keep strings in freezer

[Petezzz]

I know OK I'm nuts but - bought 4 sets of strings cos I had credit.....
and would they last longer in the freezer?
(seriously)

[discreet]

Seriously? No.

[yorks5stringer]

I suppose if you were in a Coldplay Tribute act that might work.....

[discreet]

Or Vanilla Ice...

I'm going to stop now.

[gjones]

Sausages do so why not strings? I can see where you're coming from.

[crez5150]

You'll have to refer to the String image star rating on the inside freezer door.... next to the fish and chicken!

[apa]

I would imagine you would have to put them in a hermetically sealed bag like D'addario's. Its quit a wet place is your freezer even if its all frozen.

I see the logic but strings are not perishable to that extent. But try it and find out. It wont hurt if they are sealed.

Unless of course you want to take it down to about 2deg above absolute zero to straighten those atoms out. They will sound amazing especially if you sell them for about £5k a string

A

[yorks5stringer]

[quote name='apa' timestamp='1358797406' post='1945273']
I would imagine you would have to put them in a hermetically sealed bag like D'addario's. Its quit a wet place is your freezer even if its all frozen.

I see the logic but strings are not perishable to that extent. But try it and find out. It wont hurt if they are sealed.

Unless of course you want to take it down to about 2deg above absolute zero to straighten those atoms out. They will sound amazing especially if you sell them for about £5k a string

A
[/quote]

Don't be silly , no-one will buy sausages for £5k a string....

[danthevan]

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1358799853' post='1945343']


Don't be silly , no-one will buy sausages for £5k a string....
[/quote]

Depends how long that string is

[Hobbayne]

I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn't April!

[Coilte]

Moisture and acid from your sweat, along with minute particles of your skin getting between the winds,
are what kills strings. Moisture is the main enemy, so the fridge is a non runner IMO.

Once they are sealed, store them in a dry place and they should be fine.

[uncle psychosis]

Just stick them in a tupperware box or something and put them in the cupboard.

Remember even "new" bass strings have probably sat on the shelf in the factory/shop for months anyway.

[D.I. Joe]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1358857436' post='1946029']
Just stick them in a tupperware box or something and put them in the cupboard.

Remember even "new" bass strings have probably sat on the shelf in the factory/shop for months anyway.
[/quote]

Not just months, you can buy new old-stock Fender strings on Ebay from before the D'addario merger!

[risingson]

I put some 30 year old bronze strings onto my acoustic one time and they sounded like I'd purchased them that day. Abstain from freezing your strings, keep perishables in your fridge freezer instead!

[3below]

If they are 'black nylon covered' or similar tapewound then the scientific answer is yes (don't ask, I spent 3 years researching such stuff). The pragmatic answer is how long do you want them to last? My Roto Tru Bass strings on my Eko acoustic bass are the originals and are still good to go. I bought the bass in 1979? so 34 yrs old or so without use of freezer. Seems fair value for money.

[lettsguitars]

Cold and other temperatures does some very funny things to metal and I would hazard to say, irreparable damage to precise things like a guitar string.

[Monckyman]

Ah,they're all winding you up mate.
I say go for it.
Just remember to defrost them in the microwave before fitting.

[Prime_BASS]

leave to rest for a minute after?

[Tim "King Conga"]

I just searched for this topic. I'm planning to buy several sets of guitar strings but I know that the tropical climate in which I live will have destroyed them before I use them all. The tropical moisture seems to find its way into every sealed container.

Someone commented that the freezer is a very wet place. It is not. All air-born moisture has turned to frost. It is the driest place available that I can think of. My enquiry was more to see if years of cold temperature could damage the strings. I don't think so, as low temperatures are going to slow down any chemical reaction also.

I didn't find a clear answer to my inquiry here.

[itu]

It's not the temp, if you can live there. You want to keep them dry, put your strings to a plastic bag and seal it. Some silica gel dries the extra moisture.

By the way, how many sets and what is your changing interval? Depending on the amount of playing I change strings 1 - 4 times / year / bass.

[Bolo]

On 04/12/2020 at 20:12, Tim "King Conga" said:

didn't find a clear answer to my inquiry here.

Just 20-odd posts saying 'no, don't'. 

 

Your reasoning seems flawed. The cold may contract the windings enough for frost to settle in between and even reach the core. Once out of the fridge the aging process will most likely be accelerated if the string hasn't gone brittle already.

[Stub Mandrel]

I doubt the cold will affect the structure of all metal strings,  even with bronze on steel the differential expansion effect will be negligible compared to coiling and uncoiling a string.

If you had aluminium alloy strings, then potentially there could be an effect, especially if recently heat treated.

For sensible string metals, no effects happening at those temperatures.

HOWEVER...

Temperature cycling does 'age' metals causing internal tensions to dissipate, which might accelerate the ageing process. So continually putting your strings in and out of the fridge might be bad.

SO MAKE YOU MIND UP!

[Teebs]

What about 'treating' them in the microwave - having removed them from the packet first, obvz?

Asking for a friend

Edited December 15, 2020 by Teebs

[Stub Mandrel]

Dishwasher does a better job than the old boiling up with Persil to restore old strings.

[el borracho]

I have no idea about the science behind this but it brought to mind the Dean Markley Blue Steel strings. Their advertising blurb says they are "Cryogenically frozen with a blast of liquid nitrogen". Not sure what, if any, difference it makes.

I used them for a while in the early 90s then sort of forgot about them.