Too many myths about boiling guitar strings?

[jjmf]

I've done various cleanings for years (always either cheap or broke!)
- not sure if i am restating whats already here - (I didn't read all 4 pages of discussion)

What i found:
- Boiling - ends up rusty as well as (noted here) only gets a few more days of decent tone
- Tried Methyl Hydrate and Wood Alcohol - they work but leave a funny film on strings that feels slimy/just funny - especially methyl H

Now for several years i have settled on using 99% pure Iso-propyl Alcohol as best -

I literally leave all my strings for all basses in rotation - 1 or more sets sitting/soaking in ISO for (some sets for months/years!) while taking off the dirty ones and replacing them with clean ones

- I have challenged Musicians and stores by putting 1 (or 2) washed strings on a bass with brand new strings and no one has EVER been able to tell from the sound which ones were washed.

If you look closely at the strings you can see where the frets have worn down the round windings on the strings - but if you thread them on the same way every time when reapplying to basses you will never see the ware!

I guess eventually they may cause the strings to sit slightly lower action wise since they are actually getting slightly thinner at the point of fret contact - but since the strings come off the bass with the tuning peg curve and slight bend where they sit on the bridge - they pretty much go on same way every time and its actually way faster to change them due to them being "pre bent" for tuners and saddles,

The other out come is eventually they are like playing a bass with light gauge frets - better sliding notes (like a Lee Sklar Dingwall with Mando-frets- great "glissando")

I have several sets of strings bought in 2010 i still use most of the time.

Eventually the "windings" may give out on some of them so you hear a slight rattle/buzz when playing them, but out of 4 different 5 strings (including Dingwalls) - constantly rotating strings - ie 2 sets per bass, i have only needed to throw out 2 single strings since 2010 - due to rattling

they seem to keep great sitting in the ISO for years - with no deterioration and complete long lasting quality sound. The ISO can be a few $ but i have been using same 2 liters (quart?) for years and it still is completely clear and clean to see, and makes strings sound brand new

only 2 VIP caveats -
1) strings with colored thread at top of them can bleed color into your ISO
2) they have to be 100% dry before you put them any where near your bass to protect the finish/fret-boards (like paint thinner)

John Fraser | bassist from Edmonton, AB, CA
jjmf, Jul 3, 2016 Edit Delete Report Bookmark
Jul 3, 2016
#64, + Quote Reply Mr_O'B
Saetia and jjmf like this.

 

[orange joe]

I prefer deep fried nickel plated strings.

 

[mikeyjm2]

I haven't boiled strings in many years. Back when I did boil them I used Roto strings, but I've been using a lot of coated DR strings lately (like Black Beauties for instance). Just wondering if anyone has tried boiling / alcohol soaking these strings specifically and if so, any effects positive or negative on the strings, especially with regard to the coating.

 

[Tanner5382]

I prefer deep fried nickel plated strings.

With what dipping sauce?

 

[Honch]

I noticed that I could bring some life into dead strings simply by putting them on flipped 180° over their axis so that the grooves made by the frets end up on the other side.

Guess what you can do with double ball end strings then, on any headless?

 

[Honch]

What if water penetrates the external wound and stays inside the core?

After being in water just stretch it, or tune it up and play it so it vibrates, it goes SPROIIIINNNNGGG! You feel the water drops spatter around. As you see the fluid - any - can pile up, just as finger gunk does, inside the dead air space of string. The inner core is hex. On Round core there's little less that risk.

It's when the outer wrap of the string, is something like this, double wrap on top of each other:

Just tore it up for demsonstration. But as you boil them, gunk, as well as water can stay in there and be hard to cram out, or squeeze out. But everything expands as it gets heated up, so you can actually loose some of the grip, like the outer wrap looses grip on the inner wrap. It may not cool down and go back to its previous state, it can get quite askew hence the dead spots and intonation problems.

I favor isopropyl ethanol to anything boiling in water. Bass strings only. Guitar strings are a bit too cheap to take care. AND ONE THING: It only makes sense (if any) on the wound strings. Plain strings have nothing to get boiled off of. Plains strings you can soak in isopropanol and cloth and wipe it. No wraps or air spaces that can collect gunk.

