gunk that goes airborne.

 

[JustForSport]

I also use the cut-offs for reset buttons on phones, etc, and CD player manual ejects.

I also use the cut-offs to find coil/magnet layout in soapbar pickups that I want to verify.