Boilling

[Jean-Frédéric]

Yeah I know I read it somewhere , but can't remeber where and when , and I need to know .. does anyone knows the " String Boilling Instructions " ??

Thanks !

[dwf1004]

This was something that EVH used to do with his strings to speed up the "stretching out" process. He would boil them in a pan for 20 mins, then hang them to air dry.

I'll admit, being the EVH freak that I am, I did try it a few times, and it did help out with that, but I feel as if something happened to the tone of the strings, like some of the clarity disappeared because of it. Maybe that's just me though...being older and wiser, I'd say that nothing beats patience at this point.

[dlloyd]

Originally posted by Jean-Frédéric
Yeah I know I read it somewhere , but can't remeber where and when , and I need to know .. does anyone knows the " String Boilling Instructions " ??

Thanks !

If you're doing it to "renew" your strings, you might be disappointed... You'll get some improvement in brightness, but the string will still be worn and will intonate poorly.

EVH did it to stretch the strings prior to fitting them, because the locking trem he used had no fine tuners... no real point in doing this nowadays.

If you still want to do it, put your strings in a pan of water, bring to the boil and simmer for five to ten minutes. Dry them off thoroughly by sticking them in the oven at a very, very low heat (not the microwave).

[SGMan88]

That is interesting I've heard, but know nothing about string boiling.

[ex3.8]

Yeah. Just because ED did it i tried it myself

But. Bottom line. Metals will expand under heat and shrink back to original length when the heat is back to room temp. sooooo
i think this was more a psycological thing....