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Thunderbird Club
- Thread starter TBird1958
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- club thunderbird
Won’t work on these (and sounds unneeded), but for years I heard that you couldboil your bass strings to renew them. Never hear thst any more. Anyone ever try that?
for years and still do. the flips side is BBQ sauce to deaden them...
this has been a popular conversational topic here..
There's three schools of thought on that...
1) Boil dead strings to bring them back to life - I've heard it works but they go dead a bit quicker each time. I've only done it once with disastrous results. Had a set of Gold plated Optima strings. Very expensive at about $150 for a five string set. So after a couple years when they started to die, I thought that's ok, I'll just boil them back to life. WRONG. It boiled the plating right off of the strings and within a day they started corroding. Bummer, could have played them for another six months. Lesson learned - don't boil coated strings or anything that can rust.
2) Alcohol soak the strings back to life - I haven't tried it, but I've heard it's just rubbing alcohol in a PVC pipe for a couple of days. Sounds ok, but what alcohol content do you use? And not all PVC pipe is the same, will the alcohol dissolve trace amounts of the pipe and gum up your strings? All you're really doing is removing crud that may be soluble in Alcohol. Without any agitation or other mechanical means of excercising the strings I have doubts that all the grime imbedded in the windings would be removed and they'd probably go dead quicker.
3) Throw away your old strings and buy new ones - sounds like the most logical approach to me. Besides, it's the perfect opportunity to try a different type of string. Outside of pickup changes, string changes probably have the most impact on how your bass sounds. Why mess with dead strings that have been 50% resurrected when for just a few bucks more you can have fresh new ones or even new different sounding ones.
JMHO, YMMV
Buy new, buy different.There's three schools of thought on that...
1) Boil dead strings to bring them back to life - I've heard it works but they go dead a bit quicker each time. I've only done it once with disastrous results. Had a set of Gold plated Optima strings. Very expensive at about $150 for a five string set. So after a couple years when they started to die, I thought that's ok, I'll just boil them back to life. WRONG. It boiled the plating right off of the strings and within a day they started corroding. Bummer, could have played them for another six months. Lesson learned - don't boil coated strings or anything that can rust.
2) Alcohol soak the strings back to life - I haven't tried it, but I've heard it's just rubbing alcohol in a PVC pipe for a couple of days. Sounds ok, but what alcohol content do you use? And not all PVC pipe is the same, will the alcohol dissolve trace amounts of the pipe and gum up your strings? All you're really doing is removing crud that may be soluble in Alcohol. Without any agitation or other mechanical means of excercising the strings I have doubts that all the grime imbedded in the windings would be removed and they'd probably go dead quicker.
3) Throw away your old strings and buy new ones - sounds like the most logical approach to me. Besides, it's the perfect opportunity to try a different type of string. Outside of pickup changes, string changes probably have the most impact on how your bass sounds. Why mess with dead strings that have been 50% resurrected when for just a few bucks more you can have fresh new ones or even new different sounding ones.
JMHO, YMMV
Boiling strings is gross IMO. I’ve done it and found it perked them up for a little while. Then they got worse.There's three schools of thought on that...
1) Boil dead strings to bring them back to life - I've heard it works but they go dead a bit quicker each time. I've only done it once with disastrous results. Had a set of Gold plated Optima strings. Very expensive at about $150 for a five string set. So after a couple years when they started to die, I thought that's ok, I'll just boil them back to life. WRONG. It boiled the plating right off of the strings and within a day they started corroding. Bummer, could have played them for another six months. Lesson learned - don't boil coated strings or anything that can rust.
2) Alcohol soak the strings back to life - I haven't tried it, but I've heard it's just rubbing alcohol in a PVC pipe for a couple of days. Sounds ok, but what alcohol content do you use? And not all PVC pipe is the same, will the alcohol dissolve trace amounts of the pipe and gum up your strings? All you're really doing is removing crud that may be soluble in Alcohol. Without any agitation or other mechanical means of excercising the strings I have doubts that all the grime imbedded in the windings would be removed and they'd probably go dead quicker.
3) Throw away your old strings and buy new ones - sounds like the most logical approach to me. Besides, it's the perfect opportunity to try a different type of string. Outside of pickup changes, string changes probably have the most impact on how your bass sounds. Why mess with dead strings that have been 50% resurrected when for just a few bucks more you can have fresh new ones or even new different sounding ones.
JMHO, YMMV
Alcohol works great, but use Methyl Hydrate. (Wood alcohol-the stuff that will make you blind if you drink it)
I did this for years (clean strings not drink it) and still have the ABS pipe somewhere. Eventually the strings have too many flat spots from banging against the frets.
I never noticed the alcohol reacting with the pipe.
Bah! Got a bass from GC today and it’s got a cracked nut. Bah!
