Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

paul_yan wrote:To keep the strings clean, and fresh for as long as possible, after playing, I damp a little piece of cotton cloth with naphtha or lighter fluid, wrap it around the string and wipe back and fro from nut to bridge. Repeat the process for each string. John Hall also recommends it.

I do the same with isopropyl alcohol. I also put a sheet of plastic under the strings first so I don't get alcohol on the fingerboard.

Others here have said to boil the strings. This is what I've been doing for 30 odd years now once the roundwounds get gunked up with dirt and sweat.

However, it works a lot better with a tablespoon or two of clear white vinegar mixed in with the water. That brings them back nicely.

There's a number of times you can do this before they really just have no more left to give, but you can get a surprising amount of life out of a set this way. I've got seven basses, and I'm not about to spring $350 or more each time I need to change strings out

Funny thing is, each bass has it's own character, and each comes into it's own at a different point of string wear. The 4001S and 4001CS like really fresh strings for that clang, whereas the 75 4001 likes them just worn in a little for the classic thud.

jps wrote:

kiramdear wrote:Years ago I used to take mine off periodically and boil them in a pan of water. Seriously, I found it perked up my Rotos.

You did use the official Rotosound boiling apparatus, right, as I did? Same goes for you, Ronald!

that's the same pot ! did i borrow that from you ???

jps wrote:

kiramdear wrote:Years ago I used to take mine off periodically and boil them in a pan of water. Seriously, I found it perked up my Rotos.

You did use the official Rotosound boiling apparatus, right, as I did? Same goes for you, Ronald!

Been there, done that, and now just buy new strings.

ricaddic wrote:Besides washing my hands first, I always wipe down not only the strings but the whole bass with a diaper cloth..

+1

johnallg wrote:

ricaddic wrote:Besides washing my hands first, I always wipe down not only the strings but the whole bass with a diaper cloth..

+1

Used diaper with baby urine is a great string cleaner.

I always wash my hands before playing, using a soap with no moisturizer (or as moisturizer-free as possible), and rinse my hands for a while under the water and dry vigorously with a towel. That way leaves the least amount of oils on my hands as possible.

It will leave your hands excessively dry in the winter, though.

This helps somewhat, but I still go through strings.

Boiling strings has been done as long as metal strings for bass came into vogue, and as far as double bass is concerned, that's just about 40 years ago. Believe me, when you drop $100 for a set of TI red silks for upright, you're going to boil them a couple of times. Then wipe with isopropyl alcohol (91% preferred, 70% OK), and slap 'em back on that boat. I have a few old TI double bass sets that I boiled so many times that the silks are closer to pink than red.

On my FL electrics, I prefer LaBella Deep Talkin' Bass flats, or my new find, black nylon wounds. Unless they break, I ain't doing nuthin to them.

A word of caution: lower percentage isopropyl alcohol (70-80% range) usually has mineral oil in it. You have to hit the 90+% to not get that. Medical supply or such. Read the labels.

Great stuff, folks. Great stuff. I'm soaking it up. So far I've gathered:

*Wash hands before playing (knew that, didn't practice it, will do so going forward)
*Baby urine may work--a used diaper ensures best results
*Boiling strings remains a preferred method of life extension
*Prof. Farley may have a 'solution'
*Obtain 'official' Rotosound boiling apparatus
*Lighter fluid/alcohol/etc..., but first put plastic under strings to keep said fluid off fingerboard (good tip, Joey!)

**Elixir strings with the nanoweb coating - Why didn't I think of that??!! I've used Elixir's on my 5-string fretless for many years with much happiness. Plus, they've been oh so kind to my ebony fingerboard over the years. I may just try those next.

Thanks for the tips--please keep them coming. Peace.

jps wrote:

kiramdear wrote:Years ago I used to take mine off periodically and boil them in a pan of water. Seriously, I found it perked up my Rotos.

You did use the official Rotosound boiling apparatus, right, as I did? Same goes for you, Ronald!

Wow, the cookware of choice for Rotosounds! I used the same. Boiling strings has a smell that I can still recall - one of those smells, like catapult steam, that stays in your memory.

These days I wipe them down after play with a clean cloth and thankfully don't need to boil mine anymore - but it works.

"Catapult steam"? Where you on a flight deck? Which carrier? When?

bassduke49 wrote:"Catapult steam"? Where you on a flight deck? Which carrier? When?

WARNING! WARNING! Serious thread drift in progress!

johnallg wrote:A word of caution: lower percentage isopropyl alcohol (70-80% range) usually has mineral oil in it. You have to hit the 90+% to not get that. Medical supply or such. Read the labels.

You're right, John. I should have mentioned that when I use isopropyl alcohol, it's at least 90%.

bassduke49 wrote:"Catapult steam"? Where you on a flight deck? Which carrier? When?

I flew off USS Constellation on the '87 and 88-89 cruises and launched aircraft on USS Kitty Hawk '93-95. And to bring back any thread drift, I'm searching for that pic of me and my '76 walnut 4001 playing with "Roger Ball and the Wave-offs" on the flight deck during a flight deck picnic for that other thread.