Boiling Old Bass Strings to Revive Them - Tested vs Old and New Strings
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- What's this abomination you may think... well, as almost any teenager I was completely broke and new bass strings where a luxury at that time. Sometimes I boiled old and dead ones to squeze a little more life from them with some degree of success, so I tought it will be fun to try that again and compare the results versus new and old non-boiled strings to see if it really works.
Hope you like it and have fun with this little experiment!
The music of this video:
Emotional and Epic Guitar Backing Track (there's also a bassless version on the channel)
• Emotional and Epic Gui...
Killer Grove Funk (E) - Bass Backing Track
• Killer groove Funk (Em...
Bass Backing Track - 80's style power metal Em
• Bass Backing Track - 8...
Some useful things for your bass:
Strings used on this video: amzn.to/3mnkenM
Nut lubrication: amzn.to/3mxOVnY
Lemon oil for ebony/rosewood fretboards: amzn.to/2KURljz
Cleaner for all your guitar/bass: amzn.to/3n2uHTX
Feeler Gauges: amzn.to/38k83ki
Measuring caliper/vernier: amzn.to/2Wt4CT2
Set of allen keys: amzn.to/38aYaFG
Guitar capo: amzn.to/38DIeMk
Clip on tuner (great for quick tuning during the setup): amzn.to/3ptD1h4
Plug in tuner (for precise intonation adjustment): amzn.to/3pumXvg
------------------------------------------
Follow me on Instagram: / inspiringtracks
Follow me on Twitter: / inspiringtracks
Follow me on Facebook: / inspiringtracks
Greetings from Argentina!
Juan Pablo - Inspiring Tracks
The boiling part merely cleans the strings. Freezing overnight afterwards restores more brilliance. It doesn't beat new strings but if you have a gig or a jam in the sticks, it sure as hell stops you from sounding like you're playing in mud. The chemists out there would be able to explain why the freezing works. Personally I had it work for me. Your mileage may vary!
Never heard about freezing strings, absolute first time! Maybe is something to try on a future video
Clean the funky gunk off of your strings? James Jamerson is rolling in his grave.
lol it depends of the sound you want
James cleaned them with whiskey..
If you add a little oil, the strings won't stick together.
olive, preferably
Actually I found that just removing strings and putting them back on improves their sound already. So maybe you should have removed the old strings, put them back on and THEN started the comparison...
Maybe it can be a topic for a future video!
I heard you are also supposed to drink the water afterward. 🤣🤣🤣 Pretty sure that part was a joke.
It has Iron, grease and dead skin cells in it, everything a healthy bass players needs lol
@@InspiringTracks String stew. yum.
Dito to this comment:
"Really fun video! I heard about boiling old strings but never did it myself, there is a noticeable improvement but nothing beats new strings".
Thanks!!
I used that technique in 90ies when I couldn't affford for new set of strings every couple of months. What I found however as the sound is remarkably better, the "clean strings" effect lasts much much faster than putting new strings. Similar effect was when cleaning the old strings with toothbrush and poliprophylene alcohol, but the effect also lasts kinda quick.
As an alternative I would try putting them in a dishwasher with one of the dish washing tablets. ( You dont get great results putting greasy pots and pans onto just boiling water!) The rinse cycle should clean off any unwanted salts etc.
Somehow I dont think 100deg C ( ie temp of boiling water) is anywhere near high enough to anneal metal ( any metal worker could probably confirm this) Ive no idea freezing strings is going to achieve. ( if freezing changed the properties of metal I think civil engineers and architects might be facing some serious problems in the future lol) Maybe it made the resulting music sound a bit cooler.
I just did my annual string change. I hate the sound of new strings. Can't wait till they're broke in. I do wipe mine down after playing and use fast fret cleaner before every gig. Plus, I wash my hands before even picking it up. It's the little things.....
This is a great video and a great life hack. I used to boil bass strings myself years ago when I was a poor pretend muso. The boiled strings died fast as I recall and were only really good for one more gig, but they did give you that extra gig.
exactly my experience! They didn't last long, but they did give you one more show.. and that's worth it.
