Elites Low B snaps before taut

[tomowen5]

Hi everyone,

Just joined this forum, and this is my first post. I've been playing bass on/off for over 15 years - just recently started doing bass for my mate's band, and my trusty old Samick 5-string was due a re-string.

Got a pack of Elites stainless steel 45-130 for it, and re-strung at the weekend. Got all the strings on it apart from the low B, and when it came to put that on, the low B snapped before it was even taut. It snapped at the machine head, just as it curves round. I e-mailed the shop I bought the set from, and all credit to them, they sent me out a replacement set that day. However, the exact same thing has happened with the replacement low B!!

My thoughts are that maybe I only used .125 for the B before - i've never encountered this problem in the past. I am also wondering whether there is something wrong with the way the bass is set up - any advice would be very welcome!

For now, I have ordered a separate .125 Elites string, and will see if a lighter gauge does the trick. I would feel cheeky to ask the shop for another replacement set, but then again, the string shouldn't break before it is even up to full tension! Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Tom.

[mmbongo]

Got a pic of how you're wrapping it around the post? Does the outermost wrap go around the post?

[deeptubes]

Here's what I'm envisioning (but I could very easily be wrong): I'm seeing too sharp of a bend in the string at the post. Do you have a quick-loading bridge? If so, you could try wrapping the post before loading the ball end into your bridge. Do you bend the end of your strings that go down into the post? When I change my strings, I go through my bridge, up around the post, wrapping the string around the post from the bottom up until I'm left with about 1" - 1 1/4" at the end. It doesn't have to be wrapped tight. I stick that bit of string into the post and start cranking, no angled bend. You are left with a softer bend in the string, more like an arch. Think about it. What is a bass guitar string? It's, in essence, a contracting spring wrapped around a metal string. What happens when you stretch a spring and bend it? That creates a weak spot. If you bend your strings going into the post, that's what happens. The outer angle stretches, the inner angle compresses. Do you cut your excessively long strings? I give myself about 6" past the post - about 5" wrap and 1" or so in the post. Even changing my strings this way, I can easily see my core wire on my B, at the post. But, I've never had one break. Hell, I've been playing for 25 years, and I have yet to break a string. A .130 requires more tension than a .125. If the string has been compromised at the peg, it simply won't be ale to withstand the stress.

[tomowen5]

Hi - thanks for your replies!

Just been reading your responses, about to reply, but then I went back to my bass and the first knackered string. I think, as Deeptubes points out, there is too much compression going on in the string as it goes round the post - this appears to be caused by the string being slightly too long for my bass, as the string is going round the post at full thickness. The thinner outer-wrap can go round the post many times, but the width of the string as it loops round the post is just creating too much tension.

At first, the guy from the shop said that the string could be catching somewhere, most probably the nut, which could be creating a pinch and generating too much localised tension. I took his advice to apply a bit of graphite pencil on the nut, which acts as lubrication, but I also gently filed the nut to make where the low B sits perfectly smooth. However, I really think the cause is with the string itself being too long, as I have replicated the string breaking, just be wrapping the string round the post and applying hand tension, bypassing the nut completely.

I have now, in fact taken my first broken string, removed the end part where the core had snapped, and having a fraction bit more string to play with, I have taken off the most outer-wire from the string so I can fit the remainder into the post/hole, and have been successfully created enough tension to sustain tuning.

Certainly not ideal workaround, but at least I've got the string on there, and it appears to stay in place and in tune after a good half-hour of playing/bashing!! I really don't want to have to take the pliers and wire-cutters to each new low-B I buy/change, so should I be asking for a shorter scale of low B string??

Thanks again,

Tom.

[DaZombieWoof]

IIRC, there are manufacturers that vary considerably (enough for your needs) on wrap. Some folks here might have that arcane knowledge, as I have never had to research it.

[ixlramp]

I think they only come in 'Long Scale'? They must have a poorly chosen winding length just too long for your 34" (?) bass. I used to use Elites but D'Addario ProSteels are so much better. I found the Elites stiff, especially the B.

[tomowen5]

Yes my bass is 34" scale, and having checked the shop's website there is no mention of what scale these particular strings are, but the distance between ball to silk is a good couple of inches than on my previous strings. Considering that my 34" scale bass is standard scale, then, as ixlramp states, there has been a poor choice of winding length in this batch. I will relay this info onto the shop and see if they can suggest an alternative set of strings.

I will have a look out for those D'Addario you mentioned. I assume the long-scale sets of these would suffice for the 34" scale neck? My previous low-B string measured a distance of 37" from ball-end to silk, and that was pretty much as long as it could take.

Cheers guys - I will see what scale this new replacement Elites .125 is!!

Nice one,

Tom.

[ixlramp]

Originally Posted by tomowen5

there has been a poor choice of winding length in this batch.

Ah no I don't mean a batch error. They seem to have one winding length for both 34" and 35" scales. Choosing the one optimum winding length is difficult when you take into account the differing lengths of bridge and the top-loading / through-body stringing options. Inevitably their strings will not work on some basses... unfortunately yours Time to try a different brand

Originally Posted by tomowen5

I will have a look out for those D'Addario you mentioned. I assume the long-scale sets of these would suffice for the 34" scale neck? My previous low-B string measured a distance of 37" from ball-end to silk, and that was pretty much as long as it could take.

D'Addario long scale has a 36" or 36.25" winding, string-side-edge of ball to the start of the taper between nut and tuner (no silk on these strings). Should be perfect.