Too many myths about boiling guitar strings?

[farace]

I'm gonna try putting my strings in the microwave...

Video, please.

 

[bassstrangler]

I buy a set of strings every payday. I have a drawer full of different sets. If I want nickels, I got them, steels, got them. I hate flats. $15 for a set is nowhere near what they were when I was a kid.
The first time I bought a new set of strings in the 80's I remember them being $25. I about crapped a kitten. That was serious money.
The only thing I ever knew about boiling strings was Eddie Van Halen did it to his so he didn't have to worry about the stretch period and them going out of tune easier.
Now, if I were to ever boil my strings, I'd just throw them in the crock pot when my wife loads one up in the morning. Then I could come home and eat and have fresh tasty strings.

 

[Double E]

I am sure this has been said, but worth repeating since the discussion is persisting.

You can boil some of the dirt and crap off the strings but you cannot reverse the effects of metal fatigue and/or return the windings, which have been flattened by contact with the frets, back to their original shape. Therefore boiling the strings is only a temporary, stop-gap measure to put off the eventual need to replace the strings.

If you long for the fresh-string-sound then, by gum, get yourself some fresh strings!

 

[MDBass]

I don't know who she is but she sounds awesome...and rich.

...do you really not know who Carol Kaye is?

One of THE all time bass greats, do yourself a favor and check her out on YouTube

 

[MDBass]

Since you do that so often, haven't you noticed this weird fret buzz I was describing? Even with action nearly twice higher, I seem to get strings buzzing.

In this YouTube video some of that buzz I'm talking about can be heard. But mine is a lot more severe.

I haven't, but it sounds like the core may be loose and rattling against the windings; I had that experience before with new strings fresh out of the box that were just defective

 

[bdplaid]

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?

you were just not hearing the buzz because the strings were dead, but it was there.

 

[michael_t]

you were just not hearing the buzz because the strings were dead, but it was there.

Or, could it be simply because clean strings vibrate more freely than dead ones with all the gunk between the windings?

 

[I am Soma]

...do you really not know who Carol Kaye is?

One of THE all time bass greats, do yourself a favor and check her out on YouTube

yeah I looked her up and have heard lots of her playing without even knowing it. bees knees.

 

[Zvonimir]

Or, could it be simply because clean strings vibrate more freely than dead ones with all the gunk between the windings?

I think this might be the reason. I'll leave the action as it is and will give it some time to see if it goes away with use.

 

[bassbully]

Best part of boiling strings is the soup that you get from the process! Just add some onions, carrots,
bell peppers, celery, and spices and you've got dinner!

That is the best soup for metal....get it?

 

[okcrum]

My personal experience was that it did indeed work, but not all that greatly, and for me only lasted a couple of days. In the long run, I decided it wasn't worth the effort, especially as I kinda like the sound of old strings whether they're flats or rounds.

Same here. I found boiling Rotos was only good for another 20-30 hours of play time.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Myths are always numerous, truths are few and far between.
boiling "works" but strings die from more than "gunk"
the frets make indentations in the outer wrappings.
removing and replacing them causes bending stresses, and unless they are put back on with great care so that they are in exactly the same orientation. and without twisting... too many variables.

that said i have had good success with with a Denatured Alcohol Soak... far better results in my experience than the boiling.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Video, please.

don't try this at home...

 

[Honch]

Interesting, tnx for the explanation. Let's push it one step further, is isopropyl ethanol aggressive for string coat? As you know, many strings are nickel plated, and we do want to keep this feature as much as possible.

Best
Fabio

Please, make a difference between COATING and PLATING. Plating has always been around on most strings. There are Nickel Plated strings, Pure Nickel (no plating) and Stainless Steel (no plating, as well as special treatment, with cryogenic freezing, as well as cobalt plating and whatnot). Plating has been around for ages, and each manufacturer wants their own secret formula. This is best carried out on wound strings. Plain strings rarely - if ever - has plating. No isopropyl ethanol or ultrasonic cleaning or boiling has any effect on the plating, at all, ever. Just go ahead with it.