45 day return policy so at least I’m covered.
45 day return policy so at least I’m covered.
what kind of bass? pics please
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I knew a guy who used felt picks back in my late teens. He used felt picks because he had some kind of hand injury and couldn't use his fingers very well. He like felt picks because they sounded more like fingers than other picks. Beats me what he did if he ever tried to slap or pop. That was in the late 70s, so no need to be all slappity poppity for the Guitar Center wank fest.
WAS IT THAT 8 STRING?!?!?!
I don't have a vessel big enuff to put my NR 'Bird into for boiling the stringsThere's three schools of thought on that...
1) Boil dead strings to bring them back to life - I've heard it works but they go dead a bit quicker each time. I've only done it once with disastrous results. Had a set of Gold plated Optima strings. Very expensive at about $150 for a five string set. So after a couple years when they started to die, I thought that's ok, I'll just boil them back to life. WRONG. It boiled the plating right off of the strings and within a day they started corroding. Bummer, could have played them for another six months. Lesson learned - don't boil coated strings or anything that can rust.
2) Alcohol soak the strings back to life - I haven't tried it, but I've heard it's just rubbing alcohol in a PVC pipe for a couple of days. Sounds ok, but what alcohol content do you use? And not all PVC pipe is the same, will the alcohol dissolve trace amounts of the pipe and gum up your strings? All you're really doing is removing crud that may be soluble in Alcohol. Without any agitation or other mechanical means of excercising the strings I have doubts that all the grime imbedded in the windings would be removed and they'd probably go dead quicker.
3) Throw away your old strings and buy new ones - sounds like the most logical approach to me. Besides, it's the perfect opportunity to try a different type of string. Outside of pickup changes, string changes probably have the most impact on how your bass sounds. Why mess with dead strings that have been 50% resurrected when for just a few bucks more you can have fresh new ones or even new different sounding ones.
JMHO, YMMV
- Mar 13, 2008
- 18,894
- 142,211
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist Mike Lull T Bass pickups, The Bass Shop, Seattle WA.
Back when I played RotoSounds on my 4001 Rick I'd boil them every now and then, but really, it didn't last long. Anymore more I just buy new - The sound of a fresh set of strings just gives me an eargasm anyway!
I'm mostly an RS66 kinda guy and have never seen boiling them causing them to rot. These days it's easy to buy strings on line but there were times back in the day when RS66s were not available for whatever reason (playing abroad or the local store just plain being outta stock, or whatever) and boiling them was a great short term alternative. The only caveat was/is intonation difficulty on occasion. These days I'm not a big fan of trying all kinds of different strings as I like consistency in the way the instrument plays. I play out quite a bit and knowing what to expect from a particular bass far outweighs bonuses I may (or may not) find in a particular untried string..There's three schools of thought on that...
1) Boil dead strings to bring them back to life - I've heard it works but they go dead a bit quicker each time. I've only done it once with disastrous results. Had a set of Gold plated Optima strings. Very expensive at about $150 for a five string set. So after a couple years when they started to die, I thought that's ok, I'll just boil them back to life. WRONG. It boiled the plating right off of the strings and within a day they started corroding. Bummer, could have played them for another six months. Lesson learned - don't boil coated strings or anything that can rust.
2) Alcohol soak the strings back to life - I haven't tried it, but I've heard it's just rubbing alcohol in a PVC pipe for a couple of days. Sounds ok, but what alcohol content do you use? And not all PVC pipe is the same, will the alcohol dissolve trace amounts of the pipe and gum up your strings? All you're really doing is removing crud that may be soluble in Alcohol. Without any agitation or other mechanical means of excercising the strings I have doubts that all the grime imbedded in the windings would be removed and they'd probably go dead quicker.
3) Throw away your old strings and buy new ones - sounds like the most logical approach to me. Besides, it's the perfect opportunity to try a different type of string. Outside of pickup changes, string changes probably have the most impact on how your bass sounds. Why mess with dead strings that have been 50% resurrected when for just a few bucks more you can have fresh new ones or even new different sounding ones.
JMHO, YMMV
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
That's why you need multiple Thunderbirds. One will always have strings that are predictable, and you have others you can use for experiments.
I found that'll work on some, not so well on others. But i gave up that method years ago.
Aw, it’s just a low dollar Yamaha RBX 200F.
I got it to back up my 250F. They’re getting harder to find.
Nothing special, but they fit me well. Light and compact.
I’m not super crazy about the Fisher-Price Red color, but I can live with it in a nostalgic 80’s way.
Looks like you lost part of your nut. (insert 'ehem' here)
Unfortunately, all Birds are not created equal. What works on one won't on another. All very subjective as a couple of mm on a saddle adjustment will make a difference on "identical" basses...
