Weird Science

[Black Plaid]

My hands have always been murder on guitar strings. Espcially the wound ones. They go dead fastar than I'd like.

I once went so far as to get a set of pure gold coated strings, Maxima they were called, but they don't quite seem to make them the same any more (Optima is the only gold plate brand now). They were also like 8x as much as normal nickel plated wrap.

Les turned me on to pure nickel wrap strings a few years back on here, which start out a bit mellower, but stay that way much longer for me. They still inevitably succumb to my toxic hands.

I was changing out yet another set, and remembered back in the 90's a friend used to boil his bass strings to restore the snap to them, so I thought maybe a through cleaning might work.

I tried wiping a set of dead ones with some 90% alcohol on a paper towel, but I couldn't tell any difference before an after.

Then I remembered we'd recently gotten a cheapish ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning jewelry, glasses, and what not recently, so I thought I'd give that a go.

It seems to have worked. 15 min with water / alcohol / soap solution (and heating if available) not only made them look clean, but they sound pretty close to new as well.

So, if you are tired of throwing strings away more often than you'd like (I'm sure this can't work forever), and you happen to have one of these things, give it a go.

The nice thing about locking tuners is it makes it pretty reasonable to take them off and on at least once without too many ill affects. Not gonna lie tho, getting the string back through the trem block is a pain, and I did have a G-string failure ()

I'm sure a lot of people will say "strings are cheap", well, so am I, and compared to a guitar, the per day TCO is actually higher (at least for me). And I've never thrown away a PRS.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

 

[Black Plaid]

For a quicker, although less significant quick fix, you can follow this guy's advice:

 

[Greywolf]

I've used Maxima's for years , although limited to 1 guitar and bass due to cost.

 

[WingerRules]

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Sounds like you need one of my magic polishing cloths.

 

[Black Plaid]

Sounds like you need one of my magic polishing cloths.

I'm far too lazy for that.

 

[Davey]

Very interesting.
I think Eddie's guitar tech boiled his strings in the late 70's in order to pre-stretch the strings, but I can see it cleaning all the gunk out.

 

[WingerRules]

But it's WAY WAY easier than removing and boiling strings!

I'm far too lazy for that.

 

[Black Plaid]

But it's WAY WAY easier than removing and boiling strings!

I don't doubt that, but it would require I remember to do it, which is really the hard part for me.

 

[László]

"Strings are kind of like disposable diapers. I mean, no one boils their used disposable diapers and puts them back on their babies. They just buy a new box of diapers."

"Guitar strings and dirty diapers aren't two things a normal person would compare to one another."

"Most people compare my guitar playing to stinky things, and a poopy diaper certainly qualifies. So the comparison is apt, in its own way."

"That's...um...a disgusting, if unique, way of looking at it."

"A unicorn such as myself needs to be uniquely creative at all times."

 

[WingerRules]

I don't doubt that, but it would require I remember to do it, which is really the hard part for me.

If you do it once, when you put the strings on, and never do it again, they'll last twice as long. If you do it every once in a while, longer than that. Takes SECONDS to do it.

 

[WingerRules]

I don't doubt that, but it would require I remember to do it, which is really the hard part for me.

in fact... I'm going to see if I still have your address, and if I do, I'll send you one.

 

[Black Plaid]

"Strings are kind of like disposable diapers. I mean, no one boils their used disposable diapers and puts them back on their babies. They just buy a new box of diapers."

"Guitar strings and dirty diapers aren't two things a normal person would compare to one another."

"Most people compare my guitar playing to stinky things, and a poopy diaper certainly qualifies. So the comparison is apt, in its own way."

"That's...um...a disgusting, if unique, way of looking at it."

"A unicorn such as myself needs to be uniquely creative at all times."

Interesting comparison. Diapers weren't always disposable, some people still use ones they wash!

 

[Black Plaid]

If you do it once, when you put the strings on, and never do it again, they'll last twice as long. If you do it every once in a while, longer than that. Takes SECONDS to do it.

Oh, I thought you had to wipe them down after every session. Iiiiinteresting.

 

[WingerRules]

Oh, I thought you had to wipe them down after every session. Iiiiinteresting.

oh, it would help, but not required. I only do it once every 3-4 plays.

 

[László]

Interesting comparison. Diapers weren't always disposable, some people still use ones they wash!

I knew some folks who wouldn't use the paper ones back when mine were babes. Messy and stinky business!

When I was a baby - which my brothers to this day insist is an impossibility, as they claim I was 40 at birth - paper diapers didn't exist.

Hell, I'm pretty sure paper didn't exist. People were still using papyrus.

I don't think they had papyrus diapers, but who can remember back that far?



"Papyrus? As in Egypt? Wait, did you know Moses?"

"Did I know Moses? Are you kidding? I dated his grandmother."

