...yet another "boiling strings" thread

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Sorry to start another thread about boiling strings, but I couldn't find the previous ones that discussed it, so anyway...

Has anyone ever heard or experienced a weakening of the strings as a result of boiling them? Based on the input of several on this forum, I tried boiling my strings a few weeks ago...well, at a show on Friday night, my D-string broke. That has only happened to me one other time in the 20+ years that I've been playing, so I wonder if boiling my strings might have been a contributing factor.

Regardless, I think I will discontinue that practice in the future. It may just have been a coincidence, but I'd rather not take the chance. Unfortunately, I didn't have any extra strings, so it was a stressful rest of the evening trying to play without a D. :shock:
 
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Hi, sounds strange, there are lots of people who boils strings at least once and I never heard of any weakening, I have never experienced any problems either. Let's hop that it was just a coincidence / mats
 
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In my experience boiling strings has not affected the toughness as far as i know
 
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My experience is that they come alive after boiling .... but only for a 1/10 of the life time of new strings. That's almost not worth it.

Personally I hate the sound of purely new strings but after a couple of hours they are alright.

I have never snapped a new or boiled string in my playing life (15 years). I might be to gentle.... :oops:
 
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Shiney McShine said:
Has anyone ever heard or experienced a weakening of the strings as a result of boiling them?

Basically, I think strings are neither fond of mechanical nor of thermic (be it too hot or too cold) stress (that also applies to heat or cryogenically treated strings, which I'm skeptical of). I think it pays (bad pun :oops:) to wipe them after playing w/ a soft cloth (I also can't recommend string cleaners like GHS Fast Fret), but I don't think it's worth the bother boiling them.
 
O

odominguez

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Heike said:
Shiney McShine said:
Has anyone ever heard or experienced a weakening of the strings as a result of boiling them?

Basically, I think strings are neither fond of mechanical nor of thermic (be it too hot or too cold) stress (that also applies to heat or cryogenically treated strings, which I'm skeptical of). I think it pays (bad pun :oops:) to wipe them after playing w/ a soft cloth (I also can't recommend string cleaners like GHS Fast Fret), but I don't think it's worth the bother boiling them.

Totally agree with this opinion.
 
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i think often it comes down to $...i certainly can't afford AUS $50 every time my strings lose the zingy tone i like. I'd end up paying $50 on strings on a weekly basis. I can't afford that. From my experience, boiling them brings back enough tone for me to spend 10 mins of time doing it.
 
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Thanks all.

It most likely was just a coincidence, but I'll probably purchase new strings in the future. Besides, there's something special about pulling brand new strings out of a wrapper, as opposed to dripping wet ones with tongs out of a pot on the stove :lol:
 
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Shiney McShine said:
Thanks all.

It most likely was just a coincidence, but I'll probably purchase new strings in the future. Besides, there's something special about pulling brand new strings out of a wrapper, as opposed to dripping wet ones with tongs out of a pot on the stove :lol:

Good as a fond for chicken stew though :shock:
 
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I used to boil my strings, but I found it a lot of hassle... these days I soak all the strings that I'm not using in methylated spirits (denatured alcohol for all you americans out there)... I keep 3 sets in there, and rotate them every few weeks when I can't afford new strings. It's the same different as boiling them, but I find it lasts for longer, and doesn't weaken the strings in any way.
 
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