Hi Tony, Just about to head up the M6 so no time to read the article. Hope you managed to avoid the floods?

People have been messing around with strings for decades. Back in the day, we used to take them off and boil them and I once tried an ultra-sonic cleaner. I remember long after-show conversations with a barman at our club whose day job was lecturing in metallurgy at UMIST. Ultimately, I actually like new strings!
Ray