Refurbishing bass strings

  • Thread starter Thread starter Toki987
  • Start date Start date
Toki987

Toki987

Rock Steady
any a yall ever soak em in cider vinegar overnight?

I like the feel of the strings after the knarls of the coils are worn down a little, but by that time there is a tone sacrifice. The vinegar eats the oils and dirt away. Longer than overnight it begins eating at the windings.
 
No vinegar!

Boil them in washing soda (sodium carbonate).
 
I`ve done that and it will work, but the heat effects the longevity. An overnight cold soak will keep them alive for a longer period. I used to use buttermilk for about 3 days, the vinegar does it fast.
 
Boiling works sometimes but often you end up with a dead string.

Bob Taylor of Taylor guitars had an interesting response in another forum. He said to just loosen the strings and pull 'em back and let them slap against the fingerboard a few times and it loosens up all the gunk in the windings and will brighten up the strings.
 
There is a household cleaning product called Greased Lighting that will dissolve the oils and do a good job of breaking the harmonic killing gunk. "Scrubbing bubbles" works well too but you will have needed to have oil treated the fretboard so it doesn`t get in the wood and bleach it, and keep a towel under the strings. I guess this may sound cheap to some of the guitar players, but as a pro with good cash flow you can change strings weekly or monthly no problem, when its a hobby and your not working except for recording at home, the retail price of one string usually can buy a whole pack of about any guitar strings. And, the fresh out of the package feel of new bass strings is kinda like playing on 4 or 5 steel files for a few days until all the manufacturing burs are gone.
 
I don't like new or clean strings anyway, it sounds too metalic.
I like to have them a bit greasy.
Even a clean bass guitar sounds odd to me....
 
i boil mine in water and a dash of vinegar once in a while but i agree with smilestoned that the metallic sound is crap!!

peace

balshazza
 
I dunno,

....Ive always just boiled mine for 3 to 5. Never had a problem w/ a dead string....and they get cleaned up pretty damn good too. Wait to put the strings in the pot til the water is boiling, then rinse em off in cold water when theyre done. I also have to respectfully disagree w/ the new is bad comment regarding string tone. I LOVE brand new strings, so much in fact that i try to avoid playing the guitar at all til im ready to track. .....Just have ta lay back on your "touch", cause they get clanky when theyre new.
.........but they resonate like a piano.
 
believe it or not

i play the piss out of my kuibicki x factor 4 ,and i boil my strings in windex.yup plain old windex for about 5 minutes, do a cold water bath for about 2 minutes ,wipe them down so they dont rust and keep them for backups
 
believe it or not

i play the piss out of my kuibicki x factor 4 ,and i boil my strings in windex.yup plain old windex for about 5 minutes, wipe them down so they dont rust and keep them for backups
 
Toki987,

I too have had good success with a 3-5 minute boil of the bass strings.

My trick I gat from a Stanley Clark interview. He used Mennen Skin Bracer to clean his strings and according to him "It made the bass smell alright too"

I add a little to the water but it is basically the isopropel alcohol that is the cleaning agent.

In between boilings I came up with another trick that works quite well:


I take a 1/2 inch wide and 6 inch long strip of elastic (you can pick up at Walmart sewing supply) and soak the middle with alcohol.

Then I wrap the elastic tightly around each string once and one at a time I pull the tightened elastic up and down the entire length of the string.

The friction of the tightly (did I emphasize tightly ?) wrapped bass string will cause the bass string to vibrate like crazy and helps dislodge gunk while the elastic wipes it away. The alcohol helps disolve the acumilated oil from your strings.

Your strings will screech during this process and it is unpleasant sounding but this does a nice job.

You can find a small sample size of cologne at Walmart for 59 cents and a strip of elastic for under a buck and they easily fit in your bass case to clean up before and after gigs or recordings.

Try it and let me know what you think.

I cound probably package this and sell it for a tidy profit. My cost less than a buck MSRP $5-$10........could pay for some recording equipment.

I may be gone for a while.:D
 
I'm happy to tell you that my new strings do not sound so new anymore.
Yes, I've got my sound back.

Sometimes you have to buy new strings (once a year or so).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top