If you'd really want a good comparison try soaking old strings overnight in Denatured Alcohol. Yes, a bit more expensive to do but that way you won't anneal the strings and change the consistency of the metal the strings are made of. Heating the metal tends to make the strings a little more brittle and subject to breaking.
Thanks for the tip, maybe when this new strings go dead I could make another video trying it with them. Cheers!!!
But only if you heat them to red heat and then dunk them into cold water will make them brittle, in hot water will only remove the finger grease, new strings are much better
Really fun video! I heard about boiling old strings but never did it myself, there is a noticeable improvement but nothing beats new strings
Thanks! Agree with you
I have been Boiling them since the 70s. Also add a teaspoon of baking soda.
I may try this with my ultrasonic cleaner and some degreaser, then clean water boil, then freeze.
I've used boiled string sets at studio sessions for the last 30 years. Works great on the D'Addario XL Nickel Roundwounds on all my basses. I like a clear sound, but not the overly metallic cling of the new strings + the tuning problem from the light streching. Helps greatly to maintain the same sound for the whole recordind session.
Thanks for sharing your experiences! Billy Sheehan commented on a Yamaha FB group that he also used to boil strings a lot back in the day
awesome,very creative!
I've done that. once...
Nice video idol bagong tagasuporta mo ako
hope you wash that pan before making spaghetti! 🤮 haha good video
Lol it's the pan of the nasty things, its food days are long gone. Glad you liked the video!
a little laundry detergent in the boil adds a degreasing element for a better clean, and a brighter sounding result.
don't use washing up liquid though, as it has salt in it that encourages corrosion.
Thanks for the tip!
Lol... brake cleaner is your best bet for cleaning strings. Removes the grease and acid, the DNA and dirt very quickly without applying heat to the strings which changes their carbon structure. I used to boil decades ago when I was a poor student but your strings will become brittle and usually the presence gain is very short lived.
So, next step is use ultrasonic cleaner on this strings :)
That's a really good idea!
I actually preferred the boiled strings to the new ones. They sounded too bright in comparison.
They sound pretty balanced. Not everybody likes the brightness of new strings, I heard of some people that boils them before intalling to darken the sound a little
I think I had the same Bass a few years ago. The Fender Lite bass mine was metallic greenish black. Very versatile bass
This one is an MB4, I think the P Lite was a little more high end than this. MB stands for Modern Bass and was a midrange option made to compete with Ibanez and that kind of basses that where becoming popular at the time
@@InspiringTracks Mine had gold hardware. Probably the upgrade lol. And the fact that it was not heavy. weight almost 8 lbs. im not a bass player or i would not have sold it! But, I bought a guitar with the money I got from the bass.
A 48 hour denatured spirit bath is the only thing that works, at least for my strings
i never used a small pot, a big canning pot was great
I guess the bigger the pot the better so the strings are in a wider circle and more "relaxed" but I think isn't something crucial.
@@InspiringTracks i found out again way back when the smaller the pot they would actually break on me...used a big canning pot from that point on
This has been done already.
Everything has been done already
been boiling strings for over 40 years. of coarse this works best on full round wound strings. ""you want the thermo shock"",, boil water first then throw strings in rolled separately . you want the shock to expand and open up the strings as much and as fast as possible. I only boil for about 5 minutes or so. when done pull them out right away one at a time while they are still hot and towel dry as best as you can, you don't want water settling into the core of the string, get them dry while hot and expanded. then roll them up separately again, wrap in dry towel and right into the freezer for 30 minutes. take out of freezer and let them warm to room temps wiping any condensation off as they warm up. before coating became a thing I was a hard core rotosound man swingbass 66... had no problem going 2-3 years on a set of strings boiling every 3-4 months, but now strings coated or not cost out the ass so I just use coated and get new strings every 8-12 months and long as I keep them wiped down and oiled up right..
The thermal shock thing is something in which opinions differ a lot. I was told back in the day to avoid it at all cost to prevent premature string breaking and that's what I've done in the video
Love the pickle rick shirt.
It's really cool, thanks!!
This is why i love boiling strings
Somewhere...Duck rolls his eyes.
Very noticeable difference between the Old and New. The Old and Boiled sounded practically identical.
I noticed a real improvement after boiling but new ones are the winners for sure
I can hear a difference, not quite as dramatic as with new strings but it's clearly present