 

[dmatthews]

I knew some folks who wouldn't use the paper ones back when mine were babes. Messy and stinky business!

When I was a baby - which my brothers to this day insist is an impossibility, as they claim I was 40 at birth - paper diapers didn't exist.

Hell, I'm pretty sure paper didn't exist. People were still using papyrus.

I don't think they had papyrus diapers, but who can remember back that far?



"Papyrus? As in Egypt? Wait, did you know Moses?"

"Did I know Moses? Are you kidding? I dated his grandmother."

Of course they had papyrus diapers... Papyrus is Egyptian for "paper ur ass"...

 

[László]

Of course they had papyrus diapers... Papyrus is Egyptian for "paper ur ass"...

Oh, that was for the toilet paper, but people felt it was too scratchy. So people just used the Nile as a very large bidet. Even the famed Charmin-Ra couldn't solve that problem, though he wouldn't admit it. Poor guy was in denial.

"Hey, why was everyone in Egypt wearing heavy eye makeup all the time?"

"That started as a disguise. When you need to use a very public river as a bidet, you don't really want to be recognized."

"But everyone wore it constantly."

"Listen, this was before refrigeration. The food was often contaminated. You never knew when you were suddenly gonna need a bidet."

 

[JTB]

My hands have always been murder on guitar strings. Espcially the wound ones. They go dead fastar than I'd like.

I once went so far as to get a set of pure gold coated strings, Maxima they were called, but they don't quite seem to make them the same any more (Optima is the only gold plate brand now). They were also like 8x as much as normal nickel plated wrap.

Les turned me on to pure nickel wrap strings a few years back on here, which start out a bit mellower, but stay that way much longer for me. They still inevitably succumb to my toxic hands.

I was changing out yet another set, and remembered back in the 90's a friend used to boil his bass strings to restore the snap to them, so I thought maybe a through cleaning might work.

I tried wiping a set of dead ones with some 90% alcohol on a paper towel, but I couldn't tell any difference before an after.

Then I remembered we'd recently gotten a cheapish ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning jewelry, glasses, and what not recently, so I thought I'd give that a go.

It seems to have worked. 15 min with water / alcohol / soap solution (and heating if available) not only made them look clean, but they sound pretty close to new as well.

So, if you are tired of throwing strings away more often than you'd like (I'm sure this can't work forever), and you happen to have one of these things, give it a go.

The nice thing about locking tuners is it makes it pretty reasonable to take them off and on at least once without too many ill affects. Not gonna lie tho, getting the string back through the trem block is a pain, and I did have a G-string failure ()

I'm sure a lot of people will say "strings are cheap", well, so am I, and compared to a guitar, the per day TCO is actually higher (at least for me). And I've never thrown away a PRS.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Do you have any luck with Elixir strings lasting longer?

 

[Steve's addiction]

"Strings are kind of like disposable diapers. I mean, no one boils their used disposable diapers and puts them back on their babies. They just buy a new box of diapers."

"Guitar strings and dirty diapers aren't two things a normal person would compare to one another."

"Most people compare my guitar playing to stinky things, and a poopy diaper certainly qualifies. So the comparison is apt, in its own way."

"That's...um...a disgusting, if unique, way of looking at it."

"A unicorn such as myself needs to be uniquely creative at all times."

 

[JTB]

My hands have always been murder on guitar strings. Espcially the wound ones. They go dead fastar than I'd like.

I once went so far as to get a set of pure gold coated strings, Maxima they were called, but they don't quite seem to make them the same any more (Optima is the only gold plate brand now). They were also like 8x as much as normal nickel plated wrap.

Les turned me on to pure nickel wrap strings a few years back on here, which start out a bit mellower, but stay that way much longer for me. They still inevitably succumb to my toxic hands.

I was changing out yet another set, and remembered back in the 90's a friend used to boil his bass strings to restore the snap to them, so I thought maybe a through cleaning might work.

I tried wiping a set of dead ones with some 90% alcohol on a paper towel, but I couldn't tell any difference before an after.

Then I remembered we'd recently gotten a cheapish ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning jewelry, glasses, and what not recently, so I thought I'd give that a go.

It seems to have worked. 15 min with water / alcohol / soap solution (and heating if available) not only made them look clean, but they sound pretty close to new as well.

So, if you are tired of throwing strings away more often than you'd like (I'm sure this can't work forever), and you happen to have one of these things, give it a go.

The nice thing about locking tuners is it makes it pretty reasonable to take them off and on at least once without too many ill affects. Not gonna lie tho, getting the string back through the trem block is a pain, and I did have a G-string failure ()

I'm sure a lot of people will say "strings are cheap", well, so am I, and compared to a guitar, the per day TCO is actually higher (at least for me). And I've never thrown away a PRS.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Do you have any luck with Elixir strings lasting longer