Does boiling old strings work? (let's compare!)

[@kashphlinktu]

You should put a little liquid dishwashing soap in with the strings when you boil them, it really helps take the oil off, then they won’t feel so gross. Also as soon as you take them off, while they’re still wet, unwrap them and wipe them with a paper towel or washcloth and a bunch more dirt will come off. They’ll be about 80% as good as new.

[@kostringworks]

That outta do it!

[@tommytramp]

This is a first for me Boiling strings But I am the guy who has had Paper food shopping bags full of used strings like a giant spaghetti ball so why not? ....GREAT VIDEO !

[@kostringworks]

Ha! Hey I got used strings I keep around too. All good!

[@Fl4ppers]

Taking them off and rubbing them down with neat bike degreaser solution works better. Just have to remember to rinse them off thoroughly with warm water and dry properly.

[@kostringworks]

Ha, crazy!

[@rogertinker1813]

I have heard of boiling strings from my Grandfather , he passed in the 1970s , I have his old guitar it is not playable but it still has the old strings on it. Hmmm I wonder how many times they were boiled. Thanks for this video

[@kostringworks]

That’s cool! I’d bet they’ve seen a boil or two for sure then! So great, glad ya have it around still! What’s the guitar model?

[@AlanW]

If you had to wash your hands after stringing the guitar, then they didn't really get clean, I think. I recently tried cleaning some strings in an ultrasonic cleaner with cleaning solution, and it was really remarkable how the wound strings brightened up nicely, and even looked new.

[@kostringworks]

Ha! For sure! Hey that’s a good tip. I used to work in a repair shop and we’d clean banjo parts with those and it worked amazingly well!

[@scottkidwell3601]

Boiling strings seems like a few extra steps I don't want to take. I have used string cleaning products in the past, but for the most part I just change the strings. I appreciate that you use Johnny P's. Ive been trying out Stringjoys on my acoustic lately. May go back to JPs ... which reminds me, its time to change the strings on my acoustic. Thank you 🙏🏻

[@kostringworks]

I like those Stringjoys too, but yeah there’s some kinda of magic in those JP’s I can’t put my finger on.

[@scottkidwell3601]

@kostringworks - ha! I love to put my fingers on JP strings! 😂🤣

[@WizardClipAudio]

Yeah, I find you can just get away with scrubbing all sides of the strings with some warm diluted oil soap on a damp microfiber cloth works pretty good. The main two factors where cleaning your stings one way or another doesn’t work, is if you just got more than 16 hours of playtime on the strings, and they’re just plain exhausted, or when oxidation reaches the core of the sting one way or another. Usually that happens cause dirt and grime holds moisture to a spot and eats through it. The pitting from the oxidation becomes a weak point and drastically affects the way it rings.

[@sc1915]

If I remember correctly from an ancient issue of Mandolin World News people used a double boiler and boiled the strings in kerosene (?). I trim off the loose ends when I restring so I would have a hard time getting old strings to even wrap around the tuning post Fast Fret keeps my strings looking and feeling good.

[@kostringworks]

Haha wow that is so gnarly! Phew! My kitchen smelt bad enough after just boiling these in water. Albright swears by that fast fret stuff too. I never really went for it myself but now you guys got me thinking.

[@clevelandthomsen7042]

You make great videos!!! Full Stop (but I'm gonna keep going). Your eye is great, your editing is great, and your stories are great. Keep it up! People can do what they like with their instruments. For me, it's gotta be clean, lemon oiled, with fresh strings. I don't want to hug a rusty 2x4 for hours at a time!

[@kostringworks]

Really appreciate the encouraging words dude! Nice to know folks are digging the art behind the concepts! Thanks for watching, and enjoy those freshy strings!!

[@enkuneheyob3499]

I have tried it first with pure water, there was no change. But when I boiled it with cleaning liquid (chlorine ) and gently stirred, it sounded like 100 new, resonance is high.

[@jakedesjarlais2151]

It's shocking that none of them broke!

