*** broken E string?!?!?!

[toolfann615]

i recently, five minutes ago, was playing with a pick next to the bridge and somehow managed to "break" the E string. It wasnt so much of a break as it really just kind of unwound, right at the end of saddle. I know that i wasnt playing it too hard, so my question is this, was it just some sort of anomaly because before this i didnt know it was possible to break the E string, or was it the strings, DR Hi-beams medium gauge, being about 4 months old? I need to buy a new set on friday and i was wondering if this is a problem noticed by others with the brand (although i have loved every set i purchased before, that tone is AMAZING) or if it was something i shouldnt worry about.

[Jimtoonz]

Several months ago, this happened to me while playing a Fender American Deluxe Jazz V in rehearsal with my band. We were in mid song, I hit the E(not all that hard) and it just snapped at the saddle. It was my first time in some 30 years of playing that I broke a bass string. One of my bandmates speculated that maybe there was a burr or sharp edge on the saddle...I really have no idea.

[mattofash]

ive only ever broke one bass string. one of my mates who doesnt play anything tightened my d a s**t load, without realising what it did. next time i practiced i played and it just whipped straight out and snapped.

[73jbass]

I have yet to figure out how anybody breaks a bass string. Do you guys really play that hard?

[stranger0]

I did this a lot when I was a kid, broke/unwound the E and A string, (thankfully they never snapped) - I know for myself, I'm a very hard player.

[redefine dave]

Originally Posted by 73jbass

I have yet to figure out how anybody breaks a bass string. Do you guys really play that hard?

I've broken a g and d strings before, but that was because I was popping a bit too much...

Breaking an E string though... No idea.

[69nites]

defective string

it happens.

[Chad.mundt]

I break once every couple of years. It is part of the game. Play a lot, it will happen. If you change your strings often enough, though, you can usually avoid it.

[McGroovin']

I had a problem with my G string breaking a lot (break it, put a new one one and it break the next day). It turned out that the saddle had a bur on it. I took the G string and "sanded" the bur off with it. I didn't play hard at all.

[alexmoore10]

I have had this happen quite a few times - a pain in the arse none the less though.

I always wondered if changing my strings more frequently would make a difference. You could try that?

[73jbass]

Originally Posted by Chad.mundt

I break once every couple of years. It is part of the game. Play a lot, it will happen. If you change your strings often enough, though, you can usually avoid it.

I've been playing bass since 1981,never broken a string.I just don't see why anybody needs to hit the strings that hard. Seems like past a certain point you don't gain anymore of whatever it is you get from hitting the strings that way.Overkill.

[MooseLumps]

It's been said, check for burrs on the saddle, or even a loose saddle. Things that vibrate and rub tend to break, it's natural. it could have been an anomaly with the string, wear and tear, or a creature from another dimension screwing with your head. My money is on a combo of factors. Check for burrs or anything loose, check the string to see if you had a defective (and i use the term loosly, after 4 months I think it's served it's purpose and just wants to visit the great recycling bin in the sky) and try to detect any spacial/fractial anomalies in the vicinity through which a being who is out of phase with our reality came through and influenced your string to break via ionic manipulation. If you find one, just slap some tinfoil on the ground around it (dull side up) and it will absorb any other beings coming through.
good luck

[MrSuperstar]

I've broken B strings before. midways between the pickups. I play finger style, violently at times during shows. Practice? never broke one. Just one off those you get so into the moment, it can happen I guess.

[Alaska Bass]

Hard playing doesn't usually "break" strings, it is either a burr on the bridge (likewise at the brass zero fret if you have one) or a manufacturing defect.

I know we like to think of ourselves as macho, masculine, b****in' (for those of us who are female) but really, come on, the flesh of my thumb, or the thin plastic of my pick is really going to break the steel of the strings? Either the string comes apart under tension due to a defect in it, or it comes apart under tension due to a sharp metal pushing into it.

P.S. I have broken 2 strings in 13 years. Both unwound from the bridge, and both were due to a small gouge in the metal of the bridge.

[BellBottomBlues]

Originally Posted by 73jbass

I have yet to figure out how anybody breaks a bass string. Do you guys really play that hard?

I play extremely hard so I've run the whole gamut of broken strings. I've broken every string (E-G) at one point or another by every maker string maker.

As for the fellow saying that its impossible for people literally ripping strings apart, its the reason why I don't play Thomstik-Infelds. I literally pull them apart.

I also fret extremely hard as well and I tend to wear flat spots on nickel strings.

Damn strings...

[ehque]

I break a string roughly every year.

[maxgrant]

I do play very hard. I started with a 30-watt Memphis amplifier and just kept hitting the strings harder and harder to be heard. When I moved up to a Kustom amplifier I found that I could hear myself and that I sounded almost like I was slapping the strings.

I used to break my D string on my Rickenbacker quite a bit, but that was because the D tuner was coming loose and I guess the string flexed a lot. It broke in the middle most of the time, however. Nowhere near where I was playing. But I've broken the E and the A and the G also. Exposing the instrument to extremes of heat and cold will do it too.

[Outlaw_son]

I use nickel lowriders and my E string unwinds/breaks at the bridge on just about every set of strings. Seems like they last about 4 months. I play medium hard and use the E string way more than any other

[Bass Mule]

I snapped a G-string once. Dancer slapped me pretty hard and then 2 bouncers threw me out of the strip club.









Naw, that didn't really happen.