i just got a shiny new bass that i love, but i started playing it and my d-string broke, cut me in the finger, hit me in the face, and scared my cat. normally strings breaking would not be a big thing but it was in normal tunage. what can i do to stop this from happining again.

I owuld be very surprised if a string broke - I never had one break on me in 25 years of playing bass. I have played guitars though and have had strings break many times. I found that this was for one of two reasons : cheap strings or poor bridge construction on the guitar, which meant that there were sharp edges on the bridge that were cutting into the strings.

Where did the string break? You should be able to se if it was over the bridge and if this is the case, then the problem is probably due to the bridge - get somebody to look at this - preferably a professional. If not, then were they very cheap strings? If so - don't buy them again. Bass strings are usually more expensive than guitar strings but can last a lot longer - years in some cases - so paying a bit extra can be a worthwhile investment.

thanx!