Invalid Link Removed

Now, COATING, is a relatively new phenomenon within guitar and bass strings. It is basically some variant of Gore-Tex (a nano condom!) that the strings are soaked into, to protect it from finger gunk. Some like them and some not (I loathe them, but that's IMHO only). The only one I can remotely care about is the brand Cleartone, as well as Martin LifeSpan (license from Cleartone). Now ISOPROPYL ethanol can be abrasive to that coating, the "rubber" , as well as you should never ever boil any coated strings. Well, you can for the fun of it, but it will completely destroy the strings and you gain absolutely nothing but scrapping the string. Ultrasonic cleaning will tear the coating of and will flake big time. They used to flake from normal playing too, in their earliest incarnations.

Coating - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mind you, and take notice of that all strings can be both plated and coated. You just take any "nickel-plated" string and soak it with Gore-Tex rubber, then it's coated too. Plated and coated are two separate things, and don't belong to each other. Neither is dependent of each other.

Well, some people play long enough on their strings so all finger gunk and residue eventually form some kind of natural coating anyway on the strings... (Yuck!!)

 

[RED J]

I'm hoping to get a rational conversation

On Talk Bass ?

 

[MDBass]

yeah I looked her up and have heard lots of her playing without even knowing it. bees knees.

Yep.

 

[Saratogacv60]

The dude in my avatar kept rubbing it and plucking it daily for 20 years and I guess the tiny strands were OK. Pretty sure he never boiled 'em, but it looks like rubbing and plucking don't do all that much.

The action was also super high to being unplayable by other bassists. But also consider that when he started recording equipment and play back equipment was pretty crappy for bass. That certainly made it irrelevant that he played with dead strings, his refusal to play with new strings cost him later in his career.

 

[Honch]

IHowever the E string didn't sound quite so fresh. While the zing was back, there was a slight detuned hairiness to the tone, almost like the core had come loose somehow.

This is the risk everyone has to be aware of. This can happen, and it can not. This is obviously a hit or miss, and crap shoot. I have encountered this too, numerous times. The next batch of strings (exact same brand, alloy, gauge) will turn out just fine, and the next one will be dead as a doornail. However, ultrasonic or soaking isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol for short) will not expand or contract the string as there's no heating involved. No cooking. I have no tuning issues or intonation issues after ultrasonic PLUS isopropanol, and the zzzing is actuall better than boiling, it lasts a tad longer.

Ultrasonic uses tiny nanobubbles that explodes (yes!) when they hit the surface, and thus everything that doesn't belong to the surface is released. You can reach corners and cracks and spaces that you can't with regular boiling or soaking in iso only. You must get into all cavitites, spaces in the strings wrap as well as the hex core spaces. This technique (ultrasonic) is called cavitation and is the on used on boat propellers and that's why some gets destroyed by the cavitation when swirling bubbles and water around. However, the ultrasonic is non-inertial which means it ain't as dangerous to surfaces.

Ultrasonic cleaning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Honch]

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?

Chances are that you would get that fret buzz with brand new strings too. As they were dead before boiling you don't hear the fret buzz, but when they have that new string zzzzinnnngggg rattle, fret buzz will be more pronounced. Or that you can have a weak bass neck which retracts to a backbow when all string are removed at the same time, and let it be that way for a while. When re-stringing it may take a while for the neck to settle back (so to speak) to its former relief. You should check not just action but neck relief too with adjusting the truss rod. You should also take notice that gunked up strings does not oscillate (amplitude) as much as brand new strings or boiled/cleaned strings. The gunk is an effective damper and the string doesn't vibrate as much. You can also detect this with that the output through the pickups will be loude too with cleaned/boiled strings. If they vibrate more freely and with larger movements then they sure hit the frets too.

 

[SirMjac28]