Saving strings for another day - how to "refresh"?

Hello my friends,

Yesterday I had a “real” bass player come over and play my basses.
He told me that my Daddario EXL170S (purchased in June this year) on two of my basses were played down and really EOL.

Is there any way to “refresh” strings? Some say that cooking strings helps - but I am a terrible cook!
Others say, that putting the strings into a isopropyl alcohol bath overnight helps.

What ist the definitive method to revive old strings?
(And please don’t say “buy new strings” - not helpful!)

My knee jerk reaction is really: “Why??” (I mean change them once a year, it’s not that much of an expense…)

But, OK, here is good old fellow-Dane “MarloweDK” (one of the early bass YouTubers in fact):

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I doubt that is enough. After one year, the brightness is long gone :sweat_smile:
If you care about the sound of fresh strings, you’ll have to change them more often for sure. Maybe set up a jar and put one Euro in it every day you practice :wink:

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Cause - no money anymore :slight_smile:

But more importantly: I’m one of those f#cking Greta Thunberg green guys, you know: repairing, recycling, repurposing…

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Just make wristbands out of your old strings :wink:

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And once you’re good enough at it, you might even be able to make some cash out of selling them :money_mouth_face:

Yes… and, yet, it depends™
Well broken in strings can sounds very nice and mellow. It depends on what you like (of course). Also, some strings (brands) last longer than others :wink:

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Yeah, was gonna answer @Whying_Dutchman : I got you covered

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Well, if I want a mellow sound, I’ll go flat wounds :grin:

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I would replace rounds at least twice a year. The difference is huge.

Snapping them can extend the life though sure, though, yeah.Nothing wrong with that.

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Let’s not go there (again)… not on Christmas Day :joy: :laughing:

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Dead rounds sound worse than flats :rofl:

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But still feel better :rofl: :rofl:

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:100:

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Hahaha! I knew this would derail :slight_smile:

But the question was serious.
Will try snapping, but have a better feeling with cooking!

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Well, it’s 2 minutes while your girlfriend is shopping vs. 1 hour and you having to explain why you need a new pot for your pasta now :laughing:

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I will explain that the string soup is a great remedy for iron deficiency :slight_smile:

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… and in the end of the video you will hear the strings as they sound when I have slapped the shit out of them, literally.

Eew. :grimacing:

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That’s the Danes for you… they lack a certain, uhm, finesse when it comes to assessing when and how to use English curse words :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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THIS is the Danes for me … the Swedish chef from the Muppets is the “Dänischer Koch” in Germany:

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