Doc Stevens: I play guitar, but I ain't got a lot of money and we live more than a hour from Hot Licks Guitar shop over to Waldorf. About once a year I get to go up there and buy a set of strings and Marilyn picks up another harmonica or two.
I make the strings last a year or more just like everybody else out here. Metal don't really go bad. What makes strings go dead is they get dirt in them from your fingers and sweat what gets stuck in them
What we do out here is just take off the ones what's wound and we put 'em in a pot of boiling water or a old coffee can and it melts out the oil and dirt. But you gotta boil 'em for about ten minutes to get it all out.
It don't hurt the strings cause they is metal. When you're done boilin' 'em you wipe 'em down with a rag an' after they dry, put 'em back on the guitar.
That's nothing new, it's what folks out in the country been doin' for years. They sound good again 'til you get 'em filled up with oil again. The boy down the road got strings on his guitar what he been usin' for maybe five years. He just takes 'em off an' boils 'em every two or three months. But you got to be good enough on your guitar to not be breaking your strings.