 

[Honch]

Interesting suggestions, I only have two comments:

1) I would avoid change, boil or loose the strings right before a concert. This will more likely cause intonation problems or increase a string break chance. IMO, it is not "a quick-and-dirty solution that may save you at the evenings gig". Leaving the the strings as they are will probably keep the same performance as they have at present, maybe not the best, but with less "surprises" like string breaks or problems related to new strings (faulty or bad mounted strings... this can happen). The ideal timing for changing strings is IMO some days before (with daily use), so that the instrument reach stable equilibrium with the strings.

2) The video about slapping to bring life to strings looks impressive, I did not understand how it works. Maybe the contact points with frets (where string gets deformed) get shifted, so new contact points = fresh sound?

The thing with slapping, is that you can see the gunk and even feel it as small dust as it settles on the fretboard. Compare it to squeezing a spot acne or something. When the strings are downtuned the wraps SHRINK and squeezes the gunk out. But not all, as you can tell. The hex core, dead air space can collect gunk still, and this is not removed by this slapping technique. Only ultrasonic cleaning will get those tiny bubbles inside such small spaces and loose them up.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I'm simply saying it's a waste of time reading yet another thread about boiling strings.

Yet here you are reading it.

 

[michael_t]

Yet here you are reading it.

Yes, it's called a hopeless addiction. I simply cannot not be on TB every single day.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

With what dipping sauce?

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[DavC]

cleaning strings ... in whatever manner just cleans off the gunk/oils from your hands ...

BUT ... cleaning will never fix the flat spots that develop from the strings being pressed against the frets ... those flat spots mess with the harmonic content ...


want your strings to last longer ... wash your hands b4 , clean them after ... i use coatings like Fast Fret , Finger Ease or String Nomad lube ...

clean and moisten your fret board at string changes ... get the gunk off ... i use F-one cleaner/moisturizer
and it's a good time to polish up the frets ...

 

[HolmeBass]

I kept reading many pages on this site about the practice of boiling your bass strings to prolong their life.

I read strange things about it and I'd like to take some of those claims out here for scientifically-minded scrutiny.

Here are some of the things people here believe:

1) When you boil strings, you do get fresh new-strings sound, but this goes away in a matter of days, and the strings will sound as dead as they were before you boiled them.

What kind of superstition is this? If boiling the strings you remove all the dirt and skin oils and give it a fresh brand-new-string sound, then why would that sound last any less than it would if they were indeed brand new? If all the unwanted dirt is cleaned and the strings aren't rusty, aren't they essentially brand new?

2) Boiling should only be done one or two times. After that, it will be so ineffective it won't be worth it.

What is it that you're taking away from the string and its quality by boiling that it gradually degrades its usefulness?

3) Boiling weakens strings and they will break easily.

Is steel that fragile for boiling water to affect its strength in 5 minutes?

4) Boiling should be considered a desperate measure when you're out of cash. It's not a professional thing to do. You should get a proper set of new strings if you want to get really great sound.

For this to be correct, there must be a real disadvantage about this whole practice of boiling strings. There must be at least one negative impact which the process of boiling has on the strings, because the proof that it does indeed bring back the new-strings sound is abundant.

Any comments?

Anecdotal, but *everytime* I've boiled my strings, they did exactly what you say in #1. They sounded pretty fresh for a few days and then died and went even deader than before I boiled them. Repeated boiling did less and less each time. That's my experience. I cannot explain it, except to say that boiling does not return strings to like-new condition. They are still dents where the frets are and the inherent stretching of tuning them up to pitch.

Cleaning them in alcohol is far better, they last a few weeks after cleaning, but still this does not return them to like-new condition.

Mind you back when I did these experiments I was playing stainless steel strings exclusively. Now I play nickels, but have never tried boiling or alcohol cleaning of them. Now I just buy new strings once every 3-5 months.

 

[mantaraya]

I kept reading many pages on this site about the practice of boiling your bass strings to prolong their life.

I read strange things about it and I'd like to take some of those claims out here for scientifically-minded scrutiny.

