Broke an E string last night, first time in 13 years.

[JohnDavisNYC]

TI Jazz Flats.

15 minutes into the show.

Awesome.

[snyderz]

Truly awesome. What happened next? Extra string? Extra bass? Play with 3 strings? Fold the show?

[ilmaio]

That's why i always carry a (crappy) backup bass.
I never broke a bass string in my life, but i know for sure that the day i'll forgot my backup bass i'll break a string

[JohnDavisNYC]

Played the gig on 3 strings.

Don't use the E that much with nerve...

John

[fretlessguy]

As expensive as TIs are, I would have cringed bigtime. I have played for 32 years and only broke two, both D strings.

[Pilgrim]

I carry a backup set of Labellas that I picked up cheap. I also usually bring a backup bass.

[pasta4lnch]

Scary - I carry b/u strings, but not a b/u bass . . . always made me nervous.

Fortunately, in my band, the singer/acoustic guitar player has no problem banging out a few solo tunes to buy time for me to change, should the event arise

[Doll]

I have broken at least 4-5 e strings in the last 7 years of playing bass, I have only ever broken the e string, luckily it was never during a show, once just before a show but the owner of the pub was a bassist and I borrowed his, another bad timing break was during a band photo shoot, tried to angle the my bass so you couldn't tell I only had three strings. I used a really think gauge of pick so I'm guessing that's why I break so many

[GregDunn]

I carry a spare set but have never broken a string. Guess I play too lightly.

OTOH, my daughter used to break an E string every few months in her band. But then, she played really hard; I have numerous pictures showing the E string being pulled completely off the neck either by plucking or bending. She got a really interesting sound out of her Magnum by doing that, though...

[amroach]

I never carry a spare bass i've broken a string twice, both E's on the same bass i think there was a sharp bit on the bridge or something that was causing the breakage, once was during practice so i just restrung, the second time was during the gig just played the rest of the set with 3 strings.

[Jim Carr]

I guess I must be weird. I carry a spare bass and spare strings for both instruments. I have broken about a dozen strings in the last 40 years. However, strings are not the only thing that breaks, and once when changing out a broken string on stage, I broke the nut. That is a whole 'nother story...

[G.Bisson]

Only broken one E string ever. It was also a flatwound, Dean Markleys. After having them on for 2 weeks it broke while tuning up, crap string. Stopped playing flats after that.

Broken a G string from popping. Playing too aggressively. Ignoring my form by hooking the strings too much so they couldn't snap out. Pulled the string right outta the bridge.

[basskababble]

I broke the E on the last note of my favorite song when I got the chance to play with a couple local legends called Kreamy 'Lectric Santa. It was epic.

[markjazzbassist]

i've only broken a G string (pyramid flats), and it was cause i was really bending hard on the high Eb, and apparently pyramids don't bend well.

back to labellas for me, never had a problem with them.

[JohnDavisNYC]

it was pretty odd for me. definitely made me realize i should always carry spares.... with nerve i could lay out for 5 minutes and change a string and it would be totally fine...

gonna go back to d'addario, i think... try out the 1/2 rounds.... was thinking i wanted a bit more of a legato roundwound thing sometimes, too. nickel XL's never let me down in the past.

john

[JimmyM]

you might like half rounds if you like the ti's. i'm not a fan but i do love the xl's and chromes. cheap, plentiful, sound great...what else do you need?

[elavate7]

ive broken the D string once, but that was during practice so it was all good.

[GoPlastic]

John -

i reviewed your set (and threw in a crappy cameraphone pic at no extra fee!) over in this thread you have over in misc. forum: nerve gig alert! my friends and i (maybe 7 of us total) had a great time, thanks again for throwing down the way you guys do.

- GoP

[Gord_oh]

did it whip you?
i saw a guy, had a little too much tension on his strings,
have it whip across his hand.

[Tropic]

I would have asked if it were a 5er but I guess since you only played with 3, I already know the answer.