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Today's Lesson: Don't Boil Cheap Strings...
- Thread starter Squid-TEGH
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That was my experience. Boiling does little to nothing, by way of extending the useful life of strings. OTOH, the alcohol soak (I use a soak tube) works, and I save a lotta money on strings that way. I'll routinely get three uses out of a set of strings that way.
Added: My basses all have top-loader bridges, so I don't have to uncoil the wrap at the tuning peg to soak them. I could see how unwinding the strings might cause metal fatigue. If I had a bass with a conventional bridge, guess I'd take the time to rotate them around the bridge to take them off. Wouldn't uncoil them to pull the string through, IOW.
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I've never had any problems with boiling strings. I've boiled my 4 year old set of Chromes on my P bass at least 3 times, and they're still great. The threads by the tuners are pretty worn, but I'll probably boil them several more times, as long as they still Intonate.
I've boiled almost every set of roundwounds once and only once. After that, they're dead.
I've boiled almost every set of roundwounds once and only once. After that, they're dead.
Well accidentally killing my old E did have one benefit; a much needed string change.
The bass sounds completely/vastly/hugely/amazingly/totally different with a new set of strings instead of the ones that it came with. Wow.
The bass sounds completely/vastly/hugely/amazingly/totally different with a new set of strings instead of the ones that it came with. Wow.
I saw that, but after 8 months my frets are already marked. I don't want to have the thing refretted before I've had it long 
.
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You "baked" them in a oven after boiling!!?? I didn't know that was a thing, I always just dried them with a towel after...
You will have to get the strings to over 1300F and let it remain at that temp for at least 15 minutes to change the mechanical properties of the metal. This will not happen with boiling water, nor will boiling induce instant corrosion. With strings, you are more likely to promote corrosion through highly acidic sweat.
That being said, the guys who broke the strings after boiling either over tightened the string as previously stated, or when the string was reinstalled, the wrap did not follow the direction and angle of the original installation, thus weakening the core of the string and promoting breakage. Another factor in this scenario would be the amount of elasticity remaining in the core. If the core had been tightend and loosend enough that the the metal had no elasticity remaining, it could fail at any point when tension was applied. FWIW, the core of a E breaks at I've 163lbs of tension. I did the experiment in my lab at work.
Edited tensile strength based on notes from experiment.
That being said, the guys who broke the strings after boiling either over tightened the string as previously stated, or when the string was reinstalled, the wrap did not follow the direction and angle of the original installation, thus weakening the core of the string and promoting breakage. Another factor in this scenario would be the amount of elasticity remaining in the core. If the core had been tightend and loosend enough that the the metal had no elasticity remaining, it could fail at any point when tension was applied. FWIW, the core of a E breaks at I've 163lbs of tension. I did the experiment in my lab at work.
Edited tensile strength based on notes from experiment.
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One thought about boiling. The strings are tightly wound. Heating them in boiling water WILL expand the metal ever so slightly. It is possible that the tension of the winding can be compromised by the expansion and contraction of the winding. They weren't designed to operate in that temperature extreme. Don't know how that would play into breakage, but working with metal I know a little heat can go a long way in changing the size of a chunk of steel.
I've been watching these boiling threads for years. Come on, strings are twenty bucks, just get a new set!
I think cooking them in the oven did them in, dry heat tends to crack metal.... I've boiled $4 strings before and didn't have a problem.....
Why would anyone assume the Op overtightened his string? The truss rod is pulling backward on the neck, the strings pull forward. With only one string on there, the truss rod wins, and you get fret buzz.
I second elixir strings. If you like super bright strings, they might not float your boat, but they stay the same for a really long time. I would never have splurged on them but my friend is an elixir endorser and gets his for free. He gave me a free pack and got me hooked.
I second elixir strings. If you like super bright strings, they might not float your boat, but they stay the same for a really long time. I would never have splurged on them but my friend is an elixir endorser and gets his for free. He gave me a free pack and got me hooked.
316L stainless will not expand significantly until over 350F. When it does expand, it's only a few microns. A possible scenario is that the pan used to boil gets to over 350F and the wrap expands because that surface on the string was directly on the metal. However, with the thermal expansion, the metal cools quickly and will go back to its original shape. The failure happens on the core, not the wrap. While this is possibly a reason, I'm not sure it's probable.
To qualify this, I manufacture sand screens for oil wells where we shrink fit rings into the pipe and wrap a single helical wire, just like on a guitar string onto core wire, to filter sand in wells. There is no welding to the pipe and we rate our screens to 350F operating temp.
One string would not be enough tension to put the necessary stress on the neck to straighten it. It would be easy to over to tighten and still get buzz.
Boiled my strings many times but the key is fresh potatoes and carmelized onions. Potatoes provide the starch to strengthen steel and carmelized onions add sugars to lock in the tone. Raw onions are acidic, breaks down the outer winding which leads to tonal gap and breakage.
Would never put strings in the oven unless it's part of a casserole. My D'addario tuna casserole is too die for.
Would never put strings in the oven unless it's part of a casserole. My D'addario tuna casserole is too die for.
Is it possible that the SS used in string manufacturing contains a combo of alloys that allows it to pass some standard as SS, for example a combo of maybe this much SS and this much something else? When I was a fish monger I remember having to send back bus and cutting tables because the "stainless steel" would corrode after a month of moisture. I was told it's because the SS was used in conjunction with a cheaper alloy. Any truth to this?
Back when I was boiling the cheapest strings were 25 dollars a set and that was more than 2 days wages on your typical 16 year old's part time job at minimum wage back then. After gas and car insurance and rent to my parents there wasn't a whole lot left over. IF you were lucky enough to have a job in the first place.
Kids today have it so damn easy.
Many don't see the results they should because they boil the strings wrong. The strings need to be under operating tension to release the dirt and oils trapped in the rings. The correct method is to boil them whilst they are still at full tension on the bass. I have great success doing this. My unrelated question is does anyone know what causes the finish on basses to crap out so often?