Here are some of the things people here believe:

1) When you boil strings, you do get fresh new-strings sound, but this goes away in a matter of days, and the strings will sound as dead as they were before you boiled them.

What kind of superstition is this? If boiling the strings you remove all the dirt and skin oils and give it a fresh brand-new-string sound, then why would that sound last any less than it would if they were indeed brand new? If all the unwanted dirt is cleaned and the strings aren't rusty, aren't they essentially brand new?

2) Boiling should only be done one or two times. After that, it will be so ineffective it won't be worth it.

What is it that you're taking away from the string and its quality by boiling that it gradually degrades its usefulness?

3) Boiling weakens strings and they will break easily.

Is steel that fragile for boiling water to affect its strength in 5 minutes?

4) Boiling should be considered a desperate measure when you're out of cash. It's not a professional thing to do. You should get a proper set of new strings if you want to get really great sound.

For this to be correct, there must be a real disadvantage about this whole practice of boiling strings. There must be at least one negative impact which the process of boiling has on the strings, because the proof that it does indeed bring back the new-strings sound is abundant.

Any comments?

You are not taking in consideration the most important part of all this. And that is the fact you are stretching the string itself as the pression itself from being in use. You are right about oil ad dirty. You can boil them and they will sound as new but - the fact the metal itself has been trough stretching and use. I have boil them. Nothing wrong with it, but at the end is better just to clean them with some solution being tuned and change them every months or so. Boiling at the end too much hassle compared to what you get at the end.

 

[bdplaid]

Not reading through this; for years, I used to boil them all the time and works great. I swear, bass players think too damned much. Comments:

1) When you boil strings, you do get fresh new-strings sound, but this goes away in a matter of days, and the strings will sound as dead as they were before you boiled them.

What kind of superstition is this? If boiling the strings you remove all the dirt and skin oils and give it a fresh brand-new-string sound, then why would that sound last any less than it would if they were indeed brand new? If all the unwanted dirt is cleaned and the strings aren't rusty, aren't they essentially brand new?

The sound is not like fresh out of the package. There is a degradation in the very top end of the sound. But it's good enough, for me at least.

It's my understanding that it's not the dirt and oil, but the metallurgy - atoms and molecules - that move around to make the string sound dull. Heat moves the atoms back, almost all the way, hence why they are not "as new."

2) Boiling should only be done one or two times. After that, it will be so ineffective it won't be worth it.

What is it that you're taking away from the string and its quality by boiling that it gradually degrades its usefulness?

Boil as many times as you want until the string breaks when you play it, or it starts look janky and you don't trust it. Back in the day, I would boil mine until either they broke or looked like they were going to break. Keep an eye on the wear in places like the nut, bridge saddle and frets.
I play really hard and needed fresh-boiled every night, I bought about 5 sets at a time, when the "new" came off of them, I boiled them once a week and put them in a rotation. sounded great to me.

3) Boiling weakens strings and they will break easily.

Is steel that fragile for boiling water to affect its strength in 5 minutes?

I boiled mine for about 20 minutes each time. I was using Nickel, but it works fine for steel. But if you don't dry steel strings right away, they will rust. and then they are totally done.

4) Boiling should be considered a desperate measure when you're out of cash. It's not a professional thing to do. You should get a proper set of new strings if you want to get really great sound.

For this to be correct, there must be a real disadvantage about this whole practice of boiling strings. There must be at least one negative impact which the process of boiling has on the strings, because the proof that it does indeed bring back the new-strings sound is abundant.

Desperate measures and "professional" is such BS. If you're a top-level pro, you have an endorsement and get them for free. But the rest of us down here in the trenches... some strings, including DR, and the new D'aD NYXL are just plain expensive.

Personally, I think you're thinking about it too much. Boil an old set in plain water for 10-20 minutes and see what you think. they will need to be completely dry to hear the full results. If you no likey, nothing lost.



I don't need to do it anymore as I have the cash now to just buy new. But if I was strapped, I wouldn't hesitate.

 

[Zvonimir]

Thank again, everybody. Read all the comments and I appreciate all this input. Now, for the sake of this conversation, I just took 5-year old strings from a bass sitting around my basement and decided to boil them to see what happens. I wanted to document the time they would take to deaden compared to a brand new set.

