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Original Post By:
B Flat
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Date: 3/2/2010 12:10:21 PM |
Occasionally you read things on classical guitar forums about extending the life of wound strings by cleaning them. Some use denatured alcohol and some boil them and I've even read about people putting them in a sock and tossing them in the washer.
Has anyone here ever tried cleaning wound strings? Did it work?
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Posted By:
JETUKE
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Date: 3/2/2010 3:57:59 PM |
| I first heard of this from a friend who plays electric bass. He would boil them. He said it worked. He was a professional at the time and I know he's picky about tone. I never tried it with guitar strings.
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Posted By:
tejastani
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Date: 3/2/2010 4:34:27 PM |
| Boiling will make steel strings come to life for a short time, then leave them deader than ever and prone to breakage. A friend of mine re-strings his old Takamine often with the same strings by loosening every thing, then re-tying the string so that an unworn area is over each fret, the nut, and the saddle. Doing this, and wiping down the strings makes his strings last several times as long. I think it's too much treble (trouble) haw haw.
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Posted By:
gitapik
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Date: 3/3/2010 6:18:49 AM
(Updated: 3/3/2010 7:14:35 AM)
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I know some heavy metal guitarists who like to boil their strings...not to extend the life, but to create that dead sound. They call it the "brown sound". Works well with distortion.
I've recently had a "shift", in terms of changing strings. Took some time off from performing to bring up my kid. During that time I wrote a lot and really let those strings l-a-s-t on all my instruments. Now that I'm back on stage, though, I've had to "re-adjust" my thinking/ear. Once they start to lose it, there ain't no turnin' back, in my experience.
Love to hear differently, though. Save some $$$...
(Hope this isn't stepping on this thread...but I'm curious about other people's "tell tale signs" for when strings are just beginning to lose it. For me, it's when they start to go out of tune more often and sound "good" instead of "great").
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Posted By:
stringer4me
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Date: 3/3/2010 8:55:17 AM |
| I don't always clean my strings, but sometimes I'll use mineral oil on them. It seems to work well.
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Posted By:
cowbelle
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Date: 3/3/2010 10:52:56 AM |
| Longer ago than I wish to date (but after conestoga wagons) I was told to wipe down strings after each use. Especially good for wound ones. Any soft cloth will work but fanatics can buy designated cleaning cloths at Elderly or others.
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Posted By:
gitapik
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Date: 3/3/2010 4:13:55 PM |
"...Longer ago than I wish to date (but after conestoga wagons) I was told to wipe down strings after each use. Especially good for wound ones. Any soft cloth will work but fanatics can buy designated cleaning cloths at Elderly or others..."
Yes...I seem to remember that sage advice from somewhere back in the...the...uhhh....
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Posted By:
B Flat
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Date: 3/3/2010 4:58:20 PM |
Conestoga wagons? Didn't Ford make them? They had fake wood paneling and preppy mums used them to pick up kids after school right?
Anyway, thanks for all the responses. I'm going to try cleaning and see what happens. It irks me to have to replace all four strings when only the wound one sounds dead.
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Posted By:
gitapik
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Date: 3/3/2010 9:59:13 PM |
| I'm very new to the uke...but lots of nylon string guitarists buy single strings for just this situation. Every one nylon string equals two wound ones. Why not check juststrings.com and see if they've got singles to sell? Pretty sure they will. You could give that a shot and see if it works...
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Posted By:
Bill1
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Date: 3/3/2010 10:08:59 PM |
| Some string suppliers will make up custom sets of stings. Maybe a set with a single string for the nylon strings and say two or three wound strings would be worth asking about.
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Posted By:
ChefJeff
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Date: 3/5/2010 12:42:51 PM |
Boiling strings not only cleans out the finger jam but provides a nice lunch as well. 'Course I always throw in a hot dog and a couple eggs...
Seriously, is it really worth cleaning wound strings that only cost a buck and a half or two bucks to replace? Remember, the outside is metal wire but I believe the ones we use all have a nylon core. I don't know how sensitive nylon is to temperatures of around 212° F but it is quite hygroscopic and will almost certainly absorb water during the process.
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