Why NOT to polish bass strings.......

[stuka at mindspring.com]

I'll field this one, I'm a long-time guitar-and-bass cat...

Regular (6-string acoustic and especially electric) guitar strings are cheap enough that one would have to be *really* in a jam to even think about boiling them. *Bass* guitar strings are another matter. I've boiled them over and over and gotten good results.  The brightness and "liveness" that is regained does not, of course, match a new set of identical strings, but it is quite usable and does extend the life of the strings. The physics of playing "slap" bass is much like a piano action, as the thumb is used as a hammer and the sound of the instrument becomes much more live and piano-like than with regular finger-picking.   I would suggest that Gordon boil one of the two strings that have become dull after treatment and see if it improves the sound versus the other, and also versus the untreated strings on the piano.  Perhaps boiling an adjacent untreated string might also give a helpful comparison in case the treatment of the two strings were to skew the results of the test. 

The method for boiling bass guitar strings: in a large-diameter pot or skillet of depth enough to cover all strings, bring enough water to cover the strings plus at least a couple of inches extra to a rolling boil, coil stings into the pot, let boil for 5-10 minutes or so after rolling boil resumes.  Longer doesn't seem to hurt.  I'm guessing that thicker piano bass strings might respond to longer boiling times, some experimentation might be necessary.



Probably couldn't hurt for someone to experiment with this on a piano whose strings are being replaced anyway, to see the difference in tone betwee old, new, and boiled.  I wonder, also, if the difference in tension between the piano and the guitar would factor into the effectiveness of this technique, and if so, how. 

Cheers,

Matt

-----Original Message-----
>From: Stéphane Collin <collin.s at skynet.be>

>
>I heard that guitarists who can't afford buying a new set of strings (the 
>majority of those) have good results boiling the strings in boiling water. 
>I never tried this with a piano string, but am wanting to hear comments from 
>those who did.
>
>Hoping to raise some more comments.
>
>Best regards.
>
>Stéphane Collin.
>
>