First, the strings were dead through an through. Sounded muddy and with little definition in sound. After boiling them, I put them right back on and I can honestly say they sound exactly like brand new strings.

But there was a problem which I don't remember experiencing last time I boiled strings. The action on the bass was nice and low and I had no frets buzzing before the strings were boiled, but after putting them back, I noticed lots of fret-buzz across most of the fretboard and even on some open strings. I tried raising the action at the bridge quite significantly but the buzz didn't completely go away.

What the hell did just happen?

 

[stringthrough]

Boiled strings are best served with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

 

[Zvonimir]

Boiled strings are best served with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

You know, half of this thread is a bunch of food jokes like yours... Maybe that's enough.

 

[michael_t]

But there was a problem which I don't remember experiencing last time I boiled strings. The action on the bass was nice and low and I had no frets buzzing before the strings were boiled, but after putting them back, I noticed lots of fret-buzz across most of the fretboard and even on some open strings. I tried raising the action at the bridge quite significantly but the buzz didn't completely go away.

What the hell did just happen?

Was the bass naked (ie without strings) while you were boiling the strings? If so, it's possible the neck got out of proper adjustment due to the lack of string tension. Just a thought...

 

[MDBass]

I kept reading many pages on this site about the practice of boiling your bass strings to prolong their life.

I read strange things about it and I'd like to take some of those claims out here for scientifically-minded scrutiny.

Here are some of the things people here believe:

1) When you boil strings, you do get fresh new-strings sound, but this goes away in a matter of days, and the strings will sound as dead as they were before you boiled them.

What kind of superstition is this? If boiling the strings you remove all the dirt and skin oils and give it a fresh brand-new-string sound, then why would that sound last any less than it would if they were indeed brand new? If all the unwanted dirt is cleaned and the strings aren't rusty, aren't they essentially brand new?

2) Boiling should only be done one or two times. After that, it will be so ineffective it won't be worth it.

What is it that you're taking away from the string and its quality by boiling that it gradually degrades its usefulness?

3) Boiling weakens strings and they will break easily.

Is steel that fragile for boiling water to affect its strength in 5 minutes?

4) Boiling should be considered a desperate measure when you're out of cash. It's not a professional thing to do. You should get a proper set of new strings if you want to get really great sound.

For this to be correct, there must be a real disadvantage about this whole practice of boiling strings. There must be at least one negative impact which the process of boiling has on the strings, because the proof that it does indeed bring back the new-strings sound is abundant.

Any comments?

All of these points are essentially nonsense.

I've been playing professionally for over a decade, with a string endorsement deal for most of that time, and I'll generally boil and reuse a set anywhere from 5-10 times.

My hands are incredibly caustic to strings, and certain nickel plated varieties I can't use at all as I'll kill a brand new set inside of a half hour just sitting in the studio; a cleaned set of strings doesn't sound or feel quite as fresh as a brand new set, but fairly close, and they don't die any faster.

Eventually, after they've been boiled numerous times, the cores do start to weaken and can be more prone to breakage, but that's only happened to me a handful of times in the last ten years and I always have spares.

I generally only put on brand new sets of strings for studio sessions, sometimes even using multiple sets a day, and use cleaned sets for live/touring as I burn through a set of strings every set regardless of whether they are truly brand new or just cleaned.

 

[groooooove]

it definitely does clean them.

they do die faster, but i wouldn't say they revert to "how they were," they just die faster than new sets.

i agree that after 2 times the strings are really, really shot.

i've deinifely noticed boiled strings breaking more.

boiling was, for me, a desprate measure when i was really broke. i don't do it anymore.

though i don't do this anymore either, i do stand by the denatured alcohol soaking. that does not have any of these negative effects, other than that the strings, by being played 2-3x longer than you ever normally would, get really shot after a few go arounds, but not as bad as boiling. i would still do that if i was tight on cash.

i just switched to d'addario to give them a try, and a 6 string set of stainless strings cost me $23 with amazon prime. cleaning strings is "worth it," but at that price, i just don't do it anymore.