[@kostringworks]

Dude I was too. I def think that's another piece of the conversation that could be talked about more. But yeah, either way it worked this time!

[@wilhelmbeck8498]

It's possible to get the finger grease off without boiling the strings - just using acetone and a brush. But this should be done outside with some fresh winds blowing - so you don't loose too many brain cells Furthermore you will need lots of cloths to cover/ Protect both the sound- and finger-board from the acetone

[@kostringworks]

Thanks for the tips!

[@artisterror]

I wish I could still find those John pearse strings! They were my favorite sounding and playing strings and I’m related to him somehow, not quite sure how but that’s a very specific way of spelling pearse… got any extra packs laying around?!😂

[@kostringworks]

Yeah man I sell them out of my shop! I think JP just deal directly these days, so I'm not surprised you're having a hard time finding stuff. I don't have them on my webstore or anything, but write me a note on my website if you want some!

[@mickthebandit]

I’ve been playing guitar for sixty years. In the Seventies we all did this. Just oil them before putting them on

[@kostringworks]

Yeah I wondered about that ghs fast fret stuff. But then again a bottle of that is more expensive than strings so kinda ruins the whole experiment.

[@WizardClipAudio]

You should try shocking them with cold water, also see if soaking them in isopropyl alcohol more or less achieves the same effect as simply boiling them. My two hypotheses are either shocking them with cold water will cause them to contract, making them more consistent with new strings, or alternatively will make them more brittle.

[@kostringworks]

Ha, I dig it.s Cold plunge string movement here we come!

[@sinnerwithnoname8971]

I've only heard this working on bass guitar strings but I don't play bass

[@kostringworks]

For sure, def a bass player thing too, maybe more so!

[@billallen1594]

Many of Nick Drake’s songs were recorded with dead strings. He seemed to prefer them from what I’ve read 🤔 If it’s good enough for him…

[@kostringworks]

Those Nick drake recordings sure do sound pretty amazing, I’d take a tip from his tone any day.

[@brianbeattympls]

I prefer the dead strings. Sometimes I don't want any extra ring.

[@kostringworks]

Same. Sometimes I don’t want any ring at all!

[@brianbeattympls]

@@kostringworks I feel like dead strings are more forgiving if you're a bit out of tune. And I'm usually a bit out of tune.

[@goldenegg1063]

Same here for when you want to practice quietly 🤫

[@firecrackerheart]

great fun!

[@kostringworks]

Thanks for watching!

[@Kylegruhlke]

I don’t boil strings, but I will scrub them down with naptha (lighter fluid) and an old t shirt. Definitely takes a bunch of the funk off.

[@kostringworks]

Yeah I was thinking a good scrub would help!

[@Tonneback]

How does boiling a greasy guitar work out?

[@thenoblemute7669]

That's a big pot 😂

[@benwright6330]

..chewing on them does, ..

[@kostringworks]

noted!

[@Ziraffe2]

Did it as a young man - worked fine. Didn't for many years, then re-started : Boil for 20 minutes with 7 drops of dish-cleaner soap. You'll get the fab mix between new and broken in steel. Ouh, , , and choose a better guitar. . Cheers

[@kostringworks]

Dish soap seems to be the missing feature of my experiment!! Thanks for the tip!

[@Tonneback]

Who can't afford new strings? I can agree its intersting just to find out if it works but if you can't afford new strings you probably can't afford to play guitar

[@scottmatznick3140]

Bad take. 70's musicians would hate you.

[@goldenegg1063]

Thats a very snobby thing to say 👎 . Alot of peoples lives and businesses were destroyed by lockdown while the politicians partied hard and broke all the rules . . Some of us cant afford luxuries like new guitar strings on a daily £5 post lockdown budget thanks to the rich people pumping the prices up on everything.... . . FYI half decent beginners guitars start at about £20 second hand ... . Plus ive been given 3 guitars over the years .. . 1 was an expensive electric acoustic too ! 😳 . ... so there are plenty of free guitars out there too 🤷‍♂️

[@Tonneback]

@@goldenegg1063 😂😂