The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Yes, you CAN recycle old guitar strings.

    Option 1: They can be donated to musicians in need in other countries
    Second Strings Project>

    Option 2: They can be recycled by D'addario and redeemed for stuff:
    https://www.daddario.com/playback/recycle

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  3. #27

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    I throw away the old strings but save the little brass things on the ends. I string them together and do artsy things with them.....
    Does anyone ever save their strings?-01b0d988-499f-4d5e-8165-9e1963f64984_1_201_a-jpg

  4. #28

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    I deposit mine at the recycling station.

  5. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by takefive
    I'm thinking of replacing my Thomastik 13 flatwounds that are two months old. Would I be able to use them again?
    Yes! You can boil them and while their hot run them down a piece of paper towel a few time each you will see the black come off. You can do the same thing with high content alcohol same procedure. It will bring them back to around 75% of new. I started doing it when I was young and broke. Now that I'm old and cheap, I do it with my string experiments from one guitar to the next which never seem to end lol.

  6. #30

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    Old wound strings are great for burnishing wood when turning...the lines on the Mahogany pen on the right...

    Does anyone ever save their strings?-93df6670-72b9-48c9-a1a2-c4bf28a96b65-jpg

  7. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gitterbug
    I've heard of a bassist who removed and boiled his strings in a kettle even during the band's statutory 15 min. breaks. If I had become a metallurgist, as originally intended, I would know if this makes any sense. Knowing if a used string recrystallizes during a tension-free rest would be even more relevant. I have a large box where old strings mingle and, I could swear, reproduce, but every now and then I end up throwing them away. There's a metal collecting bin nearby, so no bad conscience.
    I also knew a bass player who did that. But at home, not during breaks

  8. #32

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    I do but never knew why - got a few useful ideas from this thread.

    I've got the pictures, I have the means to hang 'em. Wall space is now the limiting factor.

  9. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by lukmanohnz
    I don’t save old strings, but I do cut the little loop ends and save the brass beads. I’ve used D’Addarios for years, and they color code the beads so I have this nice assortment of little colored metal beads (with a lot of plain nickel and brass ones in there too).

    Please don’t ask why I save these. I don’t know what I am going to do with them. I just like them....
    I also save some of the ball ends, and keep a supply on hand. Slipped over a new string all the way to the end, they act as a spacer sleeve and prevent the string from sticking in the tailpiece come string-changing time - especially important in stop-bars and vibrato blocks.

    Old strings can also be used for hummingbird swings. A pair piers, a 6" dowell, and an old wound string, a red bead, a little bare copper wire for attachments, a little imagination, and you get a nice spot for your dominant males (in our case an irascible little bully we call Buzz) to rest their wings. Watching one alight and the ever-so-gentle slight bobbing of the unit is quite satisfying.

  10. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tal_175
    I guess it makes it easier to tune the engine.
    Now that's a funny joke right there.

  11. #35

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    Guitar strings are what they use as the needle in a DIY tattoo gun.

  12. #36

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    What I have use some of the wound string for is I cut them down to a leingth and clean the stem on my corn cob pipe. Hand made corn cob pipe I use a peace of bamboo for the stem. I use the strings for other things but as a pipe cleaner mostly.

  13. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
    Guitar strings are what they use as the needle in a DIY tattoo gun.
    At one point I lived in a pretty rough neighborhood in SoCal. I got my apartment put off-limits to the local (ex-?) cons by giving them my used strings for this purpose. They all knew I played guitar and had gear. No break-ins at all.

    Nowadays, I put them in the recycling bin and hope they come out in the wash.

  14. #38

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    Rotosound were promoting two women who made old strings into necklaces and bracelets, which they sold for the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund.

  15. #39

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    A good use for used strings is burnishing nut and saddle slots, to smooth and polish them, thus reducing friction to some extent. I prefer using strings slightly larger than the ones on the guitar, but the same size can do the job.

  16. #40

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    As a kid I was always scratching around for any money I could find, so I learned to make do with using strings way past their use by date. So to this day whenever I change strings I always roll up the old ones individually and place them in a plastic sandwich bag with an airtight seal, write the gauge and put them in a drawer. On occasion if I break an individual string I can source one for temporary replacement. As it is I only change strings every year or two anyway and clean them after every playing session.

  17. #41

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    Interesting fun fact. Hot Wheels cars were innovative by the fact that they initially used mandolin strings for axles that were from a failed Mattel venture to build guitars that would never go out of tune. The mandolin strings cut down the rolling friction so much that they beat out Matchbox which was their chief competitor literally because of how fast Hot Wheels cars rolled in comparison. Matchbox used steel rods for axles. Eventually Mattel bought Matchbox.


  18. #42

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    I was out weed wacking the south forty over the weekend and noticing how often I had to replace those nylon strings on my string trimmer, as they quickly shrink down to nothing. I was wondering if it would work if I cut appropriate lengths of old wound bass strings, or even a wound 3rd, and used them instead. Anyone ever try that? I might have to the next time I'm out there -- and this certainly is weed time here in Sonoma County, of the annoying variety (not the smoking variety, which comes later in the summer) -- and I'll report back.

  19. #43

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    Quote Originally Posted by Perdido
    I was out weed wacking the south forty over the weekend and noticing how often I had to replace those nylon strings on my string trimmer, as they quickly shrink down to nothing. I was wondering if it would work if I cut appropriate lengths of old wound bass strings, or even a wound 3rd, and used them instead. Anyone ever try that? I might have to the next time I'm out there -- and this certainly is weed time here in Sonoma County, of the annoying variety (not the smoking variety, which comes later in the summer) -- and I'll report back.
    Think about what happens when a plastic weed whacker line breaks and hits you in the leg (ouch).

    Imagine a hard steel music wire breaking off and hitting you in the leg (ouch, blood. trip to the ER and stiches)

  20. #44

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    And that, I suppose, is why it's never occurred to anyone else. Point taken.

  21. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by takefive
    I'm thinking of replacing my Thomastik 13 flatwounds that are two months old. Would I be able to use them again?
    I have done this several times with Thomastik Swings. I'll put them on a guitar, try them for a few weeks, not like them on that guitar, and pull them, carefully coil them together, and store them in a sealed baggy. I then stick them on another guitar. TIs last a long time and they're too expensive to chuck.

  22. #46

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    In the early days, I use to save them, boil them, and re-use them if a string broke, nowadays, nope.