What do you do with your old strings?

[Cliff Edge]

I’m talking about strings well past their sell by date so no use to anybody. Recycling or landfill? I have a small collection building up and need a clear out. 

[chris_b]

 Tried putting mine in the recycling, but the collection guys took them out and left them on the drive! 

 

I solved the problem, I don't put new strings on my basses any more. The PJ has flats and the Jazz has a set of NYXL's that have been on a since 2019 and they still sound good, warm and mellow. 

[PaulThePlug]

Stick an ad up in facebook...

Often Creators, Crafters or Jewellery type makers can make good use. 

[Hobbayne]

Some schools and musical charities with little to no budget used to take old strings to put on guitars, basses. I wonder if they still do..

[asingardenof]

I know someone who turns them into jewellery

[DDR]

What about the whole boiling them thing? I think I heard it first from Mike Mondesir. Supposedly gets the zing back. Anyone tried that?

[meterman]

Eh? What do you mean 'old strings'?

 

Would they be worn-in rounds that have been on the bass since it was made, in 1967? Or flatwounds? 
 

Either way, I say keep them. That way folks in future generations can wonder all day long about what the heck all these old wires were once you've gone.

[Jay2U]

This is how I revive them a few times, before writing them off.

Then I dispose them off as scrap metal at the company I work for.

[OliverBlackman]

If I change stings they are well passed their due date, as it’s the one thing I’m very lazy on. Therefore the bin is the only option.

[jazzyvee]

My other half used quite a few old sets for strapping some trailing plants and a grapevine horizontally to the garden wall and fence. We fixed some small hooks to the wall and fence to go through the ball ends,  and used electrical cable connector blocks to join two strings together.  worked a treat.

Edited June 22, 2024 by jazzyvee

[bassbiscuits]

3 hours ago, DDR said:

What about the whole boiling them thing? I think I heard it first from Mike Mondesir. Supposedly gets the zing back. Anyone tried that?

Of course. I’ve done it loads of times. The idea being that boiling them gets rid of all the gunk caught in the windings and freshens them up. Certainly done it to good effect in the past. In recent years I’ve been using flats and or NYXLs, neither of which seem to need changing. 
 

[dmccombe7]

Throw mine in the General household waste bin. There was someone on BC that took old strings and made jewellery from them if i remember right.

Dave

[itu]

Metal recycling.

 

No need to boil, ultrasonic clean, dishwash, whatever. Old strings are old. I change strings (SS RW) when they sound and feel old. Usually two, three times a year.

[Bigguy2017]

I have a friend who is a modeller - uses them for pilot's oxygen hoses and other details on planes and tanks.

Trouble is he only needs one set for a lifetime.... 😞

 

Threading elastic shock cord through tent poles

 

Another friend uses a bass string for holding knitting stiches - very technical...

 

A doubled over guitar 0.010" top E is good for blobbing wood glue into screw holes (scratch plates, strap buttons etc.) to make screws fit tight again

 

Unblocking gummed up glue spouts

 

 

Edited June 22, 2024 by Bigguy2017

[Cliff Edge]

Some good ideas here. I don’t boil or try to revive, they are all LaBella DTB’s and have all been switched around various basses and showing it. Especially the G’s at the tuner end. The rest of the sets are good for spares. 

[DDR]

18 hours ago, bassbiscuits said:

Of course. I’ve done it loads of times. The idea being that boiling them gets rid of all the gunk caught in the windings and freshens them up. Certainly done it to good effect in the past. In recent years I’ve been using flats and or NYXLs, neither of which seem to need changing. 
 

so do you literally put the whole string in a boiling pan of water on the stove? How long for?

[Cliff Edge]

14 minutes ago, DDR said:

so do you literally put the whole string in a boiling pan of water on the stove? How long for?

About as long as it takes to cook the spaghetti. 

[tauzero]

Mine go in the recycling. If they can take tin cans, they can take stainless strings.

[bass_dinger]

Scrap metal at the local recycling centre for my strings.

 

I try to put them in with the domestic recycling, but my wife has a very narrow view of what makes domestic waste. I

argue that I spend more time playing bass at home, than I spend eating soup at home - yet the soup cans go to home recycling, and my strings require a special trip to the dump....

 

 

[bassbiscuits]

4 hours ago, DDR said:

so do you literally put the whole string in a boiling pan of water on the stove? How long for?

Yup. After about 5-10 mins you might notice frothy gunk collecting on the water surface in the middle of the pan. Scoop it off with a spoon and keep going until it stops happening. 
Take them out, rinse and let them dry out. 
 

*Add salt and pepper to taste obviously…”

 

 

Edited June 23, 2024 by bassbiscuits
Edited for culinary advice

[itu]

4 hours ago, DDR said:

so do you literally put the whole string in a boiling pan of water on the stove? How long for?

Ultrasonic cleaner is more effective.

Dishwasher less, as is boiling. Still that cleaning cannot fight against metal fatigue (by A. Holdsworth!). The string becomes dull in just a few days.

[StickyDBRmf]

Garrot.

[bremen]

3 hours ago, StickyDBRmf said:

Garrot.

and a nice gottle a geer

[Jonesy]

On 23/06/2024 at 15:39, DDR said:

so do you literally put the whole string in a boiling pan of water on the stove? How long for?

 

Take them out of the water, if you can throw them at a tiled wall and they stick, then you know they're ready 😃

 

Does anyone have any links for the mates who make jewellery from them? I've always fancies something bass related and have seen a few on etsy, but I wouldn't mind checking out any links to support a mate of BC.

[bremen]

I used to do this back in the day and it seemed to work for a little while but not long.

 

I was never really sure of the mechanism that causes strings to "die" (they are inert lumps of steel, never "alive" to start with) apart from the voids  filling with skin flakes and fried chicken grease. Does the metal really fatigue? The vibrations of a bass string are pretty benign compared to what steel has to go through in the real world.